Drug lord Tony Mokbel appeals convictions, citing Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo’s secret betrayal
Melbourne underworld figure Tony Mokbel has launched a dramatic appeal to overturn his drug trafficking convictions, arguing they were fatally compromised by the Lawyer X scandal.
The 59-year-old, once a central player in the city’s notorious gangland war, arrived at Victoria’s Court of Appeal flanked by lawyers and media cameras. He spent 18 years behind bars before being granted bail earlier this year, after judges ruled his case presented “truly exceptional” circumstances.
Mokbel is now challenging three drug convictions linked to operations codenamed Quills, Orbital and Magnum. These police stings targeted his involvement in trafficking MDMA and methylamphetamine between 2005 and 2007, as well as attempts to import large quantities from overseas. In 2011, he pleaded guilty and received a 30-year sentence, later reduced to 26 years after one conviction was quashed. His current parole date is set for 2031.
At the centre of his appeal lies the role of Nicola Gobbo, his former barrister, later revealed to be a registered police informer. Mokbel’s legal team say her covert cooperation with police amounted to a miscarriage of justice, undermining his defence and coercing him into guilty pleas he would never otherwise have made.
On the opening day, Mokbel’s barrister Julie Condon KC accused Victoria’s former Director of Public Prosecutions, John Champion, of failing his duty of disclosure in 2012. She said Champion, now a Supreme Court judge, knew Gobbo was a police informer before Mokbel was sentenced but failed to alert the court.
Embed from Getty Images“His honour was in breach of his duty of disclosure,” Condon told the bench. “It’s not even about making inquiries—it’s about doing something. Instead, he did nothing.”
The Crown, represented by prosecutor David Glynn, rejected this characterisation. Glynn argued that Champion was not obliged to conduct a sweeping investigation into Gobbo’s activities and insisted the responsibility did not lie with him.
Last year, NSW judge Elizabeth Fullerton presided over preliminary hearings examining Gobbo’s conduct and Victoria Police’s role in handling her. She concluded Champion had made an “error of judgement” but said the reasons remained unclear. Her report delivered damning criticism of both Gobbo and her police handlers, whose covert relationship with the criminal defence barrister has shaken confidence in Victoria’s justice system.
Mokbel’s appeal is expected to probe the extent of that betrayal and whether it irreparably tainted his convictions. The three-judge panel—Justices Stephen McLeish, Maree Kennedy and Stephen Kaye—will hear arguments through the week.
The court has already acknowledged the extraordinary nature of Mokbel’s case, noting he spent about 6,500 days in custody before his release on bail earlier this year. His sister secured his freedom by providing a $1 million surety, and he now resides with her in Melbourne’s north-east while the appeal is heard.
Outside the court, Mokbel appeared relaxed, even smiling as reporters pressed him on his prospects. Inside, however, his legal team pressed their claim that Victoria’s justice system allowed a profound conflict of interest to corrupt the fairness of his trial.
For the state, the case is a test of whether past failures by police and prosecutors demand the quashing of convictions in one of Australia’s most high-profile underworld prosecutions.
The stakes remain high: if Mokbel succeeds, decades of legal work against Melbourne’s drug networks could be undermined, while if he fails, he faces the prospect of serving out the remainder of his lengthy sentence.
The hearing is scheduled to continue until Friday.