Premier Daniel Andrews announces royal commission into Informer 3838

A royal commission will be held into Victoria Police’s mismanagement of several high-profile gangland investigations, Premier Daniel Andrews has announced.

In what is considered one of Victoria's biggest legal scandals, it was revealed on Monday that a female criminal barrister operated as Informer 3838 from 2005 to 2009, giving police information about notorious drug lord Tony Mokbel and his associates, as well as hundreds of other criminals.

Premier Daniel Andrews, flanked by Police Minister Lisa Neville (left) and Attorney-General Jill Hennessy, announces the royal commission.Credit: Chris Hopkins

As a result, the Office of Public Prosecutions can now notify underworld figures, including Mokbel and associated drug trafficker Rob Karam, that their lawyer was a police informer.

Those criminals could appeal their convictions and could walk out of jail or have sentences reduced.

Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd said she had written to 20 people in relation to their prosecutions.

"Other cases are being assessed. If appropriate, I will also write to those affected individuals," Ms Judd said.

Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said on Monday that

police had used Informer 3838 during a "desperate and dangerous" time when Melbourne's gangland war was putting the community at significant risk.

"Melbourne was in the grip of what is now widely known as the gangland wars," Mr Ashton said.

"Over the preceding 12 months, numerous people had been murdered, some in very public locations, and high-profile criminals were vying for control of drug operations that were inflicting serious harm on the Victorian community.

Police Commissioner Graham Ashton talks to the media on Monday. Credit: Fairfax

"It was, accordingly, a desperate and dangerous time."

Mr Ashton said he believed the police involved acted in good faith.

"They can be expected to have my continuing support," he said.

The role of Informer 3838 was revealed in a High Court decision on Monday, which blasted Victoria Police for its conduct in the gangland investigations.

The government said the High Court’s decision threw doubt on whether several convictions occurred fairly and in accordance with the law.

"While these events took place many years ago, the Victorian public has a right to know that every part of the justice system acts fairly and lawfully at all times," Mr Andrews said.

He said the royal commission would probe how many convictions could be called into question because of how the police informer was mismanaged.

"The integrity of the criminal justice system is paramount, and all people charged with crimes are entitled to a fair trial, no matter who they are," he said.

The commission, to be given $7.5 million in funding, is to deliver an interim report by July 1 next year and conclude no later than next December.

Mr Andrews said he received a detailed briefing about the matter on November 25, the day after Labor was re-elected.

“Given that there is the prospect of some very well-known individuals walking free, we think it’s appropriate to have this highest and most formal type of inquiry we can have to give us the answers we need and the certainty that this could never ever happen again,” he said.

It is likely some of the royal commission will be heard in private to protect the safety of witnesses.

Mr Andrews said he had confidence in Mr Ashton.

The Premier said he was limited in what he could say, because some court suppression orders remain in effect and because the safety of at least one individual is at risk.

Hundreds of convictions at risk

Informer 3838 claimed her information led to the convictions of hundreds of people.

"There were a total of 386 people arrested and charged that I am specifically aware of based upon information I provided to Victoria Police, but there are probably more because as you would know, I did not always know the value or use of some of the intelligence that I was providing," she wrote in a letter to police command.

The convictions in question include Mokbel's, but particularly convictions obtained in one of Australia's largest ecstasy hauls, the infamous "tomato tins" drug case linked with the Calabrian mafia.

Federal police seized a container at Melbourne's docks in June 2007 filled with 4.4 tonnes of ecstasy hidden inside tomato tins shipped from Italy.

Mokbel's shipping industry inside man, Rob Karam, a former horse racing identity, is serving more than 35 years’ jail for his role in the case.

Karam's jail term is now in question, as well as that of Pasquale Barbaro, head of the drug syndicate.

Why the defence lawyer became Informer 3838

Informer 3838 was registered as an informer in 2005 at the tail end of the gangland war.

She had a mix of motivations for turning "supergrass", the Court of Appeal concluded, including "ill health, feeling trapped in the criminal world of her clients and frustrated with the way criminals used the system and wanted to be rid of Tony Mokbel and his associates".

Three senior police were on a steering committee that oversaw investigations where Informer 3838 was used or detectives attempted to use her to gather information from allegedly corrupt police.

Former chief commissioner Simon Overland, current Chief Commissioner Mr Ashton – who was then at the Office of Police Integrity – and current Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius were all on the committee.