The scandalous case of Lawyer X and the underbelly murder investigations | Four Corners

this commission results from the conduct of a former legal practitioner and her relationship with Victoria Police to police she was known as Informer three eight three eight this is probably the single biggest scandal to hit the Australian justice system in history she purported to act as counsel for clients charged with criminal offences whilst simultaneously informing on those clients to police for years the public only knew her as lawyer X as Victoria police fought to keep her identity secret now Nicola Gobbo is the most infamous lawyer in Australia I don't think that there has ever been a case that I've heard of in the Western world that has all of the features that this case has where at every single layer of the system it's been corrupted so egregiously by people so high up in the Victoria police hierarchy it's unprecedented this is a tale of cops criminals murder and betrayal that's become the biggest crisis ever faced by the Australian justice system in the Victorian courts Nicola Gobbo was building a career as an effective at times fearsome defense barrister her clients were a who's who of the criminal underworld but Gobbo had a dirty secret she was also a registered police informer and was passing information about her clients to police when she walked in the door and said I want to be an informer they should have turn around said not possible thanks very much whatever thought a formidable defense barrister is going to turn rogue and start using her clients information give it to the police you never think that a month or so knows tonight on four corners how the crisis known as the lawyer X scandal has undermined trust in the criminal justice system and raised serious questions about the conduct of Victoria police [Music] there's been another payback gangland killing in Melbourne for Melbourne homicide detectives like Charlie buzina the late 1990s and early 2000s were a wild ride the underworld was tearing itself apart it's clear the man has been ambushed and executed two men wearing balaclavas there was some sort of confrontation inside they were shots fired from the working-class streets of sunshine here that Boom Boom Bang to the gentrifying cafes of Carlton Brunswick the bodies were piling up we heard the three maybe four shots rapid fire so two samurai semi-automatic or an eight gonna look in those days it was as something we've never been exposed to in all the years that I was a police officer carlene's been shot by Jason and Mark Moran and the likes are then escalator from that point and again it's like what the scene movies in American movies a turf war two of melbourne 'he's most notorious crime gangs the williams family and the carlton crew began a bloody fight for control of the city's lucrative drug trade it would become known simply as the gangland war whilst we had many years ago in the 60s and 70s the murders in the victorian market and that mafia and alleged mafia involvement here we had an era where we were getting underworld figures being murdered at an alarming rate can you describe what it was like here in melbourne in those years Oh Chicago in the in the 30s it was totally totally lawless and the media were selling plenty of newspapers based on the stories of the latest infraction by Victorian criminal it was an epidemic of murder and crime going on that Victoria police were legitimately very concerned about and the citizens of Melbourne were obviously very concerned about one of the criminals on the rise was drug dealer Carl Williamson it was his shooting in 1999 that ramped up the violence they say had happening over money that I was shot everything like that as I said I don't know anything who all shot by anything wild and shot you know I don't know who shot me well we have your eyes shot at the time yeah I've got no idea really who shot me it's there's nothing to do with you that both of those two men are dead now now something to do with me at all the baby-faced monster who began dealing on the fringe of the drug scene was now well on the way to becoming the leader of a multi-million dollar drug empire and he was hell-bent on revenge the violence that marks payback in the underworld took a savage turn during the weekend when an infamous Melbourne crime figure was shot dead in front of his children the real turning point was definitely the murders of Jason Moran and Pasquale Barbaro at the footy clinic because previously people were murdered in their driveways in their cars at night and now you have got normal suburban families going to an auskey clinic and seeing two people brutally murdered in front of their own children crooks don't do things like that they have their own unwritten law so this went outside the bounds of what career seasoned criminals would do themselves and what would was acceptable at all within our community so it was outside those two realms significantly so this was a major major turning point in the underworld killings over the next few years the gangland violence would thrust the criminals the state's top cops and a handful of defense lawyers into the public spotlight this was a career-making moment two of the most prominent were young female and flamboyant one was Nicola Gobbo who would later become Carl Williams lawyer if you appear before nicola gaba you knew you're in for a run in that witness box she was no slouch she knew her business very very well she knew police procedures and you knew you know run for your money her uncle was a Supreme Court judge before becoming governor of Victoria he's a Rhodes Scholar he got degrees from Oxford her sister is a member of the Victorian bar cousin is a member of the Victorian bar it's a it's a large legal family and what does the name Gobbo mean here in legal circles it did mean everything in legal circles it is a ticket to anywhere unfortunately now it is gonna be remembered for a lot more than what we did stand for with a name like Gobbo she would've had a very promising career ahead of her wouldn't she