Kingpin Mokbel avoids more jail for drug trafficking

Gangland ringleader Tony Mokbel will not be sent back to prison after being re-convicted of smuggling more than 41kg of methylamphetamine.

Mokbel, 60, had asked for his conviction for the crime in 2006 to be annulled, claiming that he had tainted the case of lawyer-turned-informant Nicola Gobbo.

But in October the Victorian Court of Appeal rejected his appeal on the drug trafficking charge, known as police operation Magnum.

Instead his conviction was upheld and on Thursday judges Stephen McLeish, Maree Kennedy and Stephen Kaye re-sentenced him to the 13 years, 7 months and 15 days in prison he had previously served.

Mokbel looked down with relief when he learned he would not be going back to prison.

The 60-year-old man also appealed against his two other convictions, Quills and Orbital.

The court heard Ms Gobbo, a registered informant with Victoria Police, encouraged two of her clients to “turn” against Mokbel and give statements to police.

He was also representing Mokbel in court or providing him with legal advice.

Police relied on the evidence of one of his clients, known under the pseudonym Mr Bickley, to prosecute the underworld figure on charges of drug trafficking Quills.

The court ruled that there had been a serious miscarriage of justice and that Mokbel’s conviction in this matter should be quashed.

Orbital’s drug importation conviction was also annulled, but judges ruled that Mokbel should receive a retrial.

Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions is considering whether to retry Mokbel, but no decision has yet been made, a spokesman told AAP.