Nicola Gobbo risked her own exposure, police suspected

Police suspected that barrister-turned-supergrass Nicola Gobbo intentionally risked exposing herself as a police informer by leaking information to the media and also to then double murder suspect, former detective Paul Dale, undermining the case against him.

At the time the leaks started appearing in early 2010, Ms Gobbo was in bitter dispute with authorities over whether they would pay her for her testimony in the prosecution of Mr Dale for the murders of informer Terence Hodson and his wife Christine.

Nicola Gobbo in 2010, when she was due to appear as a key witness against former detective Paul DaleCredit:Joe Armao

They also suspected that Ms Gobbo was behind leaks that revealed drug kingpin Carl Williams had become a Crown witness. At the time, Ms Gobbo had been refusing to testify against Mr Dale until Victoria Police had met promises she allegedly would be “looked after” with “no budgetary constraints” if she entered witness protection.

But Ms Gobbo strenuously denies the suspicion that she had leaked, providing a statement to The Age in which she said she had actually been “fiercely trying to protect her role as a human source” at the time.

“To be clear, it was completely contrary for Ms Gobbo’s interests to leak any information to Paul Dale or his lawyers (including relating to Carl Williams) as it would inevitably place her life at risk,” she wrote.

Mr Dale and his then lawyers have also rejected the claims, which have been made in a confidential police document obtained by the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants.

CCTV footage from shortly before Carl Williams (seated) was beaten to death by Matthew Johnson inside prison in April 2010.

In April 2010, Williams was bashed to death inside Barwon prison before he was able to testify against Mr Dale. On the morning he was killed, the Herald Sun published a story about police paying the private school fees for Williams’ daughter.

The other star witness in the case was supposed to be Ms Gobbo, who had secretly recorded Mr Dale talking about details of his alleged contact with Williams, but she had been resisting demands by police to testify amid a festering dispute over her demands for financial compensation and conditions for entering the witness protection program.

At the time, Mr Dale's solicitor Tony Hargreaves had been probing Ms Gobbo's past relationship with police through a series of subpoenas. The motions were being hotly contested by Victoria Police because exposure of her work as a police informer would have profoundly affected her credibility during a trial and endangered her personal safety.

Former detective Paul Dale during his criminal proceedings in March 2010Credit:Craig Abraham

When the criminal proceedings against Mr Dale collapsed in the wake of Williams’ death, senior police launched a special taskforce to investigate the circumstances of his murder.

Documents obtained by the royal commission show this included running Operation Mogals, an investigation into the alleged leak of highly confidential information about the case. The information is believed to have both damaged the case against Mr Dale and also exposed details about Williams and Ms Gobbo's cooperation as a key prosecution witnesses.

The police document from June 2010 describes how investigators held a “strong suspicion” that Ms Gbbo was responsible and that she had been cooperating with the Herald Sun and Mr Dale — or at least with “representatives” connected to them — on several occasions during the legal proceedings. Police nominated Ms Gobbo as a potential source for the news article about Williams' daughter's school fees.

"It is alleged, in consideration of ALL facts, that the media releases have contributed to Carl WILLIAMS' murder. The media clearly highlighted WILLIAMS' co-operation with police against unsolved gangland murders and corrupt police," the document said.

The police investigation also laid out a case that Ms Gobbo had been responsible for helping Mr Dale's defence to seek specific information through subpoenas that was potentially problematic for the police case against Mr Dale. The documents they sought included those laying out Ms Gobbo's shadowy history with police and potential inducements she might have been offered to testify.

To be clear, it was completely contrary for Ms Gobbo’s interests to leak any information to Paul Dale or his lawyers

“Investigators again became suspicious of how the defence were able to name specific documents, by title, which had not been previously discussed in court. This information allowed the defence to file subpoenas seeking out specific information which would otherwise have been unknown to them.

“It also allowed the media to publish an article with specific information which would otherwise have been unknown to them [about Ms Gobbo's cooperation with Victoria Police],” the document said. It does not speculate about Ms Gobbo's alleged motives for leaking.

The highly-sensitive police assessment is marked with handwritten notes from then deputy commissioner Ken Jones that included a warning to then chief commissioner of police Simon Overland: “Simon. ‘Eyes only’ discussions. Significant implications for us / govt … I have not taken a copy.”

The allegations of collaboration have been slammed by Ms Gobbo, as well as Mr Dale and his former solicitor Tony Hargreaves.

“Ms Gobbo denies that she leaked any information to Mr Dale or his lawyers as alleged in the document," Ms Gobbo said in a statement to The Age.

"The obvious effect of providing anything to Mr Dale (or to his defence) at that time was that it would have the very serious potential to reveal her role as a human source, and put her life in jeopardy.”

Ms Gobbo said she believes some of the information police referred to had been aired in open court and “some material was leaked”, but not by her. She also said police were monitoring her phones in 2010 and this could confirm she was not the source.

In the lead-up to Mr Dale’s trial, Ms Gobbo had been refusing to cooperate with the prosecution amid complaints Victoria Police had failed to “honour the assurances, promises and representations” made to her if she went into witness protection, according to a letter she wrote in January 2010 also obtained by the royal commission.

Ms Gobbo was also threatening at the time to sue Victoria Police for compensation if her demands were not met. That lawsuit was settled in mid-2010 for $2.88 million.

Despite the launch of the Operation Mogals investigation, senior police attempted again just months later to use Ms Gobbo as the key witness in another criminal case brought against Mr Dale (she never testified and he was acquitted).

The near exposure of Ms Gobbo's lengthy history as a registered police informer during the Dale proceedings sparked a series of secret reviews about the appropriateness of her use. The fallout from those ultimately resulted in the public exposure of the worst scandal in Australian legal history and the current royal commission.

No charges were laid as a result of Operational Mogals, meaning the suspicions outlined in the document were never formally alleged against Ms Gobbo. A Victoria Police spokeswoman told The Age: “Following a thorough investigation and legal advice, it was determined there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any person. As with any inactive investigation, any further information, intelligence or evidence provided may prove invaluable and we encourage anyone with information to make a confidential report to Crime Stoppers,” she said.

Mr Dale told The Age he had no knowledge of Ms Gobbo communicating with anyone associated with him after he was charged in 2009.

“I have had no personal contact with Nicola Gobbo in any way shape or form after the day in December 2008 when she recorded me. When it became apparent following my arrest that she was being used as a witness against me, from that day on we were enemies,” he said.

Mr Dale’s solicitor described the suspicions raised in the document as “simply wrong”.

“I find it disturbing to read a document like this and see the kind of baseless speculation that supposedly senior police officers are prepared to descend to,” Mr Hargreaves said.

Ms Gobbo's former solicitors Piper Alderman declined to comment.

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