WARNING: Graphic
A high-profile Sydney barrister dubbed the “Lambo lawyer” is delving into true crime, spilling his stories in a new podcast that will “make listeners gasp”.
Peter Lavac, the former Hong Kong crown prosecutor and criminal lawyer who made headlines for his drawn-out legal battle with Transport NSW over “offensive” personalised number plates, has opened up about his colourful life in The Lambo Lawyer.
The nine-episode series, produced by Brisbane-based Podshape and published by Acast, debuted last month and has already “gone through the roof” on Apple and Spotify, Mr Lavac told news.com.au.
“It’s a combination of true crime, it’s got comedy, tragedy, overcoming adversity,” he said.
The cancer survivor and former professional athlete, who once set a world record for a 900km surfski voyage from Hong Kong to the Philippines, said “people have been hassling me for years to sit down and write a book about some of the things I’ve done”.
He has locked up triads and wrestled with criminals – literally – in the courtroom, once disarmed a gunman while working as a nightclub bouncer, and saved a father and son from rough surf at Sydney’s Queenscliff Beach.
The book never panned out, but the self-proclaimed playboy connected with the podcast producers, who began working on the series 12 months ago. “They told us people are screaming out for content, and when they saw our story they were over the moon,” he said.
Mr Lavac said his favourite episode was about the his pro bono work helping the family of Tasmanian schoolgirl Eden Westbrook, who died in February 2015 in what the coroner determined was suicide.
The 15-year-old’s family believed the police investigation had been bungled and were demanding an inquest be reopened to rule out the possibility of foul play.
In April this year, Tasmania’s chief magistrate informed Eden’s parents the case would not be reopened.
Jason Westbrook told The Mercury at the time the family planned to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Tasmania and hire a private investigator.
“Whatever it takes, we owe it to Eden to get it right,” he said.
Mr Lavac said it was a tragic story.
“You’ll have tears running down your face,” he said.
He said in the podcast, Eden’s mother Amanda Westbrook describes how she and her husband were taken to a park where they tragically found their daughter who had supposedly committed suicide.
He said other episodes of the podcast “will make listeners gasp”.
In one, he recalls taking on the most difficult case of his career while working as a defence barrister in Hong Kong.
A Nigerian British citizen living over there had brutally murdered his Filipino girlfriend after she dumped him and fled to the Philippines Consulate for safety.
“They put her in a special refuge for Filipino women who are being abused by their husbands or employers,” Mr Lavac recalls in the podcast.
“He found out where she was, barged in past security, grabbed her, beat the sh*t out of her in front of witnesses, then dragged her out the front of the building, dragged her round the back of the building and stuffed her semiconscious headfirst into a sewage drain, and she drowned. “It was pretty horrific. It was one of the worst trials I’ve ever done.”
The man ultimately was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, “which in Hong Kong means life – none of this bullsh*t 10 years and you’re out”. “I was secretly clapping under the bar table,” he said. “This guy was an absolute scumbag.”
The series also features appearances from 2GB radio host Ben Fordham and investigative journalist Hedley Thomas, host of the Teacher’s Pet podcast, who has been a good friend of Mr Lavac’s for many years.
Mr Lavac, who also recounts his battle with lung cancer, says one of the main goals was to “give hope and inspiration to cancer sufferers” that a diagnosis is “not an automatic death sentence”.
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“I’m 14 years clear and back to full strength in the gym, back to race car driving, back to doing trials in court, living a full and happy life,” he said. “You can survive and thrive.”
Acast content director Guy Scott-Wilson said the podcast had grown 89 per cent in the past week and was currently sitting at the top of the Apple podcast charts in the leisure category as of Tuesday.
“Which is a fantastic achievement that will really help fuel discoverability and drive further growth,” he said.
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