Mick Gatto tells the Supreme Court in Melbourne an ABC article wrongly branded him “a murderer”, and says his personal reputation and that of his family has been unfairly damaged by the story.

Mick Gatto has told a court the barrister at the centre of the Lawyer X scandal, Nicola Gobbo, offered to give evidence in his defamation trial against the ABC.
Key points:

• Gatto has disputed the ABC article, which was based off a police affidavit
• Gatto told the court he was falsely called “a murderer”
• The broadcaster has not removed the article or issued an apology

Mr Gatto is suing the public broadcaster over the publication of a story saying he had threatened to kill her.
The 64-year-old has launched legal action in Victoria’s Supreme Court over the story, which is based on a secret police affidavit detailing the risks to Ms Gobbo if her role as a prolific police informant was ever publicly exposed.
Mr Gatto has consistently disputed the contents of the story, and told the court Ms Gobbo’s lawyers rang him yesterday, and told him she was happy to give evidence that he did not threaten her.
This was despite an acrimonious end to their relationship, when Mr Gatto learned that the former criminal barrister had also informed on him, the court heard.
On the first day of the trial, which is being held by video link due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Gatto said he made Ms Gobbo cry upon learning about her duplicity.
“When I found out she was an informer I told her I don’t want you in our company,” Mr Gatto said.
“She was hanging around like a bad smell,” he said, adding that she denied the accusation at the time.
Mr Gatto, wearing a navy-check suit and a red tie, told the Supreme Court he was left with no choice but to sue the ABC.
“They crossed the line by calling me a murderer, a hit man and one of the most violent men in Australia,” Mr Gatto said.
“There’s nothing further from the truth.”
Gatto seeking ‘maximum payout’ from ABC
Mr Gatto is a controversial figure who told the court his notoriety grew after the creation of the Underbelly television series, which dramatised Melbourne’s gangland war.
The court heard he was one of the few survivors of that bloody chapter, and was also acquitted by a jury of murdering Melbourne hitman Andrew “Benji” Veniamin.
“I ended up ultimately killing him in self-defence,” he told the court today, when asked about that period of his life.
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Mr Gatto acknowledged he had often been the subject of media attention, but said the story, written by journalists Nino Bucci and Sarah Farnsworth, had crossed the line.
He told the Supreme Court it had caused him and his children, now in the corporate world, particular anguish.
“They have problems getting funding for buildings, getting reliable accountants. As soon as they mention their name, mention Gatto, they get ridiculed,” he said.
“‘Your dad’s this, your dad’s that, your dad’s a murderer.’ They’ve got to put up with all this nonsense.”
When asked by his own barrister what he hoped to achieve from the legal action against the ABC, Mr Gatto was frank.
“To get a maximum payout I possibly can, get a public apology and make sure they can never do it again,” Mr Gatto said.
“I’m hoping to cause them as much grief as they caused me.
“My main objective is to stop them from telling lies.”
‘I’m not a bad person’
The story in question was published on the ABC News website in February 2019, but the court heard the public broadcaster declined requests by Mr Gatto’s legal team to remove it and issue an apology.
His barrister, David Klempfner, told the court the ABC’s story suggested his client had a propensity towards violence, which he said was not true.
“It splices together a rag-bag of facts,” Mr Klempfner said.
“That’s what lies behind his complaint about this article, it’s really a bridge too far.”
Mr Gatto said he had turned his life around over the past three decades.
“I try and do the right thing. I’m not a bad person,” Mr Gatto said.
He accused the ABC of “throwing petrol on the fire”.
“Why can they crucify someone publicly like that?” he said.
“What gives them the right to tell lies?”
Mr Gatto will continue giving evidence on Thursday.