Tony Mokbel appeal decision: Drug kingpin has two drug convictions quashed

Drug kingpin Tony Mokbel has had two of three of his drug convictions quashed after judges ruled the notorious gangland figure had suffered a substantial miscarriage of justice due to his lawyer, Nicola Gobbo, being a police informer.

Drug kingpin Tony Mokbel has had two of three of his drug convictions overturned in a major win in his appeal over the Lawyer X scandal.

Three Victorian Court of Appeal judges on Friday ruled the notorious gangland figure had suffered a substantial miscarriage of justice by his lawyer Nicola Gobbo being a police informer.

Mokbel, 60, claimed three drug trafficking-related convictions, which landed him a 30-year jail term in 2012, should be quashed.

He said he would never have pleaded guilty to the drug trafficking offences – known as Quills, Orbital and Magnum – in 2011 if he knew Gobbo, his then lawyer, was working with police.

Tony Mokbel enters the Supreme Court of Appeal. Picture: Ian Currie

Mokbel has had two of his three drug convictions quashed. Picture: Ian Currie

Three judges ruled the notorious gangland figure had suffered a substantial miscarriage of justice by his lawyer Nicola Gobbo. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The judges acquitted him on his Quills conviction.

But they have ordered he face a retrial on the Orbital matter.

His appeal on the Magnum matter was dismissed.

There were gasps in the packed courtroom when Justice Stephen McLeish announced Mokbel be re-trialled on the Orbital case, which involved his attempts to source MDMA from overseas in 2005.

Justice McLeish ordered Mokbel come back before the appeal court in November, where he will be re-sentenced over the Magnum case.

Mokbel with his then-lawyer Nicola Gobbo outside court in 2004.

Nicola Gobbo was unmasked by the Herald Sun as Lawyer X in 2019.

But he extended Mokbel’s bail, claiming there were “exceptional circumstances” and that when re-sentenced it was unlikely he would be required to serve any further time.

Mokbel and his girlfriend again offered no comment before they entered a nearby steak restaurant.

Mokbel and his supporters enjoyed steaks and wine during the two-hour sitting at the upmarket Steakhouse Grill 66 on William St — just a couple of hundred metres from the court.

The group of about six left the restaurant just before 2pm.

Mokbel sipped cups of coffee at the County Cafe before Friday’s hearing and looked relaxed.

He appeared relatively happy, even offering a few smiles during his brief public appearances throughout the day.

He will next face the Supreme Court on October 21 for a directions hearing in the Orbital matter to determine when a new trial can be heard.