Ex-police chief Simon Overland breaks his silence over Lawyer X

Former Victoria Police boss Simon Overland has made an official statement to a royal commission into police use of informers.

Former Victoria Police boss Simon Overland has broken his silence on his dealings with snitching barrister Nicola Gobbo.

He has made an official statement to a royal commission into police use of informers, but its contents will remain secret until he is called as a witness. It was revealed on Tuesday that the commission had received the statement. Mr Overland was chief commissioner from 2009 to 2011, but his dealings with the ­lawyer-turned-informer date back to 2006 when he was promoted to deputy commissioner.

In 2010, he ordered police to stop accepting intelligence from Ms Gobbo, but it’s also been revealed he repeatedly sanctioned her use and was behind a push for her to become a police witness.

Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, who once described Ms Gobbo’s ability to help solve underworld murders as “this glittering prize”, has also made a written statement to the inquiry.

Both men are expected to give evidence at upcoming hearings. The timeline and detail of Mr Overland’s knowledge has been a major part of the inquiry into Ms Gobbo’s third period of informing, at the height of Melbourne’s gangland wars. He is now chief executive of Whittlesea Council in Melbourne’s northeast.

AAP