00:00Tony Mockbell made the familiar walk into
00:04Melbourne's Supreme Court knowing this time he wouldn't be leaving in a prison
00:08van. Minutes later he was out. At 60 years old, a free man.
00:12Yeah, it's beautiful. It feels really nice and
00:16life goes on now. It's been a long process as you know.
00:20It's been a decade or more and I'd like to thank all my lawyers and barristers.
00:24Tony Mockbell was a major figure in Melbourne's underworld wars.
00:28He was on bail for cocaine trafficking charges in 2006 when
00:32he fled Australia in a yacht but was arrested in Greece seven months later.
00:36And he's been in jail ever since, until last year when
00:40he was sensationally released in the fallout of the Lawyer X scandal
00:44when it was revealed his barrister Nicola Gobbo had been secretly
00:48informing against her clients to police. Two of Mockbell's drug
00:52convictions were overturned, with one sent back for retrial. But today
00:56the Office of Public Prosecutions dropped it.
00:58I consider today to be a well-deserved end to a terrible chapter in my industry.
01:06The OPP took into account the 18 years Mockbell has spent in jail where he was stabbed
01:12and also had a heart attack, as well as his age and the time elapsed since the alleged crime.
01:18That's probably the biggest mistake of my life.
01:20Which is?
01:21Being in jail. You know, I don't recommend it for no one.
01:24And his plans for freedom?
01:25Going overseas, of course. Yeah, that'd be great to get on a nice plane.
01:28I used to always dream getting on a plane when I was in jail.
01:31But Tony Mockbell's options for international travel are likely to be extremely limited.
01:35Although this case has been dropped and another one has been overturned,
01:39he still has numerous convictions to his name, including one,
01:42for a scheme to import more than 40 kilograms of methamphetamine.
01:46Do you regret the drug trafficking?
01:47I do not regret anything, thank you.
01:50It's not yet clear if Tony Mockbell will launch civil action.
Comments