Killer’s anger at Lawyer X betrayal

A gangland killer is still in shock at discovering his lawyer Nicola Gobbo was a police snitch.

The first underworld figure to testify before the Royal Commission had no idea Nicola Gobbo was a snitch when she was representing him. Picture: ABC News

A criminal client of Nicola Gobbo told the Lawyer X royal commission he would have sacked her on the spot had he known she was ­secretly dealing with police.

The convicted drug trafficker and the first underworld figure to testify ­before the royal commission, said he was still in shock at finding out the lawyer who represented him was a police snitch.

“If I had any idea about Nicola Gobbo having inappropriate dealings with police, I would have sacked her on the spot,’’ he told yesterday’s hearing. “She has given a whole brand new meaning to barristers dicking police.’’

Asked whether he knew that Ms Gobbo, at the time she was representing him, was regularly having sex with a detective, the witness said: “Absolutely not.”

“Would you have been upset if you had known?’’ asked counsel assisting the royal commission, Megan Tittensor.

“Upset? I would have sacked her on the spot. Are you kidding or what? How does that look?

“If I had any idea that she was in an intimate relationship with a cop, I mean, Christ almighty.

“It doesn’t take Einstein to figure out what may have been going on.’’

The witness served a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of numerous offences including drug offences.

Although his recollections of his dealings at the time with Ms Gobbo were hazy, he revealed that she visited him in prison as recently as 2009, when she said her life was at risk from a policeman.

When asked whether the ­policeman was Paul Dale, the former detective suspected of the murder of police informant Terence Hodson, the witness said he could not recall.

The witness, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, ­remains bitter at his treatment by police and Ms Gobbo.

He accused a senior Ethical Standards Department detective, George Tapai, of reneging on an agreement to help him get bail so he could get home to protect his family.

He admitted he was duplicitous in his dealings with Mr Tapai and that he never intended to honour his undertaking to testify against other accused criminals.

“While I was screwing him, he was really screwing me,’’ he said.

The witness said that at the time he was in custody awaiting trial, he told a secret Australian Crime Commission hearing that he would be “leading my family to slaughter’’ if he testified.

He expressed concern to the commission that Ms Gobbo, who did not attend the ACC ­hearings, appeared to have been given ­access to his confidential evidence.

Hearings are due to resume next month.