Faruk Orman to sue Victoria over imprisonment

Faruk Orman will sue for more than a decade behind bars after his murder conviction was quashed.

Faruk Orman (right) will sue the state of Victoria after the former "Lawyer X" Nicola Gobbo (left) client has his murder conviction overturned.

The first person to be released from jail over the Lawyer X scandal will sue the state of Victoria and says more innocent men remain behind bars.

Frank Orman was released on Friday after spending more than a decade behind bars for his role in the 2002 murder of hitman Victor Pierce. The case against Mr Orman was circumstantial and relied of evidence given by clients of Nicola Gobbo, the barrister turned supergrass whose relationship with Victoria Police is the subject of a royal commission.

He said today he will sue the state of Victoria for compensation.

“I didn’t get away from a crime, I never committed a crime,” he told ABC Radio.

“If the state could give me all the world’s gold, it would never replace what I’ve been through.”

Mr Orman spent 12 years in prison after he was sentenced to 20 years in 2009 for his role in the 2002 murder of hitman Victor Peirce, but was granted an appeal after a petition for mercy.

He was found to have helped plan the execution and having driven the getaway car.

But the credibility of evidence from a key witness in the case against Orman was brought into doubt as the actions of Ms Gobbo were revealed.

The police hierarchy at the time signed off on the unprecedented use of Ms Gobbo becoming a supergrass, in large part because of the extent of the gangland war casualties.

Mr Orman said there were more innocent people behind bars.

“I was always known as a gangland killer — like we are getting away with a crime. If people think we’re getting away from a crime, they should have given us a fair trial,” he said.

“The reality is we weren’t getting away with a crime. There are people in jail that are innocent — we’ve got nothing, we are at the mercy of the Attorney-General (Jill Hennessy) … and thankfully she was brave enough to make the decision that she did.”

“If they think they have done nothing wrong, at the very least give them a retrial. Give them the fairness they should have had even if they get found guilty, let them get found guilty fairly,”

The appeals court said Mr Orman’s sentence was a “substantial miscarriage of justice”.

Mr Orman said his first meal outside of prison was two servings of KFC.