Oh without question the best stepping stone straight onto the bench the other colorful young defence lawyer who represented well-known underworld figures at the time was Zahra guard Wilson I can recall sort of that period it was almost a gangland killing every couple of weeks in the early 2000s Nicola gobos career was on a fast track but her approach was anything but traditional all criminal lawyers will end up doing a high-profile case in their career they'll all end up getting chased down the street by camera crews in relation to at least one client but the people she represented she seemed to be attracted to the people who would attract the most attention and she did so both in a personal and professional capacity as the gangland figures rolled up to court Nicola Gobbo was often at their side and when the courts closed she was at the celebrations and the family dinners blurring the line between professional and personal when you see that famous picture of Nicola Garbo at the Creta casino with Williams Arman Arman that's hotter stuffy you sort of reel back as an investigator and say oh hang on a minute is this appropriate for a defense brownness would be that her role is to protect people in relation to defense barrister but not to be seen socializing with these people the conduct alarmed many of her colleagues it was unusual and given the times potentially dangerous criminal lawyer Ruth Parker has also acted for a number of underworld figures there was no self-preservation to begin with when you are socializing with people who you understand are under investigation for a series of murders for commercial quality drug trafficking I mean why are you giving speeches at Dakota Williams christening why why are you going to dinner with your clients the danger she put herself in was that she became part of the game there's a very strict demarcation you done socialize with your clients we're working in the criminal jurisdiction you act professionally you defend them vigorously but what you don't do is you don't cross that line and you don't socialize with people it's dangerous particularly in that period from 1999 to 2005 30 odd people had been killed it's dangerous all right and and when you nail your colours to the mast in the way that she did she was invited in trouble but the lawyers didn't know the half of it for the last eight months a Royal Commission in Melbourne has laid out the scale of her dangerous double game the Commission has heard it began back in the early 90s when she was still at law school am i right in say then at the time you were registering Nikolov Gobbo as an informer you knew one she was a law student yep at the bottom it says you also were aware I'm asking you that she was intending to become a solicitor grace correct yeah right you therefore agree that a decision made was made by someone but you were otherwise that she potentially could be a good asset yes otherwise we wouldn't bothered registering it appears don't start in university days that this was her personality coming out of really wanting to play the whole field the Royal Commission has heard that Nicola goobers first contact with the drug squad was when they raid at this house in Carlton in 1993 the first person Gobbo informed on was her flatmate and boyfriend at the time who was a drug dealer came back to the search on the 3rd of September 93 as I understand you also were where by then she was providing at least some intelligence on him at the very least by saying the drugs are in the vent and there is correct the boyfriend she was living with was given an 8 month suspended jail sentence Nicola GABA was given a 12 month good behavior bond and no conviction police identified her as a human source worth cultivating and you agree it was you who was involved in recruiting her and I've never disputed that yes and I'm asked the registration yes Chris I think so when it must have been fairly unique to be in the position of trying of recruiting someone as an informant who is all of those factors someone is a law student intended to practice the law intending related to someone within the law and also a partner for known criminal and your question boom I'm sorry from the time she was first recruited as an informer some police were expressing concern about her she was described as a loose cannon and criticized for making her own arrangements and not liaising with investigators is it your understanding that the detective recalls having concerns that led him to the view that she shouldn't be registered as an informer one of the reasons was the two as a solicitor yes that's right also that she was too overt in her desire to provide information to police that's correct that her relationships with some officers was inappropriate that's correct despite the concerns about her character she was used on and off as an informer throughout the 90s before being d registered as an informer in 2000 by the early 2000s Nicola Gobbo was a barrister representing many of the key underworld figures including the drug kingpin Tony mock bill Mel burns gangland war was in full swing and the number of dead was growing it was in the media it was political and nearly every day you were reading write-ups about somebody getting murdered or some violent crimes occurring Nicola gobo was also out drinking with police at hotels like O'Connell's and talking unofficially with detectives I think what has come out from the Royal Commission is it wasn't as much that she loved it she needed it there was something deeply unwell about her need for validation and her need to be constantly surrounded by risky people I have to say though experienced in the past in 2003 the young confident new assistant commissioner Simon Overland Dillo became the public face of Victoria police efforts to rein in the violence as the gangland hits continued he was often at the scene just in front of the cameras all available resources will be bought under this job we will leave no stone unturned to find the people responsible for this latest murder overland was instrumental in establishing