A parliamentary inquiry heard evidence that the Health Department was warned Painter might not have eaten food from I Cook Foods and the slug was planted.
I Cook Foods owner Ian Cook denied the infection was linked to his business and is suing Dandenong Council and the Health Department for more than $50 million in damages in the Supreme Court.
He claimed the council targeted his business because the council and its chief executive, John Bennie, were stakeholders in rival catering company Community Chef.
CBD heard that top-shelf criminal barrister Robert Richter, QC, whose clients have included Mick Gatto and Cardinal George Pell, had been drafted into proceedings. The lawyer told CBD he had accepted a brief for I Cook.
But who’s paying? Richter is said to cost between $12,000 and $15,000 a day. He was too polite to say. One source says funds have been contributed by a group upset with the role of authorities in breaking up an Orthodox Jewish prayer meeting. How intriguing.