Stephen Gavanas joins the queue of convicted criminals arguing his case was tainted by Lawyer X

A member of Tony Mokbel’s drug empire says he didn’t get a fair trial because his case was tainted by Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo.

Drug cook Stephen Gavanas, a member of the Mokbel drug empire, wants an old conviction quashed even though Lawyer X did not represent him at trial.

Gavanas, 51, has joined the queue of convicted criminals arguing his case was tainted by Lawyer X — aka Nicola Gobbo — who conspired against him.

He is fighting his conviction even though he has served his jail sentence and has since returned to jail over drug offending.

He argued, through his barrister Catherine Boston, in the Court of Appeal on Friday that he had not received a fair trial in 2011 after the anti-gangland Purana taskforce charged him over a 2006 drug operation because Gobbo was behind the police sting.

Stephen Gavanas is arguing his case was tainted by Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo.

But the court also heard that although Gobbo, a barrister, was a police spy, she had only acted for Gavanas in a brief preliminary hearing, not at trial.

Ms Boston told the court that Gobbo had fed police information leading to warrants and evidence being obtained in 2006.

Gobbo was also the key to turning a co-accused, known by the pseudonym Mr Cooper, against Gavanas and others in the syndicate, the court heard.

Mr Cooper, who was close to Gobbo, had no idea the barrister was a registered police informer, scheming against him when he “rolled” against Gavanas and others arrested in the sting, including drug lord Tony Mokbel’s brother Horty.

Gobbo, at the behest of Victoria Police, advised Mr Cooper to do a deal with police for a reduced sentence.

Gavanas was a member of Tony Mokbel’s drug empire.

Victoria Police also paid him $40,000.

Ms Boston reminded the three justices presiding over the appeal that it had been three years since Gobbo was “publicly unveiled” as an agent of police.

And Ms Boston implored the court not to lose sight of the unprecedented actions of Gobbo and Victoria Police, which had undermined the justice system.

She said there had since been numerous appeals, many still stagnating due to battles with police over the production of documents.

“There is a real risk of fatigue,” she said.

“We must not allow ourselves for a moment to think this is normal or not that bad.”

“We will never know the full story of what happened or the full impact on the applicant’s (Gavanas) trial.”

The respondent, acting on behalf of the Crown, said Gobbo’s conduct had not caused a miscarriage of justice in this case.

The appeal’s court must decide the impact of Gobbo’s conduct on Gavanas’ trial before ruling whether to dismiss the appeal, order a retrial or quash his conviction.

Gavanas told the Lawyer X royal commission in 2019 Gobbo was the first person to visit him after his arrest in 2006 while he was in custody.

“I am concerned things I told Ms Gobbo as my legal representative were passed on to (the) police and that affect (sic) my trial and matters,” he said in a submission.

Gavanas was an inmate in a Victorian prison when he was told his brother, Michael, had been found face down, with his ankles bound, in the Parramatta River.

After his release in Victoria, he has twice returned to jail in NSW.

Gavanas’ most recent conviction was for his involvement in a clan lab set up in the garage of a 145-year-old historic property dubbed “Toongla” in the NSW region of Tullimbar.

He pleaded guilty in 2019 to manufacturing methamphetamine for a Sydney crime syndicate on the property after the lab was dismantled by NSW Police.

The appeal was adjourned until a later date.