the special task force called piranhas early this morning the Piranha Task Force which is investigating more than 20 underworld murders in Melbourne took over the case they were specifically designed and the unit was put together to investigate gangland murders and it was a political decision to put together what was the specialist task force the elite of the elite and they became a law enforcement superpower Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland and the current commissioner Graham Ashton it was then at the office of police integrity were brought in from the AFP they had a different approach to policing that rubbed badly with the old guard these are federal police officers they don't have the experience of coalface policing they don't because federal policing is so different from state policing yet here they are calling the shots police were desperate to bring the gangland killings to an end in September 2005 Victoria police made the astonishing decision to register Nicola Gobbo as an informer once again she would become the police secret weapon in the underworld war I would say that there were certain people in the administration of Victoria Police at a very high level who whose egos and ambition and the publicity surrounding it were all too eager to have Nicola GABA as an informer and to solve these types of crimes it was world news that they're so cool when I'm on the safest places in the world having these massive hits on a regular basis and I think the police view and that the feeling that we were getting as an opposition is that they were going to do whatever it took to get it done and as it turned out you know the courts will determine that they have probably overstepped the mark and there will be consequences as a result of that the decision to use who would have gone a long way up the trade oh I don't know how far but whoever made the decision to use Nicola Gobbo as an informer it was a very naive decision that a lot of the operational members and members that I've spoken - and retired members just can't believe the Victoria Police did that at that time eight of September 2005 did you attend a meeting with detective acting superintendent Hill Detective Inspector white Detective Sergeant mantle and members of the SDU yes there was a decision made on that day for the SDU to meet with miss gobo to assess her suitability is that right yes was there any discussion at that meeting about the ethical implications of making a lawyer police I just effectively there appears not to be a case anywhere around the world where this has occurred before which goes to show the significance of it no one's been willing to cross that line other than Victoria police you've stopped the shootings people are locked up on remand awaiting trial to go the next step and recruit a criminal defense lawyer to ensure that they are convicted for the rest of their lives or for decades that's not pressure that's a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice probably they would say at the time the ends justify the means but that's hardly an excuse and hardly justifies it and couldn't can never ever justify what's occurred one of those she turned on was her client the drug baron tony mock bill Gobbo had grown fearful of mock bill who had begun threatening her she later said he was one of the main reasons she agreed to become an informer to get him off her back so we'll start as this recording of gobo and her handlers reveals she was willing to give police everything she knew she was effectively dealing upper clients on a platter to the prosecuting authorities when they had every expectation that she would be looking after them she simply betrayed them the fact that it went for so long and went undetected for so long um and that she was capable of putting on the jekyll-and-hyde face throughout this on a daily basis is quite extraordinary [Music] another client of Nicola gobber's was this man Terry Hudson in for a minor player in the Melbourne drug scene but a valuable informer for Victoria police his police overseer was drug squad detective Paul Dale it was gobos dealings with these two men hodson and Dale that would eventually lead to her undoing she became in meshed in one of the most intriguing crimes of the gangland war in 2003 a drug house in Melbourne controlled by the drug kingpin Tony mock bail was broken into a stash of drugs were stolen the break-in was conducted by Hudson and detective Dave Michelle Hudson's police handler and a member of Paul Dale's drug squad ultimately Dave Mitchell is arrested by police dog handler Terry Hudson's arrested Terry Hudson then makes a statement that implicates pulled out of being part and parcel of the potential burglary of their place which is completely denied by Paul Dunn dales alibi was that he was in Bendigo on the night of the robbery Rob's Terry was Terry Hudson's lawyer we became involved with Carrie Hudson just prior to his committal hearing or his preliminary hearing where we brokered a deal where he would plead guilty to burglary and theft committed in the company of two other police officers and then he would then give evidence against those police officers including Paul Dale and we'd come to an agreement with the prosecution that he would not serve a term of imprisonment just before it was heard Rob Starr he was told he was off the case and that Terry Hudson would be represented by Nicola Gobbo I was completely surprised we had a good relationship with Terry and his wife Christine and their children and so there was a good rapport with them we come to a good arrangement for him and so we were completely blown away by the fact that he sought to instruct other people and now you know what you know what happened well it appears that Nicola Gobbo maintained contact with him and then she and decided door she the arrangements were made for her to appear now we didn't know obviously that she was in a relationship with Paul doll one of the accused and we didn't know that she was conveying information to him so Nicola KOMO was representing the