Gobbo loses lawsuit for alleged negligence behind Lawyer X scandal

The release, which saw Gobbo paid $3,000,000, was entered into after a dispute over whether she would give evidence about the murder of another police informer, Terence Hodson. At that time, police said she would have to enter a witness protection program, but she did not agree.

Further, Justice Richards said the risk of being exposed as an informer and the consequences of that would have been obvious to a “capable criminal defence barrister” in Gobbo’s position in September 2005, when she officially began providing information about her own clients.

Gobbo and two of her children commenced the proceedings in September 2021, seeking damages for injuries they claimed to have suffered as a result of the negligence of 10 Victoria Police officers.

In her claim, Gobbo said senior members like former assistant commissioner Simon Overland should have stopped her recruitment and should not have permitted her ongoing use as an informant.

The former barrister also claimed she only agreed to be an informant after senior officers said her identity would be protected. Gobbo said the officers “knew or ought to have known” that would not be possible.

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As a result of her identity being exposed, Gobbo claimed to have suffered psychological injury, including depression, when she and her children were forced to enter the witness protection program.

Justice Richards found Gobbo failed to establish she was unaware of the risks of exposure, with evidence instead pointing to the barrister fully appreciating what might happen to her when that occurred.

“By September 2005, she had a sound knowledge of the existence of police informers and how they operated. She knew that there was a risk that an informer’s identity could be revealed and that, if that occurred, the informer could end up dead,” Justice Richards said.

Gobbo’s evidence at trial was also consistent with what she said to two police officers in their first meeting: “I’m dealing with someone who scares me enough that no matter what you people do, if anyone found out about it, I’m just – nothing you can do will protect me.”

Justice Richards was also satisfied that Gobbo “had a choice” as to whether she would start providing information to police.

“Gobbo had a range of other ways she could have relieved the pressure she was experiencing from [Tony] Mokbel and her other gangland connections. There was nothing to stop her from deciding that the risk of exposure was not worth taking and walking away.

“Instead, she chose to accept the risk,” Justice Richards said.

While Justice Richards was prepared to accept four of the 10 officers owed a duty of care to Gobbo’s children, their claims were based on Gobbo’s claim for negligence and could only succeed if hers had.

In December 2018, the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants was established. It concluded with a report that was more than 1,000 pages across four volumes and 111 recommendations, some of which are still to be implemented.

Commissioner Margaret McMurdo AC said Gobbo’s work with Victoria Police was “inexcusable, duplicitous and improper”.

As a result, former clients Mokbel, Faruk Orman, and Zlate Cvetanovski have successfully had their convictions overturned.

The case: Gobbo v State of Victoria (redacted) [2025] VSC 334 (13 June 2025)