Lawyer X: Police believed Mick Gatto may have been carrying a gun

As the gang war raged, police were keen to know if Nicola Gobbo saw Carlton Crew figure Mick Gatto carrying a weapon.

Carlton Crew figure Mick Gatto. Picture: Aaron Francis

Lawyer X’s police handlers believed Carlton Crew figure Mick Gatto may have been carrying a gun, confidential police information reports reveal.

According to a police contact report released by the Lawyer X royal commission this week, detectives grilled their star informer, barrister Nicola Gobbo if she had seen Gatto carrying a weapon.

Headed “Gatto and Gun”, the information report by Officer Fox dating back to 2008 was one of hundreds released on Monday by the royal commission in its final report into the activities of Gobbo and Victoria Police.

“HS (Gobbo) asked if she noticed if he had a gun on him today. She is not sure,” the report states.

“He either carries it or puts it in a bum bag that he carries. Who else knows about the gun Gatto carries? unknown. She does not know it is widely known or not.”

Gatto was cleared by a Supreme Court jury of the murder of gang war hit man Andrew “Benji” Veniamin in 2004.

Veniamin was shot by Gatto at a Melbourne restaurant but was acquitted of a murder charge on self-defence grounds.

Gobbo, police face investigation

A special investigator will be appointed to examine if lawyer-turned-informant Gobbo and a raft of current and former senior Victoria Police officers, including Simon Overland and Graham Ashton, broke the law.

Handing down her final report on Monday, royal commission chair Margaret McMurdo QC said Victoria Police had corrupted the criminal justice system in its unacceptable willingness to tolerate rule bending to solve crime.

“The breach of her obligations as a lawyer was inexcusable, her behaviour in concert with Victoria Police undermined the administration of justice, compromised criminal convictions and damaged the standing of Victoria Police officers involved in this debacle,” she said.

“It has shaken public trust and confidence in the Victorian legal profession and criminal justice system.”

An extraordinary 1011 accused offenders had their cases impacted by the double-dealing criminal barrister, Ms McMurdo found, in her mammoth report that made more than 100 recommendations, many of which call for unprecedented new oversight of Victoria Police conduct.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said using Ms Gobbo as a human source was a “profound failure” and announced Taskforce Reset would be established to respond to the findings of the royal commission.