Nicola Gobbo was once the striking figure in a series of Melbourne’s most high-profile criminal trials.
At the height of the city’s notorious gangland killings, it was Nicola, a whip-smart barrister, who the alleged drug lords and hit men wanted in their corner.
She attended the lavish 2003 christening of convicted killer Carl Williams’ daughter Dhakota, and went on to become a legal confidante to gangland boss Tony Mokbel.
Nicola was privy to their closely held secrets, with Williams, Mokbel, and their associates all relying on her legal expertise to navigate the looming threat of court and jail time.
But there was another side to the barrister, one she kept hidden from her clients. Nicola was in fact Police Informer 3838, or ‘Lawyer X’.
As she worked to represent the dangerous figures of Melbourne’s underbelly – many of whom formed the basis of Channel Nine’s hit television franchise of the same name – Nicola was also divulging her clients’ confidential information to police.
Those she helped put behind bars had no idea of her deceit. It wasn’t until March 2019 that Nicola was unmasked as Informer 3838, when a suppression order on her identity was lifted.
She was quickly whisked out of the country under police guard and has been in hiding ever since. The mother of two, now 52, has said her life was put in a “holding pattern” following the shocking revelation.
Nicola and her family moved to hotel rooms and nondescript houses across Australia and overseas, always looking over their shoulder and with police protecting their every move.
“I just regard 2020 and 2021 as a period of imprisonment. I could not leave the premises. I couldn’t even step out at the front of the property without being told to get back in,” Nicola told a court late last year, when she sought compensation from Victoria Police for failing to keep her identity a secret.
Fearful for her safety and that of her children and partner, Nicola has continued to move – too cautious to stay in one place for long, and too scared to establish a daily routine that would make her an easy target for those she deceived, who might seek revenge. Exactly where she is now remains shrouded in secrecy.
One threatening text she received after her informer status was revealed read: “You’re a f–king dog, I’m going to kill you.”
Nicola is believed to have had surgery to alter her appearance and changed her name.
Her role as Informer 3838 has taken a toll on her physical and emotional health, and she has said she is fearful every day that her new identity will be revealed.
And at times she has been recognised – workers realised who Nicola was when she bought a pair of prescription glasses and hired a car from a rental company.
“I’m tired and I’m broken … I’ve just had enough,” she told the court last year.
The woman who was once a leading figure in one of Australia’s bloodiest criminal eras now craves a safe, normal life for herself.
Nicola credits her family with giving her the strength to build a new life.
She says: “If it wasn’t for them … I don’t think I’d see a point in living.”
In June, Nicola’s compensation claim for damages suffered against the State of Victoria was dismissed.