Hudsons at the same time getting information from Paul Dale who they were go to testify against yes and and she was conveying information to Paul Dale she asked to see my dad from what I can gather and I think she did represent my brother because of my brother knowing Tony mock bail and all that mandy Hodson is one of Terry Hudson's three children I've never like done I didn't meet her personally at first but I was the one who nicknamed it Sharon 20 stone because of the outfits when she was a bit bigger that she used to wear reminded me of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct Mandy Hudson says her father knew his days were numbered he used to walk around and say he was a dead man walking I knew the extent of it but I didn't ever think I would come and find them murdered on the 15th of May 2004 Terry Hudson and his wife Christine were murdered as they watched television at home Charlie buzina was the investigating detective I'm on call tapes I'll get called out to the scene and that's what I'm confronted with Christine and Terry's body in the back room being shot to the back of their head no sign of forced entry [Music] and then I just start doing the investigation and learning things why would someone want to kill this person here we have a police informer crooks don't like police informers so I had a myriad of different people that wanted Terry dead I think that it was someone dressed or impersonating a police officer because then that would have made sense as to why he didn't have his gun next to him he might have said to my mom watching on his TV he might've said all that sir place you put the gun away and I'll go and let them in and of course the allegation against Paul Dahl was that he contracted Carr Williams to kill Hudson had no idea obviously that was happening so on the day that Terry Hudson was killed police rang me and I was completely completely shocked and unnerved by what happened Williams later told police Paul Dale had asked him to arrange the hit on Terry Hudson for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars Williams also said it was Nicola Gobbo who gave him Dale's phone number unknown to Charlie buzina police command had their own parallel operation involving Gobbo under way in the meantime I loved him that overland and others are running Gobbo behind my back in relation to the Hudson investigation and other things as we now know without any knowledge of me I'm not entrusted in that particular thing why I don't know that's something you have to ask him I've just gone on me weary way you know what I'm focused on getting the killer's we'll kill her for the Hudson people whilst they're doing their own little thing behind my back at this time the use of Gobbo as an informer was kept close but in the criminal and legal world some started suspecting something wasn't quite right the suspicions were around 2006 and this is where a number of gangland people had rolled and become prosecution witnesses and there was clearly a crossover in relation to her representation potentially of them and current clients and the continuation of her representing those current clients one of gobber's biggest clients also made it clear he knew what she was up to you had Carl Williams come out and say to people Nicola Gobbo is a dog she is informing what did anyone do with that nothing and I think he was poo-pooed and said well might you know you're a criminal we don't accept what you say but it's coming from other sources but everyone remained Muta on it complaints were made by car Williams to the Ethics Committee in the bar committee and various other parties that there appears to be a conflict of interest here I like this stopped and it just went nowhere mm-hmm why is that different it's unbelievable it's just not plausible that Victoria police would have the gall to register a barrister on her own clients it's the implications of what she was doing wasn't lost on Nicola Gobbo herself recordings revealed at the Royal Commission show this time she was concerned police weren't doing enough to protect her anonymity check my career from you know any Laconia okay they're only be covered by insurance money no one could have any doubt how dangerous this was Gobbo herself received a number of threatening text messages keep your mouth shut [ __ ] [ __ ] dog you need to keep that informing dog mouth shut [ __ ] despite the growing concerns about her safety Victoria police then made the extraordinary decision to have Gobbo wear a wire to record a conversation with Paul Dale they were certainly keen to see if in fact Paul Dale was involved in the Hudson killings what better way to do it was someone that Darla sleeping with in a defense barrister had pulled out found that she's wearing a wire will goodness know it would have been you know the outcome would have been I suppose not good in that regard so to make that decision no significant police officer said to many senior police either said to me that he thought that the way it was being handled is had overstepped the mark and it would lead to a royal commission and of course he turned out to be very right hmm did he say specifically that she was informing for him he said that she was playing both sides after recording a conversation with Dale Gobbo initially agreed to be a witness against him the Royal Commission has heard that the police steering committee overseeing the hans and murders ignored warnings that this could put her at grave risk the current chief commissioner Graham Ashton and a former assistant commissioner Simon Overland were on that steering committee a number-one rule with any Informer is anonymity that's the number one thing you do and any serving policeman at the present time would tell you that and to even consider using them as a witness is unheard of and once again I will say that whoever made that decision was extremely naive and it showed a complete lack of operational experience I'm totally innocent of the murder of Christine and Terrence Hudson Paul Dale was once a detective sergeant in the drug squad he's now