Client had gut feeling about Lawyer X

Victoria Police wanted underworld barrister Nicola Gobbo to ­encourage one of her clients to rollover, the royal commission has heard.

Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo.

Victoria Police secretly gave underworld barrister Nicola Gobbo an interview transcript of one of her clients to ­encourage him to “roll” and confess to murder, the royal commission has heard.

That criminal told police he had a “gut feeling” that Ms Gobbo preferred to help investigators rather than him.

Counsel assisting the royal commission into the Lawyer X scandal, Chris Winneke QC, asked one of Ms Gobbo’s former police handlers if he and others gave her information about her incarcerated client during 2006. The former handler, ­referred to by the pseudonym “Sandy White”, suggested this was done so Ms Gobbo could convince her client — accused with Carl Williams of murdering Pasquale Barbaro and Jason Moran — to plead guilty. “You gave (the transcript) to her as an agent of the state, as a secret transcript, and not to tell (her client) that she’d read it,’’ Mr Winneke said. Mr White said he couldn’t confirm if the transcript was given to Ms Gobbo legitimately as a barrister or in her role as a police informer. “She’s not on (her client’s) side. She’s not acting for him, she’s acting for the police,” Mr Winneke said.

AAP