Face of Nation : A former Victorian detective was refused permission to use a source to investigate the murder of Melbourne schoolgirl Karmein Chan, while his colleagues used underworld lawyer Nicola Gobbo to catch drug crooks.
The officer rejected a request to become ‘Lawyer X’ Ms Gobbo’s handler in 2005, “dismayed” at preference being given to using her to uncover drug crimes when police could be chasing a child killer. Officer Paige, as he is known for legal reasons, said information came to him about the schoolgirl’s 1991 abduction and murder and he wanted to follow it. Given the nature of the job, he told management it was a case they should run.
“That job was not approved because they believed the person providing initial information, they weren’t a person of integrity and they were tainted,” he told an inquiry into police use of informers on Tuesday. “I found it astounding that management would approve a job with an underworld solicitor going after drug dealers when we had the chance, possibly, to catch a child murderer.”
Karmein Chan was babysitting her two younger sisters when she was taken from the family’s Templestowe home on April 13, 1991, by an unknown man labelled Mr Cruel. Victoria Police believe he’s responsible for at least four child kidnappings and sexual assaults, although the number could be 10 to 15, or more.
Despite a $1 million reward and involvement from the FBI in the US, Mr Cruel’s identity has never been discovered. Officer Paige, a founding member of the unit which managed high-risk informers, also declined to handle Ms Gobbo because he was concerned her fraternising and socialising with the criminal underworld could see her leaking police methodology.
Faruk Orman, the first person acquitted because of the Lawyer X scandal, returned to the inquiry on Tuesday as former lead underworld investigator Gavan Ryan gave evidence about a killer-turned-witness whose testimony put Mr Orman behind bars.
Mr Orman was released last month after spending 12 years behind bars for the 2002 murder of underworld figure Victor Peirce, following a miscarriage of justice caused by Ms Gobbo’s informing. But Commissioner Margaret McMurdo ruled Mr Orman was not allowed to hear any of the evidence given behind closed doors, even when it related to his own case.
There are concerns evidence heard in private could lead to the identification of informers, witnesses or protected police officers. Ms McMurdo said she realised excluding Mr Orman was inconvenient, but the consequences of a person accidentally being named or identified were potentially serious. Mr Ryan told the commission the witness who spoke out against Mr Orman has a protected identity and had received a significant benefit for becoming a crown witness.
