Information supplied to police by supergrass Melbourne criminal barrister Nicola Gobbo was convoluted and officers struggled to know exactly how she got it because of the blurred lines of her professional conduct.
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And it turns out even 'Lawyer X' herself struggled to remember where she'd heard the titbits she handed over to help detectives score convictions against her clients, including some of the state's most notorious criminals.
Transcripts of secret recordings of the infamous snitch were among thousands of pages of documents released by the High Court and Victoria's Supreme Court on Friday.
"You know, looking back in time sometimes I can't remember how I found out certain things," she said in 2005 in a conversation about one of her clients and targets, drug lord Tony Mokbel.
Former chief commissioner Simon Overland observed nearly a decade later that the origin of her information was often convoluted.
"It was sometimes difficult to discern the exact circumstances in which (the source) had come into possession of information ... because of (her) own blurred lines of professional conduct with respect to ... clients," he told investigators.
Mokbel was one of Ms Gobbo's most high-profile clients during her third and most significant period as a registered informer from 2005 to 2009, following earlier stints in 1995 and 1999.
"One of the many ironies of all this is I have so many conflicts with the bloke, but what does he know?" she said of Mokbel in 2007.
The crime boss is currently serving a decades-long sentence for drug trafficking but is understood to be one of a number of people seeking to appeal convictions after prosecutors wrote to a number of people late last year.
Ms Gobbo owed clients a duty of legal privilege and confidentiality which was breached by her turncoat behaviour.
The use of a criminal barrister as a registered informant has caused a major headache for police, who are now contending with a royal commission after two earlier investigations.
Former chief commissioner Neil Comrie and anti-corruption commissioner Murray Kellam wrote reports in 2012 and 2015 slamming police for their negligence in failing to mitigate risks including to Ms Gobbo's safety and the reputation of the force.
Both were released publicly for the first time on Friday.
Mr Kellam's report reveals now-Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton had described the opportunity of having Ms Gobbo "potentially solve a bunch of ... murders or prevent others" as "this glittering prize" which could sometimes divert from the sensible steps that should have been taken.
He found police should have been aware of issues around using Ms Gobbo, including the risk it could lead to unsafe convictions, from the beginning.
""The plain fact is that some of the conduct ... would, if exposed, be likely to bring the police force into disrepute and to diminish public confidence in it," Mr Kellam said.
Both reports found handlers and senior police knew Ms Gobbo had psychological issues, with Mr Comrie suggesting Ms Gobbo seemed to have "some form of addiction" to supplying information to police.
The release of the reports comes years after some of the convicted criminals named in them first sought to get their hands on the detail.
Zlate Cvetanovski, who is appealing three convictions he says were tainted by Ms Gobbo's informing, asked Mr Kellam for a copy of his report in February 2015.
"The lengths police went to orchestrate convictions and ensure my demise, in what can only be described as shady, dishonest and corrupt undertakings are mind-blowing," he wrote.
Mokbel also sought information from then-Director of Public Prosecutions John Champion, now a Supreme Court justice, in 2015 and via a Freedom of Information request a year later.
Appeal court president Chris Maxwell on Wednesday said the appeals already on foot were proving an "extremely long and complicated process".
"None of the matters are anywhere near completion."
Australian Associated Press