The convictions of some of Australia’s most high-profile criminals have been cast into doubt after a lawyer was revealed to be a police informant.<\/p>\n
The defence barrister, who represented notorious organised crime figures, gave information to Victoria Police between 2005-2009, court documents show.<\/p>\n
The state government have announced a public inquiry to determine how many convictions were directly affected.<\/p>\n
The case came to light when court injunctions were lifted on Monday.<\/p>\n
It was the culmination of a two-year court battle in which the police tried to prevent the disclosure of the lawyer’s identity to her clients, but the High Court ruled against them.<\/p>\n
In a scathing judgement, the court said the Victoria Police department was guilty of “reprehensible conduct” by encouraging the lawyer to provide information about her clients.<\/p>\n
“The prosecution of each convicted person was corrupted in a manner which debased fundamental premises of the criminal justice system,” the judgement said.<\/p>\n
The barrister, who cannot be named for legal reasons, represented key figures in Melbourne’s criminal underworld during a period of heightened gang violence.<\/p>\n
A vicious gangland feud that claimed at least 28 lives in the city ended more than a decade ago, but detectives say that tensions still fester.<\/p>\n
The lawyer kept in daily contact with her police handlers and was given the code name 3838, according to court documents.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Her clients included the high-profile crime boss Tony Mokbel and six of his associates.<\/p>\n In 2012, Mokbel was jailed for a minimum of 22 years for masterminding a drug trafficking operation.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Tony](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Tony-Mokbel.jpg\")
<\/a>