accused of organizing one of Victoria's most notorious murders Paul Dale was arrested for the murder of the Hudsons in February 2009 by now Nicola gobber's relationship with police was spiraling out of control she'd been deregistered as an informer GABA refused to testify against Dale she went public with an attack on police and a dramatic demand for compensation having had the courage and strength to agree to become a witness for Victoria police I was required to give up my home my security my sense of life as I knew it I was assured by mr. overland that I would be compensated and that I would be left no worse off I have become seriously ill as a result of the way in which I was forced to live during this period of time and my health is deteriorated as a result of constant stress and uncertainty I remain in fear for my life since agreeing to give evidence for Victoria Police it is unfortunate that I was left with no alternative but to issue proceedings and to seek justice while Nicola gobo was pleading her case publicly the case against Paul Dale sensationally collapsed with the murder of Carl Williams in Barwon prisoner the charges against Dale over the Hodson murders were dropped at the Royal Commission Paul Dale claimed he was set up by Victoria police I truly believe they've committed a criminal offense what I've prevented the course of just understand they used her against me then they tried the user as a witness against me in a criminal matter and it was an absolute debacle what went on at court through that period while they were trying to protect what they don't eight months in solitary confinement because of a tape recording of a criminal barrister that I sought for legal advice and now we see the whole can of worms opened up about what else she did for all of their clients - against their clients on behalf of Victoria boys in August 2010 Victoria police agreed to a settlement with Nicola Gobbo reported to be nearly three million dollars while gobo had now outed herself as a witness the fact that she was also a police informer was still secret this was the story that Victoria police didn't want Australians to read about they didn't wanted to know about it they kept it secret for the better part of 15 years I reckon they probably thought they've gotten away with it information provided by Nicola Gatto helped lock up some of the state's biggest criminals but the ethical and legal questions about using a barrister as a police informer would continue to dog Victoria police to secret reviews into that decision would deliver critical assessments and inevitably the story began to leak anthony dowsley and Jessica - reporter rang me and he said four words I've got a story I knew they wouldn't like it I fundamentally underestimated how much they wouldn't like it though and in the end the fact that we didn't name her in that initial report and we came up with a pseudonym lawyer X you know they didn't back off the now Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton was determined to stop her identity becoming public knowledge police were granted multiple suppression orders and injunctions to prevent identifying her in any way this was unprecedented we were dragged into court 28 times over that five year period by Victoria police and the Victorian Government solicitor's office and on education we were threatened with prosecution conviction fines very quickly after we published that initial story we were also injuncted and suppressed from even calling her lawyer ex in another stunning move the Director of Public Prosecutions declared an intention to notify a number of gobos clients that she had been a police informer the response from police was to try to stop it they challenged the DPP all the way to the High Court the case when did its way through the Supreme Court of Victoria it went to the court of appeal of Victoria and then went to the High Court each party was represented by senior counsel and solicitors and junior counsel and huge amounts of public money effectively was expended as a result of the actions of the chief commissioner the High Court endorsed the decisions of the Victorian courts allowing the DPP to disclose the information the High Court ruling described the decision to recruit Gobbo as reprehensible conduct that debased fundamental premises of the criminal justice system it was a scathing indictment of her conduct and in particular of the conduct of Victoria Police which they say sanctioned and countenanced it and they say that Victoria police effectively counted as the breach by every sworn police officer in Victoria of their oath of office whilst you might have seen your police officers who said oh yes I wasn't very comfortable about it they still allowed people to be convicted with tainted evidence and spend years in prison and did nothing for years Victoria police fought to keep Nicola Gaga's identity secret and it seems even here at the Royal Commission they're reluctant to be fully transparent since the hearings began they've been accused of frustrating the proceedings and withholding information at one point the Commissioner was even moved to warn police they faced prosecution for withholding documents requested by the inquiry some can I suggest that you and those instructing you remind your clients of this notice to produce of their obligations under it which are ongoing that it's an offence not to comply with it and that an agency of the crown can under the inquiries act to be charged with the commission of an offense thank you [Applause] despite being asked repeatedly by the Commission Victoria Police have been reluctant to produce documents and witness statements documents have been dribbled forth to the Commission always late and not with adequate the time for those affected to cross-examine all of them there's obviously been a concerted attempt to stymie the Commission as much as has been possible [Music] there's a tendency here to delay to obfuscate to hope that this is all going to go away somehow if the most well resourced department of the Victorian