Lawyer X inquiry: 1300 cases in danger

Almost 1300 cases may have been affected by turncoat lawyer Nicola Gobbo.

Nicola Gobbo. Picture: ABC

Almost 1300 cases may have been affected by turncoat lawyer Nicola Gobbo.

The revelation came on Friday, the final day of a royal commission into Victoria Police’s use of Ms Gobbo as an informer.

The inquiry heard on Friday that 1297 matters had been identified as “requiring investigation” to determine if they might have been affected by Ms Gobbo’s ­information.

Those people were either ­legally represented by her or ­received legal advice from her.

State and federal prosecutors have already notified more than 40 people that their convictions may have been tainted. Four ­appeals are under way, while one conviction — Faruk Orman’s for the murder of Victor Peirce — has already been overturned.

Lawyers have trawled through more than 145,000 documents and upwards of 1350 exhibits have been tendered since hearings began in February last year.

A small number of public hearings in April will examine policy issues surrounding police management of informers. Commissioner Margaret McMurdo is due to hand down a report on July 1.

Ms Gobbo was first recruited as a law student in 1995 when she turned on a former boyfriend for drug dealing. In 1999, she was registered again while trying to offer police tips on fellow lawyers she accused of money laundering. Her longest stint ran from 2005-09 when she gave evidence against clients including drug kingpin Tony Mokbel and underworld killer Carl Williams.

Ms Gobbo has admitted she acted as an agent for police ­instead of in the best interest of her clients. “Was I accumulating information and, on one level, trying to impress people? Yes, I was,” she told the royal commission. “Do I regret it now? Yes. Every day.”

AAP