In a searing judgment published on Monday, the full bench of the High Court slammed the barrister and Victoria Police. Loading "EF's actions to act as counsel for the convicted persons while covertly informing against them were fundamental and appalling breaches of EF’s obligations as counsel to her clients and of EF's duties to the court," the judgment read. "Likewise, Victoria Police were guilty of reprehensible conduct in knowingly encouraging EF to do as she did and were involved in sanctioning atrocious breaches of the sworn duty of every police officer to discharge all duties imposed on them faithfully and according to law without favour or affection, malice or ill-will." Premier Daniel Andrews announced a royal commission, set to cost about $7.5 million, to probe the management of Informer 3838 and the convictions linked to her.

"While these events took place many years ago, the Victorian public has a right to know that every part of the justice system acts fairly and lawfully at all times," Mr Andrews said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Chief Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said police relied on Informer 3838 when Melbourne was in the grips of the gangland war. "Over the preceding 12 months, numerous people had been murdered, some in very public locations and high-profile criminals were vying for control of drug operations that were inflicting serious harm on the Victorian community," he said. "It was accordingly a desperate and dangerous time."

Mr Ashton, who did not take questions after making his statement on Monday afternoon, was deputy commissioner at the Office of Police Integrity at the time. He was on a steering committee alongside former Chief Commissioner Simon Overland that oversaw two investigations linked to police corruption that either used or tried to use Informer 3838. The Age understands a number of police, including former deputy commissioner Sir Ken Jones and detective Ron Iddles, raised concerns about the use of the lawyer as an informer at the time. Victoria Police had gone to the High Court in a last-ditch bid to block the Director of Public Prosecutions telling Mokbel and other criminals that they could have grounds to appeal their convictions or sentences. Mokbel was sentenced in 2012 to 30 years behind bars with a minimum term of 22 years. Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd, QC, said she has written to 20 individuals relating to their criminal prosecutions. There are another two people convicted under federal law. Police had argued the lawyer was in extreme danger if her role as an informer was revealed to them.

A Detective Superintendent told a Supreme Court hearing "it was almost certain that an attempt would be made on EF's life should her role as a human source be confirmed" to one criminal. The lawyer was accused of providing specific information to police about the "tomato tins" consignment. Federal police seized a container at Melbourne's docks in June 2007 filled with 4.4 tonnes of ecstasy hidden inside tomato tins shipped from Italy, which was one of Australia’s largest drug hauls. Griffith Calabrian mafia boss and syndicate leader Pasquale Barbaro, shipping industry inside man Robert Karam, Black Uhlans founder John Higgs and Melbourne mafioso Frank Madafferi were all jailed over the syndicate. Informer 3838 is also accused of providing information about the location of a drug laboratory belonging to her client [name suppressed], who was part of Mokbel’s criminal empire. It led to his arrest and she acted as his lawyer that same day. He eventually pleaded guilty.

Loading The lawyer began meeting informally with police in mid-2003, but from 2005 to 2009 she was registered as an informer. A court concluded she had a mix of motivations for becoming an informer including ill health and feeling trapped in the criminal world of her clients. She has previously sued the force and received a $2.88 million settlement, but she is now threatening to sue the state again over their failure to protect her identity. “I feel the impact of this nightmare almost every single day,” she wrote in a letter to then Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana in 2015.

She has refused repeated offers to enter the witness protection program, saying she was not prepared to entrust her safety to the organisation that “so appallingly” breached her confidentiality. Police paid for overseas travel, accommodation, body corporate fees, hire cars, fuel, mobile phone bills and a weekly stipend, The Age understands. Victoria Police has also spent millions of dollars over the past four years in its legal battle with the OPP to keep the case confidential. In February 2013, the "human source unit" that cultivated and managed informers was disbanded in response to the developing scandal, before the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission investigated the matter. Murray Kellam, QC, who conducted the IBAC probe, stopped short of finding any criminal behaviour had occurred but found the handling of the witness “had the potential to adversely affect the administration of justice in Victoria”.