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| NEWS > 09 November 2007 |
Other related articles:
Graysville PD in shambles:fath
Before a crowd of over 40 people and a television news camera, the Graysville Board of Mayor and Commissioners attempted to clear the muddy waters that surround the Graysville Police Department and officers Brian Alexander, Charles Haubrich and Chief Michael Caraway.
Mike Farris, a resident of Graysville, brought the issue before the board and the public. “Everybody here needs to hear this,” Farris said. “I had a problem with one of the officers fooling my daughter, who was a minor.”
Farris said he was initially informed of a relationship between Alexander, a 2004 Rhea ... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,A
09 November 2007
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To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Victoria Police
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Top officer linked to corrupti
ONE of Victoria's top-ranking police officers has been implicated in a corruption scandal and faces possible criminal prosecution after the release of secretly taped phone conversations.
In explosive allegations that have rocked the Victoria Police, Assistant Commissioner Noel Ashby has been accused of leaking sensitive information that ended up with a policeman suspected of involvement in a gangland murder.
Mr Ashby was also accused of not telling the truth at an Office of Police Integrity hearing last month, and again yesterday, after his bugged conversations with police union boss Paul Mullett and media director Stephen Linnell were played to the inquiry.
Mr Linnell, one of Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon's most trusted confidants, is also facing questions over public testimony he gave to the inquiry on Wednesday.
Potential charges against Mr Ashby include conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, perjury, unlawful release of confidential information and breaches of the Telecommunications Interceptions Act. All carry jail terms.
Apart from evidence of misconduct, the phone taps have uncovered serious tensions at the highest levels of the force, with Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland described by Mr Ashby as "that prick" and by Mr Linnell as "that c--- Overland".
Mr Ashby, once touted as a future chief commissioner, has vehemently denied the allegations against him.
Appearing before yesterday's public hearing, a visibly shocked Mr Ashby was confronted repeatedly with bugged conversations that contradicted evidence he gave under oath at a private hearing last month, and initially yesterday.
He is believed to be the most senior Australian police officer ever to have his phone tapped.
The most serious allegation is that he leaked details of an investigation into a police union delegate suspected of providing a hitman with the address of a male prostitute, Shane Chartres-Abbott, who was later murdered.
Counsel for the OPI, Greg Lyon, SC, accused Mr Ashby of passing that information to Mr Mullett, a friend of suspended Detective Sergeant Peter Lalor, who was the target of the investigation. Police Association president Brian Rix then allegedly rang Sergeant Lalor three times in an hour, saying he needed to meet him urgently.
"I'm putting it to you, Mr Ashby, the information has gone from the Deputy Commissioner, to the director of media, to an assistant commissioner, to the Police Association secretary, to the Police Association president, and into the hands of the very target of the operation," Dr Lyon said.
But Mr Ashby denied any part in the leaking. "I don't know how it got passed to the target of the operation at all," Mr Ashby told the inquiry. "I did not pass that to Mr Mullett."
Mr Ashby had also previously denied knowing of the existence of the probe into Sergeant Lalor — codenamed Operation Briars — but the bugged phone calls revealed him discussing documents from the investigation with Mr Linnell.
The media director, who will appear before the hearing today, also appeared to be less than truthful when he gave evidence on Wednesday that he had never shown Mr Ashby the documents.
In one of the taped phone calls, Mr Linnell warns Mr Ashby to be careful about what he says to Mr Mullett on the telephone. "Is he (Mr Mullett) being recorded?" Mr Ashby asks. "I can't say," Mr Linnell replies.
The Assistant Commissioner then went to Mr Linnell's office and was shown the Operation Briars terms of reference, which indicated that Mr Ashby's phone was not being bugged. "I wouldn't be too worried, after reading those TORs (terms of reference) and stuff," Mr Ashby was recorded telling Mr Linnell the next day.
Mr Ashby also admitted seeing the name of Sergeant Lalor and other investigation targets on the terms of reference, after he was played conversations in which he told Mr Linnell: "You know, the names involved. I'm very cool. I wouldn't know those pricks if they walked through the door now."
The phone calls between Mr Ashby and Mr Mullett took place in June, August and September this year. They discussed a number of topics, including where senior detectives — who were at the time assigned to high-level taskforces — were working.
On the day Mr Ashby was told Mr Mullett's phone was bugged, Mr Ashby asked the union boss to call his wife's phone. He admitted yesterday that he did so because he knew his wife's phone would not be bugged.
That phone call was not taped, but Dr Lyon alleged yesterday that during it Mr Ashby told Mr Mullett details about the investigation into Sergeant Lalor.
"Within hours of you learning the information, there's credible evidence to suggest there's information in the hands of the target," Dr Lyon said.
Mr Ashby replied: "I did not provide Mullett with any names at all."
Asked about Mr Linnell's warning to be careful about what he said to Mr Mullett on the phone, Mr Ashby maintained that the focus of his concern was a planned trip to Fontainebleau in France by Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland, which he did not want to appear on radio's "rumour file".
Around the time of the conversations, Mr Ashby had been assigned to broker the new police pay deal with Mr Mullett because of the pair's cordial relationship. Yesterday he likened him to a "criminal informant" who needed to be "cajoled and lied to".
Mr Ashby denied that the taped conversations were "sinister", but said they were aimed at building a relationship with "a guy that has the power to bring (Victoria Police) to its knees, publicly".
The taped conversations also reveal serious tensions and factionalism at the top of the force.
In one intercept, Mr Ashby launched a stinging attack on Mr Overland, referring to him as "that prick" and bemoaning the fact that he went "straight to a deputy's job" at a young age.
Mr Linnell also hit out at Mr Overland in a conversation with Mr Mullett. "It's certainly not as though you've had a f------ easy ride, like that c--- Overland. That's what shits me," Mr Linnell said.
In September, Mr Overland told Mr Linnell that he was worried about the leaking of information about the Chartres-Abbott murder to The Age. The call was part of an investigation strategy to determine if Mr Linnell was the source of leaks.
Mr Linnell then phoned Mr Ashby to tell him about Mr Overland's fears, but when Mr Overland later asked Mr Linnell if he had told anybody, he replied: "No. God no, no."
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