Gobbo got death threats within a year of being registered as police informant

Nicola Gobbo received death threats from criminals who suspected she was a police snitch.

Nicola Gobbo with gangland boss Carl Williams (R) and underworld hit man Andrew `Benji’ Veniamin at the christening of Williams’ daughter Dhakota.

Nicola Gobbo was subjected to death threats by criminals who suspected her of being a police snitch within a year of her being registered as an informant.

The volume and nature of the threats directed at the defence barrister convinced senior police, including then Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland, that her cover was blown and that she needed to be “eased out” for her own safety.

Despite this, Victoria Police continued to accept information from Ms Gobbo for a further two years until the relationship abruptly ended on the eve of murder proceedings against former detective Paul Dale.

The Lawyer Royal Commission today tendered a disturbing catalogue of text messages received by Ms Gobbo between August 2006 and December 2008 including threats that she would be bashed, shot, raped and killed.

Most of the threats included references to her being a “dog,” a pejorative used by underworld figures to denounce someone suspected of providing information to police.

In the lurid messages, Ms Gobbo was told that she was a filthy f. king dog, that she deserved to die, that she needed to keep her mouth shut and that she would end up a bullet in her head and another in her heart.

“You need to get raped first then picked on then kicked in the f. ken dog head and then shot and splattered” one SMS read.

“I mite (sic) be in your bedroom waiting,’’ warned another.

Table of Threats: Mobile users click here

At one point, she was told by Milad Mokbel, the brother of Tony Mokbel and a lieutenant in a crime cartel which controlled a large share of Melbourne’s illicit drug supply during the gangland war, that gangland killer Carl Williams’ wife Roberta was going to bash her.

In a separate incident, two live rounds were left in her letterbox.

Retired police detective Gavan Ryan, a homicide cop appointed to run the Petra task force investigation into whether Mr Dale was involved in the 2004 murders of police informant Terence Hodson and his wife Christine, said he met with Mr Overland in December 2006 and discussed the threats against Ms Gobbo.

Mr Ryan told the Commission that both he and Mr Overland agreed it had become too dangerous to keep using her as an informant.

Under questioning from counsel assisting Andrew Woods, Mr Ryan agreed that once a human source became so compromised, they should no longer be used an informant regardless of the value of the information they were providing.

“I thought it was inevitable she would be killed,’’ Mr Ryan said.

“You don’t know what it’s like going home every day wondering if you are going to get bumped.”

Petra taskforce briefing documents tendered to the commission show that, instead of “easing” Ms Gobbo out as a police informant, her role was expanded to undercover agent and Crown witness against Mr Dale.

Mr Overland, then Ethical Standards Department Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius and Graham Ashton, then deputy director of the Office of Police Integrity, were members of a high powered steering committee which oversaw the Petra investigation and received weekly updates from Mr Ryan.

“Mr Overland was exploring the possibility of using her as a witness from time to time and we were against it,’’ Mr Ryan said.

Evidence to the Commission also showed that the OPI examined Ms Gobbo about her knowledge of the Hodson murders.

Mr Ryan said Mr Ashton, now Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, regularly attended the Petra briefings but did not lead discussions. “He hardly said a word,’’ he said.

Mr Dale was charged with the murder of Terence Hodson but the case collapsed after Ms Gobbo refused to testify and another witness, Carl Williams, was bludgeoned to death in jail.

The dramatic events led to a bitter falling out between Ms Gobbo and Victoria Police, a $2.8 million compensation payment by police to Ms Gobbo and the unearthing of the Lawyer X scandal.

The hearing continues.