Zarah Garde-Wilson (born ) is an Australian
criminal defence lawyer known for her involvement in the
Melbourne gangland killings
The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders of 36 underworld figures in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, between January 1998 and August 2010. The murders were retributive killings involving underworld groups. The deaths caused a power vac ...
and the
Lawyer X
Nicola Maree Gobbo, sometimes known as Nikki Gobbo, (born 16 November 1972) is an Australian former criminal defence barrister and police informant.
Drug charge at law school
In 1993, while she was a law student, police raided a house owned b ...
scandal.
She has represented notorious Australian criminals such as
Carl Williams,
Roberta Williams,
Tony Mokbel
Antonios Sajih Mokbel (Arabic: طوني مقبل; born 11 August 1965) is an Australian criminal who has been convicted of a number of offences, most prominently commercial drug trafficking. He has spent most of his life in Melbourne, Australia. ...
,
Fadi Haddara, and Rob Karam.
Garde-Wilson is noted for her outspoken views on corruption within the Australian criminal justice system and the subsequent erosion of
defendants' rights.
She is the principal partner at Garde Wilson Lawyers.
Personal life & education
Garde-Wilson was born in 1978, the second of two children of Gregory John Garde Wilson and Judith Kemp. She received secondary education at
Fairholme College
Fairholme College is an independent, day and boarding school for girls, located in Toowoomba, one of Australia's largest provincial cities, in South East Queensland, Australia.
Established as Spreydon College in 1908 by sisters Elizabeth, Jess ...
, in
Toowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...
.
She commenced studies in law at
James Cook University
James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...
and at 20, Garde-Wilson moved to
Perth, Western Australia
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, to complete her studies at the
University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...
, where she resided at
St George’s College and graduated with a
Bachelor of Laws
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
in 1998.
Garde-Wilson was romantically involved with Lewis Caine,
a notable figure in Melbourne's underworld, who was murdered on May 8, 2004. Caine, also known by the aliases Sean Vincent and Adrian Bligh, had extensive connections within the Melbourne criminal milieu, which were often highlighted in media reports about his life and death.
Zarah Garde-Wilson is a mother to three children. She gave birth to her daughter Samantha in late 2008, and twins Max and Sophie in September 2010.
In 2024, Garde-Wilson was listed among "The 8 best criminal lawyers in Melbourne" by ''The Canberra Times''.
Career
Garde-Wilson took up an article clerkship at the law firm Pryles & Defteros,
working on criminal defence. After being admitted as a
solicitor
A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
and
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
of the
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state.
The Supreme Court compri ...
in 2002, Garde-Wilson began practising law independently in 2004.
Melbourne gangland killings
Garde-Wilson became a significant figure during the Melbourne gangland killings through her representation of individuals linked to these events. She acted for several persons investigated by the Victoria Police from 1998 to 2006 and came into the public eye during the high-profile trials of Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel.
During this time, Garde-Wilson became aware that fellow barrister,
Nicola Gobbo
Nicola Maree Gobbo, sometimes known as Nikki Gobbo, (born 16 November 1972) is an Australian former criminal defence barrister and police informant.
Drug charge at law school
In 1993, while she was a law student, police raided a house owned b ...
, had been recruited by
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''.
, Victor ...
as an informant against her own clients.
Garde-Wilson was the girlfriend of convicted murderer
Lewis Caine,
who was murdered in the gangland killings.
In 2005, Garde-Wilson was found guilty of
Contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...
after refusing to testify in the trial of the two men charged with the murder of her boyfriend
Lewis Caine, claiming that she feared for her life.
Involvement in Lawyer X scandal
Garde-Wilson's role in uncovering the
Lawyer X
Nicola Maree Gobbo, sometimes known as Nikki Gobbo, (born 16 November 1972) is an Australian former criminal defence barrister and police informant.
Drug charge at law school
In 1993, while she was a law student, police raided a house owned b ...
scandal originated from her first-hand experiences during the Melbourne gangland wars.
As a criminal defence lawyer, she represented several high-profile clients who were unknowingly compromised by their own attorney, Nicola Gobbo, who was secretly acting as a police informant under the codename "
Informer 3838
''Informer 3838'' is an Australian television series focusing on criminal barrister-turned police informer Nicola Gobbo (codenamed informer 3838) and her involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings. It is a spin-off of the '' Underbelly'' ...
". Garde-Wilson's concerns about leaks within the legal system and her public questioning of the legal integrity of Victoria Police began to intensify during the late 2000s. However, her calls for broader public and legal scrutiny that eventually exposed Nicola Gobbo's role as "Informer 3838" escalated significantly around 2018 when the media first publicly disclosed Gobbo's role as an informant.
Following the revelations surrounding Nicola Gobbo's dual role as a lawyer and a police informant, the
Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants was established.
Garde-Wilson provided testimony during this inquiry, which scrutinized the conduct of Victoria Police
and the implications of using a legal professional as an informant. In response to the Commission's findings and the subsequent impact on public trust in the justice system, Garde-Wilson, along with other prominent Australian lawyers, called for significant reforms.
