Victoria Police have ‘accepted without reservation’ that they were profoundly wrong when they unrelentingly facilitated the making of the informant, the former lawyer Nicola Gobbo. It is alleged that Ms Gobbo actively and voluntarily advised (informed) police of the criminal activities of her own clients.

The police spokeswoman said, “It was an indefensible interference in the lawyer-client relationship, a relationship that is essential to the proper functioning of the criminal justice system and to the rule of law. Our failure at that time to ensure that these circumstances were identified and disclosed was also a significant and missed opportunity to right a wrong.

“Victoria Police apologises to the courts whose processes were impacted by what occurred, and to the community for breaching its trust.

“The community can be assured – Victoria Police has come a long way since the events under examination at this royal commission. We have taken steps to make sure that what happened with Ms Gobbo can never happen again.”

The above statements follow a series of legal negotiations between lawyers assisting the royal commission and Victoria Police. Specifically, counsel assisting the commissioner, Chris Winneke QC delivered his report of more than 3000 pages on 31 August 2020 to the commission. Thus, enabling the former President of the Queensland Court of Appeal, Margaret McMurdo to further consider her findings.

READ MORE: Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo has more to fear from Victoria Police!

Mr Winneke QC said, “There were those who had a clear understanding that the conduct was wrong and pressed ahead anyway,” he said. “There were also those who, during the use of Ms Gobbo, knew that her ongoing use might cause a royal commission, but weighed that against the value of the information Ms Gobbo was providing – demonstrating clear knowledge of wrongdoing.

“As to those who understood the risks, or turned a blind eye to them … the impropriety which can be attributed to them is often described as ‘noble cause corruption’.

“Whilst members do not seek to serve themselves through the conduct, but rather seek the ‘noble end’ of ‘putting away’ criminals and [preventing] crime, it may be corruption nonetheless, and the consequences are just as significant,” he said.

“When one considers the entirety of the evidence the commission has received, it appears that the high value of the information Ms Gobbo could and did provide justified, in the views of many members, at all ranks, both the obvious impropriety of using Ms Gobbo as a human source and keeping that fact hidden from the courts, prosecution agencies, and the accused persons to whom it should have been disclosed.”

The royal commission will not extend to the making of any findings against any individual that appeared before the commission. It ought to be understood it was not a trial of people who are alleged to have broken the law. That said, the documents do placate in my opinion, current and former officers as having participated in an alleged conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Major criminal cases are said to be tainted by Ms Gobbo’s duplicity as a result of her once being a competent defence barrister and a not so competent police informer, if such a thing could ever exist.
Former Victoria Police chief commissioners Simon Overland and Graham Ashton and a number of convicted underworld figures ie, Tony Mokbel and Francesco Madaffer, have also submitted papers in reply.

READ MORE: Greek Australian lawyer awarded defamation payout from Google

Lawyers for and on behalf of Victoria Police say that the evidence clearly illuminates that the ‘gangland wars’ were an unprecedented time in Melbourne policing. They argue, there was, extraordinary public pressure on police to restore public order and safety. Bring to trial, those that engaged in serious criminal conduct, including murder and high-level commercial drug dealing the public demanded.

“That this is what was motivating members of Victoria Police is undeniable and completely understandable,” they wrote. “This is not about justification, but about providing context as a matter of fairness when assessing the decisions that individuals made.

“This episode has come to light because of Victoria Police, not in spite of it.”