Tony Mokbel doesn’t look like this any more – first glimpse of notorious gangster in years reveals his shock new appearance as he enters court in shackles and chains

Feared crime lord Tony Mokbel has been seen in public for the first time in decades after years behind bars.

The 59-year-old was photographed in handcuffs on Monday as he was led into the Supreme Court of Victoria in his ongoing fight for freedom.

Little has been seen of Mokbel since he was jailed for 30 years for drug abuse in 2012.

A grainy image of him was released publicly in 2019 after he was stabbed in a shocking prison attack.

That image showed the seriously injured Mokbel lying flat on the concrete floor as paramedics worked to save his life.

On Monday, Mokbel watched photographer Luis Ascui as he captured the rare image of the former kingpin who was once Australia’s most notorious gangster.

He appeared to glare at Ascui as elite officers from the Corrections Victoria Security and Emergency Services Group escorted him to the courthouse.

Mokbel could be seen handcuffed with his hands in front of him and chains on his legs, barely recognizable after growing older while behind bars.

But dressed in a crisp white shirt, Mokbel still looks like a crime lord during his various appearances in court.

Sporting a salt-and-pepper goatee, the grizzled and balding Mokbel still appeared well nourished during his lengthy stay in Victoria’s maximum security Barwon Prison.

Mokbel was known for his racy clothing during his years in the spotlight outside Melbourne’s courts in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Iconic footage shows him parading down Lonsdale Street outside the High Court wearing a well-tailored suit and red tie.

Mokbel was known for being courteous to reporters outside the court during his many appearances.

On Monday, Mokbel could only stare at the media pack sitting at the large gates of the Supreme Court alley where prison trucks drop off their chained passengers every day.

Mokbel has attended court to hear the outcome of an appeal that he hopes will help him in his ongoing quest to be released from prison over the Lawyer X/Nicola Gobbo scandal.

Tony Mokbel in 2000 outside the court where he was pictured in chains on Monday

Mokbel could only stare at the media pack standing at the grand gates of the Supreme Court alley where prison trucks drop off their chained passengers every day

Mokbel was guarded by elite prison guards on Monday as he was escorted from Barwon prison to court

Mokbel otherwise seemed sane, despite years behind bars and the brutal attempt on his life in 2019, in which he was repeatedly stabbed by prison rivals with an improvised ‘shank knife’.

At a hearing last year, it was revealed that Mokbel still has a traumatic brain injury as a result of the attack and has been hospitalized for heart attacks.

At another hearing in February, Mokbel claimed he fled Australia in 2006 after receiving advice from disgraced lawyer Gobbo that he was about to be charged with three counts of murder.

At the time, Mokbel was already facing a long prison sentence after being accused of serious drug trafficking.

Victoria Police’s Purana task force, which focused on Melbourne’s gangland war, had already reined in his criminal empire by restricting his access to $15 million in cash and assets.

The court heard police seized property in Victoria and Queensland, including several properties in Brunswick, Noosa and the Red Lion Hotel in Kilmore.

Police also seized Mokbel’s Ferrari roadster and froze the money he had in the NAB and ANZ banks.

Mokbel is escorted by police officers after appearing in court on June 8, 2007 in Athens, Greece. He had fled Australia after being tipped off that he was about to be charged with murder

Mokbel and disgraced lawyer Nicola Gobbo were photographed together when the gangster was still free

This photo of Mokbel after he was stabbed in prison was released by a court in 2019. Little has been seen of him in public since

Mokbel was so broke that he could not afford to perform the upcoming drug trial, let alone defend a murder case.

Gobbo was unmasked as police informant superstar Lawyer X in March 2019.

She had performed for many of Melbourne’s thugs, including Mokbel and the late gangster Carl Williams.

Williams was beaten to death in prison before he even had a chance to see his former lawyer involved in the grimy scandal.

Mokbel has already won several legal victories over Gobbo’s interference in his affairs.

A 2006 conviction for importing cocaine was overturned in 2020 due to the Lawyer X scandal.

Last year, his 2012 sentence for drug trafficking was reduced from 30 years in prison with a minimum term of 22 years to a total of 26 years with a non-parole period of 20 years.

Gobbo had first met Mokbel in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in 1998, when she was acting as a junior to barrister Alex Lewenberg.

Mokbel claimed she was acting on his brother’s behalf.

In 2002, Mokbel said Gobbo visited him in prison while he was on remand on drug charges.

Tony Mokbel was a real-life Tony Soprano when the show first aired in 1999

She acted as junior lawyer Con Heliotis and asked to come on board.

‘I honestly didn’t know she was a lawyer. I thought she was just a clerk in Lewenberg’s office,” he said.

Mokbel claimed Gobbo gave him the hard sell and assured him she would work hard for him.

“She was an extremely hard-working lawyer compared to others,” Mokbel said.

‘She did all the administrative work that a lawyer would do, and you don’t see that with lawyers. She kept telling me to call her, she kept coming to see me.

“She just put me on a pedestal… which was great for me because it was a big deal.”

Mokbel claimed the pair often discussed his legal matters outside the home over coffee and dinners.

The gangster claims he only fled in 2006 – halfway through the trial – because Gobbo warned him that the police wanted to charge him with murder.

“She told me that I am going to be accused of three murders and that I should seriously consider going into hiding,” he told the court.

Police later charged him with the murders of Lewis Moran and Michael Marshall at the height of Melbourne’s underworld war.

Tony Mokbel and his infamous wig, which he caught during his arrest in Greece after fleeing Australia

Mokbel said he completely trusted Gobbo and described her as “the engine” of his legal defense.

“We would discuss everything. She was the driving force in legal advice,” he said.

‘I trusted her completely. I trusted her more than Heliotis. I thought she was the most loyal person on earth. I’m still shocked to be honest.’

Mokbel said he had been in contact with Gobbo again after his arrest in Greece, hoping she could help his Greek lawyer block his extradition to Australia.

Back in Australia, he would communicate with Gobbo via a ‘burner phone’ at Barwon prison, smuggled to him in a punching bag by Williams.

Charges against Mokbel in the Marshall case were later dropped and he was acquitted by a jury of Moran’s murder.

The Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants released its findings in 2021, revealing that more than 1,000 criminals could be released or given a new trial because of Gobbo’s unlawful information to Victoria Police.

Commissioner Margaret McMurdo AO concluded that the convictions or findings of guilt of 1,011 people may have been influenced by Victoria Police’s use of Gobbo as a human source.

“She told police about the property, finances, contact numbers, associates and the vehicles and code names he used,” Commissioner McMurdo said at the time.

“She disclosed the defense strategies and tactics used by Mr Mokbel’s legal team, both in his criminal trial and in his extradition proceedings.”

Melbourne underworld figure Faruk Orman walked free in 2019 after spending 12 years behind bars after Victoria’s Court of Appeal ruled he should be acquitted over Ms Gobbo’s actions while she represented him.