Lawyer X asks court for safety measures

Former gangland lawyer turned police informant Nicola Gobbo is taking strict measures to protect her safety as she sues police for damages caused by her outing.

Nicola Maree Gobbo launched legal action against the State of Victoria and 12 named police officers alleging their negligence damaged her health and career.

Ms Gobbo was exposed as a police informer, known as Lawyer X, in December 2018 after a High Court ruling and has since gone into hiding.

The case returned before the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday for the first day of the judge-only trial, listed to run for four weeks.

Her barrister, Tim Tobin SC, requested strict measures to ensure Ms Gobbo’s safety when she gives evidence, noting she now looks different to her publicly known appearance.

He asked Justice Melinda Richards allow her to give evidence remotely using a computer, with her video restricted to just lawyers and the judge.

“We can have another feed of her voice … there are issues of security associated with her image,” he said.

He further requested Ms Gobbo not be required to give any evidence about her current whereabouts in open court.

Barrister Bernard Quinn KC, acting for the defendants, said he did not object to the plan.

Ms Gobbo is suing for damages allegedly sustained in the fallout of her unmasking, alleging she was “induced” to become an informer and was owed a duty of care.

“She was groomed to provide information to Victoria Police in exchange for matters that were extraordinarily important for her at the time – protection, help, a way through a situation she found herself in,” barrister Jesse Taylor said.

In defence, the State of Victoria submits she provided information voluntarily, but argued if Ms Gobbo provided confidential information it was her conduct that was unlawful.

Much of the court time on Monday morning was taken up by preliminary matters, including Justice Richards throwing out a subpoena made by Ms Gobbo’s legal team to the Office of Public Prosecutions.

They had sought all documents produced by former High Court Justice Geoffrey Nettle KC in his capacity as a Special Investigator appointed to investigate Ms Gobbo and the police.

Justice Richards said she was not persuaded there was a legitimate forensic purpose for the documentation and labelled the subpoena “oppressively broad”.

Ms Gobbo was registered as a police informer three times in the 1990s and early 2000s, passing along information about underworld figures, some of whom she also represented.

In 2020, the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants found more than 1000 convictions could have been tainted by Ms Gobbo’s involvement.

The hearing continues.