In July 2023, following the closure of the Lawyer X Office of the Special Investigator, these legal practitioners, including Garde-Wilson, demanded an official apology from former Victorian Premier
Daniel Andrews
Daniel Michael Andrews (born 6 July 1972) is an Australian former politician who served as the 48th premier of Victoria from 2014 to 2023. He held office as the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2010 and ...
, emphasizing the need for reforms to restore integrity within the judicial system.
Notable cases
In 2005, she represented Carl Williams,
a key figure in the Melbourne gangland killings, who was convicted of multiple murders. Another significant case involved defending Tony Mokbel,
a notorious drug lord who was eventually convicted of large-scale drug trafficking.
In 2016, Garde-Wilson filed an appeal for the first Lawyer X case concerning convicted trafficker Rob Karam, who was involved in Australia's largest
MDMA
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...
importation known as the "Tomato Tins" case.
Convicted in 2012, Karam was implicated in smuggling 4.4 tonnes of ecstasy pills, valued at $122 million, hidden in tomato tins – a scheme purportedly orchestrated by the
Calabrian Mafia. This case drew significant media attention due to the scale of the drug importation and the controversial involvement of Nicola Gobbo, who provided information to police about her clients, including Karam.
In 2019, Athar Almatrah was represented by Garde-Wilson in a case involving an alleged setup using a fake Instagram account to ambush Rocco Curra, a member of the
Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
motorcycle gang. During the proceedings, Garde-Wilson disputed the evidence against Almatrah, challenging the claims about her client's intent and the credibility of the testimony from co-accused individuals.
In 2022, Garde-Wilson represented Osman El-Houli in the
Supreme Court of Queensland
The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland.
The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...
, where he was acquitted of charges related to an alleged 400kg cocaine smuggling plot.
El-Houli was accused of driving from Melbourne to Queensland to collect the cocaine, but the jury found him not guilty after deliberating for four hours and he was acquitted of all charges.
In 2022, Garde-Wilson acted as the defence attorney for Tony Larussa before the
Court of Appeal in Western Australia.
Tony Larussa, initially sentenced over involvement in a methamphetamine operation, successfully appealed the conviction and was acquitted of all charges.
In 2024, Garde-Wilson represented reputed Melbourne underworld boss Fadi Haddara who faced legal proceedings regarding firearms charges. The charges included possession of unregistered firearms and handling a stolen
Glock handgun.
Civil litigation
In 2020, Garde-Wilson initiated legal action against Google, aiming to unmask an anonymous online reviewer she suspected was a rival trying to damage her reputation. In the case, Justice Bernard Murphy had ordered Google, which didn’t object to the application, to provide the registration information of the account along with IP addresses of the reviewer, however it wasn’t enough to identify who was behind the posts.
Garde-Wilson tried to get more information including phone numbers and email addresses used to recover account details when they were lost or verify the account when it was created. Google claimed that due to the length of time since the account was deleted, any relevant data associated with the reviewer had been “permanently deleted”.
Ms Garde-Wilson said in a statement to ''The Age'' newspaper that she would issue proceedings against Google for destroying the account data and failing to save the reviewer's information in a 'timely way'.
In June 2021, Garde-Wilson initiated a defamation lawsuit against
Avi Yemini
Avraham Shalom Yemini ( Waks; ) is an Australian-Israeli far-right provocateur and commentator.Far-right:
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*
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* Since 2020 he has worked as the Australian correspondent for ''Rebel News'', a Canadian far-right website.Rebel News:
...
, a far-right provocateur associated with the Canadian-based far-right website ''
Rebel News
''Rebel News'' (also known as ''The Rebel Media'' and ''The Rebel'') is a Canadian far-right political and social commentary media website operated by Rebel News Network Ltd. It has been described as a "global platform" for the Islamophobia, a ...
''.
[Avi Yemini far-right:
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* ] The case was filed in the
Federal Court of Australia
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...
under the title "ZARAH GARDE-WILSON v AVI YEMINI & ANOR". The proceedings concluded with a settlement in October 2021, although the specific terms of the settlement were not made public.
In popular culture
Zarah Garde-Wilson's presence in popular culture is notably marked by her portrayals in two significant Australian television series. In 2008, she was portrayed by
Kestie Morassi
Kestie Morassi (born 9 August 1978) is an People of Australia, Australian film and television actress. She played Natalie in the TV series ''Satisfaction (Australian TV series), Satisfaction'' (2007–2010) and Maggie Astoni in ''Home and Awa ...
in the series ''
Underbelly
Underbelly is the side of something that is not normally seen. Figuratively, it means a vulnerable or weak part, similar to the term Achilles' heel, or alternatively, a hidden, illicit side of society.
This term could refer to:
Business
* U ...
''. Later, in 2014,
Zoe Cramond
Zoe Cramond (born 8 October 1984) is a New Zealand actress. After graduating from Unitec Institute of Technology, Cramond appeared in various theatre productions and television commercials. She made appearances in '' Outrageous Fortune'' and '' ...
played her in ''
Fat Tony & Co.'' These portrayals contributed to her recognition beyond the legal sphere, highlighting her connections to high-profile criminal cases and bringing her career to the attention of a broader audience.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garde-Wilson, Zarah
1978 births
Living people
Australian solicitors
Melbourne gangland killings
Lawyers from Melbourne