Paul Dale - Disgraced. The Cop at the Centre of Melbournes Gangland Wars

To my wife Ditty, who has never wavered in supporting me through a journey to hell and back. To my son Bailey, who has lived through this, and my daughter Ava, who will learn of this injustice as she grows up.

Most public figures turn into paper dolls on the way

from reality to representation in the tabloids.

Anne Holt, author

Publishers Note

Due to the Hodson murders being unsolved, and various trials taking place as a result of the gangland war and related criminal activity as depicted in this book, there are suppression orders current on a number of the names used in this work. For this reason some of the names in this book have been changed.

In the interests of consistency, Terrence Hodson has been spelt with the double r variation, which is as his name appears in all the transcripts reproduced in this book.

Glossary

ACC : Australian Crime Commission

Ceja Taskforce : Victoria Police Ethical Standards Department taskforce established January 2002 to investigate police corruption

CIB : Criminal Investigation Branch, Victoria Police

CID : Criminal Investigation Department, Victoria Police

Driver Taskforce : Victoria Police taskforce established April 2010 to investigate murder of Carl Williams

ESD : Ethical Standards Department, Victoria Police

IR : Information report

Lorimer Taskforce : Victoria Police taskforce established to investigate SilkMiller police murders

MDID : Victoria Police Major Drug Investigation Division

OPI : Office of Police Integrity

Petra Taskforce : Victoria Police taskforce established 2007 to investigate Hodson murders

PSG : Victoria Police Protective Services Group

Purana Taskforce : Victoria Police taskforce established November 2003 to investigate gangland killings

Timeline

June 2002

Detective Sergeant Paul Dale begins work at Victoria Polices Major Drug Investigation Division.

27 September 2003

Police informer Terrence Hodson and detective Dave Miechel arrested for burglary at an Oakleigh East drug house.

5 December 2003

Dale arrested and charged with conspiracy after Hodson tells police Dale was involved in the burglary. Dale remanded in Port Phillip Prison for ten days.

15 December 2003

Dale denies any involvement in the burglary and is released on bail.

16 May 2004

Terrence Hodson and wife Christine found shot dead in their Kew home.

17 May 2004

Dale arrested for murder, but released without charge.

9 June 2004

Drug charges against Dale withdrawn.

5 October 2004

Police Commissioner Christine Nixon exercises special powers and sacks Dale.

November 2004

Victorian government announces creation of Office of Police Integrity.

February 2005

Retired judge Tony Fitzgerald reports on leaking of Hodsons police files to criminal underworld, naming Dale as the most likely suspect.

June 2005

Dale launches Supreme Court action against his sacking.

11 August 2005

Judge overturns Nixons decision, citing lack of procedural fairness. Dale then resigns from police.

26 May 2006

Dave Miechel found guilty of the drug house burglary and trafficking.

March 2007

Dale subpoenaed to appear before Australian Crime Commission, where he answers questions on condition of secrecy and indemnity.

April 2007

Carl Williams signs statement claiming Dale took corrupt payments and tried to commission murder of Hodson.

September 2008

Reward of $1 million offered for information leading to conviction for Hodson murders.

November 2008

Dale gives further evidence to Australian Crime Commission.

13 February 2009

Dale arrested and charged with commissioning the Hodson murders. Is taken to Acacia high-security unit at Barwon prison.

March 2009

Dale unsuccessfully applies for bail.

August 2009

Dales second bail application rejected.

11 September 2009

Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal allows Dales release on bail.

March 2010

Dales committal hearing begins. Key prosecution witness Nicola Gobbo announces she cannot give evidence for medical reasons.

19 April 2010

Carl Williams bashed to death in Barwon prison.

April 2010

Gobbo launches civil action against police for alleged breach of agreement.

April 2010

Victoria Police announce establishment of Driver Taskforce to investigate murder of Williams.

May 2010

Office of Public Prosecution withdraws murder charges against Dale and his co-accused, Rod Collins.

January 2011

Driver Taskforce charges Dale with lying to the Australian Crime Commission.

November 2011

Dale ordered to stand trial for lying to the ACC.

May 2012

Driver Taskforce finds no evidence linking Dale to Williamss murder.

28 March 2013

Jury clears Dale on all counts of lying to the ACC.

Introduction

Where did this all begin? What came before I was the disgraced former detective splashed regularly across the front page of the Herald Sun , made to look like a gangster courtesy of weird photo angles?

There was a time, not so long ago, when I was a cop. I did my job well; I was a team player and I fought on the side of good. Or so I thought. How did a kid from the country who dreamed of joining Victoria Police end up on the wrong side of the bars? There are a lot of reasons, and I hope this story will help clarify some of them, not only for you, the reader, but for me too, because a lot of the time, I am left shaking my head, wondering how things went so wrong.

I havent spoken up until now because I knew that at the height of this whole thing, my words would have more than likely been twisted and turned to suit whatever image of me Victoria Police and the media wanted to create. I tried once, and gave an interview to the Herald Sun . The headline screamed I didnt kill Carl Williams, which wasnt what the interview was about at all.

To a lad from the country, this has all been a steep learning curve. My parents urged me to speak out. I think it hurt them most to read stories that called their son a killer. Id shake my head and explain that no-one wanted to hear my side of the story. Not yet.

But now its time.

To fully understand my story, here, in a nutshell, is what I have been accused of:

Conspiring with fellow cop Dave Miechel and Terry Hodson, a known drug dealer and informer, to rob a drug house that my team from the Major Drug Investigation Division (MDID) had under surveillance and was preparing to raid.

Organising for Dave and Terry to rob the house and spilt the proceeds evenly with me, while I stayed safely at home with 30 alibis.

Driving to the St Kilda Road MDID headquarters as soon as I heard Dave and Terry had been arrested and spiriting away a copy of Terry Hodsons blue informer folder, although my superintendent was on duty at the office at the time, as were a number of other cops, none of whom reported seeing me.

Spreading the information in the blue folder around the underworld to let them know that Terry Hodson was a police informer even though the minute Terry was arrested with a MDID cop, everyone knew anyway.

Arranging for a hitman to kill Terry Hodson, although, being an experienced detective, I had no fear of ever being convicted of conspiring to burgle the drug house on the basis of his uncorroborated allegations against me, and hence no reason to have him killed.