Government is finding it this difficult then there really are only two explanations other people are just not doing their jobs or this is intentional it is extraordinary the Commission is still being provided with documents that were requested months ago there's accused out there that still haven't received disclosure in relation to these matters Gobbo herself has said that a total of three hundred and eighty-six people were arrested and charged based upon information she provided to police the Office of Public Prosecutions has written to 31 convicted criminals to let them know their cases may have been tainted were men wrongly convicted or convicted on tainted evidence who did it who ordered it and what's going to happen to those police officers who were involved make no mistake there are some really bad men who could get out of jail because of the actions of Victoria police and Nicola Gobbo how does it play out from here a very very slow process of unwinding every single one of those cases and determining what really has gone on and what happened in the future the unethical use of Nicola Gobbo as an informer has already led to the release of one of the convicted gangland figures Farouk Ormond was convicted of murder and spent more than a decade in jail his lawyer his Ruth Parker what happened was that a witness gave evidence against him which we now know was created with the assistance of Nicola Garbo in all man's case gobos assistance to police went well beyond just securing convictions and so on the day that she heard that he'd been arrested the same day he contacted her the same day she was contacting the main witness against him she contacted her handlers and said he needs to be surrounded by people at all times and his obsessive compulsive in terms of cleanliness if you keep him isolated in messy conditions you'll break Farouk Ormond was kept in solitary confinement for three years 19 months into his three-year stint in solitary confinement she reports back to her Hamlin's that piranhas tactics are working he's at his lowest that he's ever been it's unknown whether he will roll but obviously she's staying on top of the situation Rob Khurram is another underworld figure who will be appealing he was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 37 years in jail his lawyer is Zahra Gard Wilson when we first filed for mr. kramm in 2015 counsel appeared for the chief commissioner said that our appeal was a delusional fantasy and nothing more the mere fact that she was a registered police informer is a delusional fantasy so that's what that starting mark that we started with the drug baron tony mock bail currently serving 30 years will also be appealing his lawyer has accused Victoria Police of criminal behavior this is not just a case of impropriety there is criminal conduct here and that involves aiding and abetting Gobbo in perverting the course of justice this is a situation that is of their own making nothing like this has ever occurred to my knowledge Ruth Parker also believes those police commanders who sanctioned the decision to recruit GABA have committed criminal offenses they need to take full responsibility but that can only happen when the people whose personal interests are divided from the interests of the organization I mean one thing that has always astonished me is how you can have an organization run by a person such as Graham Ashton in circumstances where here's well and truly in the spotlight potentially having committed criminal offences himself so it is pretty clear in your mind that the actions of Ashton and Overland and other senior police officers is corrupt yes anybody who thinks that registering a criminal defense barrister as a human source using them against her clients facilitating dishonesty in the court system facilitating perjury and covering up the fact that it had happened I mean that is the very definition of corruption Graham Ashton and Simon Overland have yet to appear before the Royal Commission both declined to appear in this program Ashton's only public comments so far have come during his regular monthly radio slots with three aw and ABC we're investigating very serious crimes back then that were very serious breaches of the law and that was the whole resident debt returned that that whole investigation was to investigate what were very serious and dangerous crimes at that time that were being practically in the community the upper hierarchy of Victoria Police has to take complete responsibility I mean the buck stops at the top clearly and it went as high as the chief commissioner and some assistant commissioners those who knew and sanctioned what was happening were guilty of terrible breaches of duty and extraordinarily unethical behavior [Music] how much responsibility does the current police commissioner the former assistant commissioner have to take for the situation the Victoria Police is in well culture starts at the top the head of the fish rots first this is going to be a very very dark time in the history of Victoria police force and unfortunately it's going to extend over a period probably 15 to 20 years this kinda takes some time to rebuild the trust of the community to bring back ethics into the job they surprised the chief commissioner is still in absolutely I don't know how he's lasted so long at public perceptions of the police force has been very damaged by this then as the high quarters see that goes to the fundamental foundations of the whole of the criminal justice system how that's repaired I don't know that one would have thought anyone in the hierarchy who sanctioned this should have gone [Music] you

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 507,361

Keywords: news, abc, abc news, australia, four corners, Michael Brissenden, underbelly, Nicola Gobbo, Carl Williams, Tony Mokbel, Paul Dale, Melbourne, Victoria Police, Simon Overland, Christine Nixon, Graham Ashton, mobsters, gangland killings, Jason Moran, Mark Moran

Id: yjrWDwpNMcU

Length: 45min 0sec (2700 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 21 2019