Gobbo, police worked ‘hand in glove’ to bring down Mokbel

Police engaged in a “joint criminal enterprise” to bring down Tony Mokbel, with the damning court finding edging the underworld drug lord closer to freedom.

Tony Mokbel is seen arriving at the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Monday. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Victoria’s former top prosecutor breached his duties when he failed to disclose barrister Nicola Gobbo’s registration as a police informant to her criminal clients — including Tony Mokbel — a Supreme Court judge has found.

NSW Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Fullerton on Monday also made a scathing finding against Victoria Police, saying it took part in a “joint criminal enterprise” when it worked with Ms Gobbo to bring the underworld figure down.

Mokbel, 59, was photographed as he was brought into the Supreme Court from a prison van for the preliminary ruling in his appeal against his drug convictions over the Lawyer X scandal.

It marks one of the few times Mokbel — who is serving a 26-year prison sentence — has been seen in public in years.

The convicted drug kingpin is fighting to be fighting to be freed. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Wearing a black suit, he silently watched on from the dock as Justice Fullerton — who was tasked with answering 24 legal questions as part of his bid for freedom — summarised her more than 600-page ruling.

Justice Fullerton found former Director of Public Prosecutions and current Victorian Supreme Court judge John Champion was made aware of Ms Gobbo’s prior registration as a police informant during two meetings with senior police in June and September 2012.

She said he had a duty to disclose that information and was in breach when he failed to do so.

“I was unable to comfortably reach a conclusion as to why the director breached his duty of disclosure, other than it being a result of an error of judgement,” she said.

Justice Fullerton said prosecutors were obliged to revisit a decision not to disclose information as more knowledge came to light and she was not satisfied “the necessary degree of rigour” was applied by the former director.

Victoria Police were also criticised, with the judge finding, on the balance of probabilities, they took part in a “joint criminal enterprise” when they used Ms Gobbo to bring Mokbel down.

“Four members of Victoria Police participated with Ms Gobbo in that agreement to achieve that unlawful objective,” she said.

The judge examined why Victoria Police did not obtain legal advice about Ms Gobbo’s registration as an informant, finding explanations provided by former Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland in his evidence were “unworthy of acceptance”.

It marks a rare appearance since he was stabbed in Barwon Prison in 2019. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

“There is every likelihood Victoria Police would’ve been advised against registering her as an informant,” she said.

“So great were the legal and ethical risks in doing so.”

Justice Fullerton said Ms Gobbo worked “hand in glove” with police to ensure Mokbel was investigated, prosecuted and convicted.

She said the former barrister worked with police to convince three of Mokbel’s associates — who were also her clients — to give evidence against him.

“In short, those three men were deceived by Ms Gobbo that her advice was independent legal advice when it was anything but that,” she said.

Ms Gobbo, she said, strategised with police over the arrest of two of the men so they were vulnerable and more easily persuaded to turn against him.

The judge said there were a mixture of motivations for Ms Gobbo to inform on Mokbel.

“On repeated occasions, she spoke in derogatory terms about him and his conduct in her view as a career criminal and her desire to be of him as a client,” she said.

The judge said Ms Gobbo reaped an “apparent enjoyment” from informing and there was likely a “psychological decision” behind her motivations.

The judgement came after 38 witnesses, including current and serving police and Mokbel himself, were called to give evidence over 61 days of hearings earlier this year.

More than 250 exhibits and hundreds of hours of recordings between Ms Gobbo and her handlers were also tendered as part of the case.

The court heard the judgement would be made public pending any redactions sought by Victoria Police or lawyers acting for former police.

The case will now head to the Court of Appeal which will ultimately decide to overturn or uphold Mokbel’s convictions.