Top cop says Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo has nothing to fear from police

Speaking from a secret overseas location Nicola Gobbo says she fears Victoria Police will kill her.

Nicola Gobbo has spoken to the ABC’s 7.30 from a secret location.

Victoria’s top cop says Nicola Gobbo has nothing to fear from Victoria Police after the former gangland lawyer claimed she was living in fear of her life.

Despite simultaneously informing on some of Melbourne’s underworld heavies while acting as their lawyer, Ms Gobbo has claimed her biggest fear is rogue members of Victoria Police.

“Either to kill me or to lead to, lead to a position where I am killed,” she said.

READ MORE: Lawyer X a risk to justice: police chief Graham Ashton | Gobbo will be forced to appear at Royal Commission | Full Lawyer X coverage

Ms Gobbo made the explosive accusation in an interview on ABC’s 7.30 on Tuesday night.

Before the program aired, Graham Ashton said outside the royal commission into the Lawyer X affair that Ms Gobbo had nothing to fear from “any police officers”.

Ms Gobbo is reportedly preparing to sue Victoria Police for millions of dollars but Mr Ashton said he was unaware of any potential claims being brought forward by her.

He said he was surprised she had given an interview while the royal commission was ongoing.

“I’ll see it (the 7.30 episode) along with everyone else I guess,” he said.

Tonight, Lawyer X, Nicola Gobbo, talks exclusively to #abc730. pic.twitter.com/Z7tIyixg9T

— abc730 (@abc730) December 9, 2019

Commissioner Margaret McMurdo last week ordered Ms Gobbo to give evidence at the inquiry but said she had “no confidence” the lawyer-in-hiding would appear.

Ms Gobbo said in the 7.30 interview that she fled Australia before the royal commission, after being threatened with having her two children removed by authorities.

“We … were not given any opportunity to explain anything to anybody, or particularly in terms of the children, have any form of closure,” she told ABC.

“It remains their belief that they were chased out of their home by police that are trying to take their mummy away, and that, to any parent, is beyond devastating,”

Ms Gobbo said her children have been traumatised by the experience and suffered from separation anxiety.

Ms Gobbo said she understood the concept of legal professional privilege but said anything her clients told her about her associates was not covered.

“An analogy is if you came to me and you were charged with murder and you sought my advice in relation to how to achieve the best outcome for yourself, and in the course of talking to me, you told me all about your mate, Bob, who had guns hidden in his house for an armed robbery that he was about to commit, anything you tell me about your murder charge is subject to privilege and the privilege is yours,” she said.

“But anything you tell me about Bob and his guns and his armed robbery is not privileged. It can’t be.”

A screen grab of the ABC’s interview with Nicola Gobbo. Picture: 7:30

The interview with Nicola Gobbo airs on Tuesday. Picture: 7:30

Faruk Orman was released in July 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 Ms Gobbo.

The royal commission has identified dozens of cases that may have been tainted by Ms Gobbo’s relationship with Victoria Police.

Ms Gobbo said Victoria Police encouraged her to tell them everything and said her informant status carried the imprimatur of the chief commissioner.

“If they are released or have their convictions overturned, then Victoria Police have really got themselves to blame,” she said.

“And I’m not trying to say I played no role in doing anything and that I have no responsibility for anything.

“But ultimately, anything that I did or said or was told to do was with the imprimatur of the Chief Commissioner of Police.”

Ms Gobbo said she didn’t feel guilt over informing on her clients because she morally and ethically felt she had no choice.