Final episode of Trace: The Informer podcast reveals Lawyer X’s secret journey back to Australia
This article is at least a year old
The ABC’s Trace podcast has today revealed that underworld informer Nicola Gobbo left her overseas hiding spot in an audacious bid to return to her home country, leading to a tense standoff with police.
The defence barrister known as Lawyer X told Trace that soon after her return to Australia in December, Victoria Police issued her with an ultimatum: go back into hiding, or risk not living with your children.
Victoria Police has argued that her children mightn’t be safe living with her in Australia because of threats from underworld crime figures, but Nicola claims the police force is trying to keep her under its control.
Nicola Gobbo has disappeared again, into what she has called a ‘black hole’, and the ABC doesn’t know her whereabouts.
The remarkable story of Nicola Gobbo’s return to Australia is told in the final episode of Trace: The Informer, including details of a bizarre chain of police escorts that transported the family across three states.
The new revelations cap off an eight-part podcast series covering Nicola Gobbo’s life story and the reasons behind her decision to turn police informer.
A new behind-the-scenes documentary The Making of Trace: The Informer will also premiere on ABC iview next week, detailing the inside story of how journalists Rachael Brown and Josie Taylor tracked down Nicola Gobbo in hiding overseas, while delving into the complex and dangerous world of gangland criminals, police, and lawyers to tell the story of ‘Lawyer X’.
It’s a chase worthy of a spy story – encrypted messages, data drops, and secret international rendezvous.
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