Police petition Court of Appeal to get access to alleged gangster Harley Barbaro’s phone

Police have petitioned the Court of Appeal in the latest tussle to get access to the phone of alleged gangster Harley Barbaro.

POLICE have petitioned the Court of Appeal in the latest tussle to get access to the phone of alleged gangster Harley Barbaro.

The alleged Mongols bikie was convicted in the Southport Magistrates Court in June 2019 for failing to provide a mobile phone passcode to police.

But his legal team won an appeal in the Southport District Court in March, effectively quashing that conviction.

It was argued that because Barbaro had conversations with his lawyer Campbell MacCallum on the phone, providing the passcode would breach confidentiality with his lawyer or legal professional privilege.

Lawyer Campbell MacCallum with his client Harley Barbaro at Southport Courthouse. Picture: Jerad Williams

Crown prosecutor Matt Hynes, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police Katarina Carroll, has now lodged documents in the Court of Appeal wanting that decision overturned.

Mr Hynes said in court documents that Judge David Kent made an error when he concluded that legal professional privilege provided Barbaro with a reasonable excuse not to provide his phone password.

Legal professional privilege protects all communications between a lawyer and their client and can only be disclosed with the permission of the client.

Mr Hynes said in documents that there were already consequences for police who improperly used information that was subject to legal privilege, including breach of discipline and criminal proceedings.

“Moreover, if documents subject to privilege are found to have provided a platform into further investigations, any subsequent legal proceedings will be subject to the rules respecting evidence illegally obtained,” he said.

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Barbaro’s barrister Marty Longhurst, instructed by Moloney MacCallumb Abdelshahied Lawyers, said in court documents that legal privilege was a reasonable excuse.

“The state of the evidence suggests that the processes that are currently in place by the QPS provide limited accountability for officers who come into possession of data obtained from mobile devices,” he said.

Mr Longhurst said Barbaro refused because once police had access to the phone they would be able to access his confidential messages and emails with Mr MacCallum.

Barbaro’s brother Pasquale Barbaro, an underworld boss, was shot execution style in Sydney in 2016.

He was accused of being a member of the street gang the Villains before allegedly becoming a patched Mongols member.

Barbaro is no stranger to appealing decisions. This year he unsuccessfully tried to appeal the anti-consorting laws to the High Court.

The appeal will be heard in the coming months.

Originally published as Police petition Court of Appeal to get access to alleged gangster Harley Barbaro’s phone