Tony Mokbel’s Mercedes ride from court to freedom

After 18 years in jail a smiling Tony Mokbel walked out of the Victorian Court of Appeal, hopped into a $200,000 Mercedes and sped off to restart his notorious life as a free man.

Tony Mokbel leaves court on Friday. Picture: Alex Coppel

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After 18 years in jail a smiling Tony Mokbel walked out of the Victorian Court of Appeal, hopped into a $200,000 Mercedes and sped off to restart his notorious life as a free man.

In a dark and shameful day for Victoria Police, three judges unanimously granted the gang war drug lord bail after finding his legal rights were seriously compromised by his barrister, Nicola Gobbo – known as Lawyer X – secretly working against him for detectives.

Mokbel’s dramatic release delivers another devastating blow to the reputation of Victoria Police, which has already been slammed by a royal commission and a separate legal judgment that described the force’s recruitment of Ms Gobbo as a “joint criminal enterprise”.

Former police commanders and gang war detectives behind the conspiracy to corrupt the legal system must now accept their actions have resulted in Mokbel enjoying his first free weekend in almost two decades.

Mokbel leaves court. Picture: David Crosling

While police have defended what some described as “noble cause corruption” to help resolve the gang war, the Lawyer X scandal has undermined public confidence in the legal system and police. Friday’s sensational freeing of one of the gang war godfathers will do nothing to restore Victorians’ faith in the police.

Having changed from his prison greens into a dark suit and blue-and-white striped tie, 59-year-old Mokbel bowed deeply and smiled with relief when the president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Karin Emerton, delivered the news he’d been fighting years to hear.

“The court was satisfied that Mr Mokbel had established truly exceptional circumstances

as the basis of his application for bail,” Justice Emerton ruled.

“It follows that he has a very strong case that the deliberate concealment and nondisclosure of Nicola Gobbo’s actions should be regarded as vitiating the plea agreement and the pleas of guilty entered pursuant to it.

“In turn, he has a very strong case that his convictions in the Quills, Orbital and Magnum (drug investigations) should be quashed.”

Mokbel has been in custody since his arrest in 2007 in Greece, where he had been hiding – with the help of an ill-fitting wig – since fleeing Australia midway through a major drug trial. He escaped Australia hiding in a yacht in one of the most dramatic episodes of Melbourne’s gang war, which claimed about 30 lives.

After being extradited back to Melbourne, Mokbel pleaded guilty to a number of drug offences and was jailed for 26 years. He was not due for release until 2031, and he has also been the victim of vicious jail attacks, which left him with a brain injury.

Mokbel’s sister, Gawy Saad, has put up a $1m surety to secure the release of her brother, who must live at her house in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and report to local police on a daily basis.

Mokbel shook his lawyer’s hand and broke into a broad smile at the conclusion of the hearing. He kissed his sister and waved at family and supporters.

Asked if she was happy with the decision, Ms Saad told The Australian: “Absolutely, absolutely, he deserves to come out now.”

Mokbel told the court he understood the tight bail conditions imposed on him. “I do, Your Honour,” he said. Asked if would follow the restrictions, Mokbel said: “Yes, Your Honour.”

Three hours after being dramatically freed by the court on Friday, Mokbel signed the strict bail conditions – which include wearing an electronic tracker and abiding by an overnight curfew – walked down the court steps, made his way through a media scrum without commenting, and slipped into the back of the matt grey Mercedes E63 sports car.

Mokbel’s freedom plunges Victoria Police into an even deeper crisis over its use of Lawyer X, which has also been the subject of a royal commission and led to several other jailed gangland figures being released.

Victoria Police is also battling a crisis on another front, with its command structure in chaos following the ousting of chief commissioner Shane Patton, and interim chief commissioner Rick Nugent, who was favoured to take the top job, abruptly withdrawing from the application process.

It’s 11 years since Ms Gobbo’s double life as a gangland barrister and a police informer was exposed by the media. While several other gang war figures have been released because of what one judge described as the “joint criminal enterprise” between Ms Gobbo and police, Mokbel is by far the biggest name to be freed.

In its ruling on Friday, the court noted Mokbel contended his situation was “exceptional because the circumstances in which he pleaded guilty involved fundamental misconduct … by Victoria Police, coupled with fundamental misconduct by Nicola Gobbo when acting as his legal adviser, and the failure by the authorities to disclose such misconduct prior to his pleas”.

The court also noted that in the circumstances found by NSW judge Elizabeth Fullerton (in an earlier hearing) “he was deliberately misled and deceived as to the strength and nature of the prosecution cases”.

Ms Gobbo was recruited by Victoria Police to spy on her clients, including the drug dealer.

Mokbel claims that as a result his legal rights were compromised. A court has already quashed one of his multiple convictions because of Lawyer X. He was not due to be released until 2031.

Former Victoria Police chief commissioner Simon Overland, who led the police response to the bloody gang war, and who has been sharply criticised by several legal rulings, did not respond to questions from The Australian on Friday.

Victoria Police released a statement saying: “Victoria Police is aware of the release of a 59-year-old man on bail today following a Court of Appeal hearing. This man is subject to a number of conditions whilst on bail. Victoria Police is always proactive in monitoring those in the community who are subject to these conditions. It would not be appropriate to comment further on specifics; however, the safety of the community remains our number one priority.”

Mokbel will return to court later this year when his substantive appeal against his convictions is expected to be held.