The wife of slain drug lord Carl Williams is appealing against a court order to sell off her home.
Roberta Williams lives in the Melbourne home which was bequeathed to her daughter Dhakota by Carl’s father, George Williams after his death in 2016.
The property is worth more than $1 million but the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has launched a legal battle over Mr Williams’ will.
Roberta Williams is seen leaving the Melbourne Supreme Court, Melbourne, Friday, June 22, 2018
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house on Primrose Street in Essendon (pictured) is now worth more than $1 million
George Williams bequeathed the house to his granddaughter Dhakota (pictured)
Mr Williams owed about $740,000 in unpaid taxes and Victoria Police struck a deal with Carl in 2009 while he was in prison to get rid of his father’s debt.
The deal was that if he provides them information on a series of murders committed during 1999 and 2006, then the police would get rid of the debt.
But Carl was bashed to death inside Barwon Prison in 2010 before he could testify in court.
Carl’s death resulted in Victoria Police later cancelling their offer to to pay Mr Williams’s tax debt.
Roberta Williams lives in the Melbourne home which was bequeathed to her daughter Dhakota by Carl’s father, George Williams after his death in 2016
Victoria Police struck a deal with Carl (pictured) in 2009 while he was in prison to get rid of his father’s debt
George Williams (pictured left) father of slain gangland killer Carl Williams, arrives for the funeral service, in Melbourne on April 30, 2010
Roberta Williams (left), the ex-wife of gangland murderer Carl Williams, carries the casket as a pall bearer at the funeral for George Williams at Saint Therese’s Parish in Melbourne, Monday, May 23, 2016
Earlier in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled Ms Williams had no claim to the house and made orders for it to be sold and the proceeds used to pay the debt.
On Friday, Ms Williams launched an appeal represented by her pro bono barrister John Selimi.
‘This is a quest for justice from the graves of George and Carl Williams,’ Mr Selimi told the Supreme Court.
The barrister said Roberta was unable to attend an important prior court hearing over the matter because she was sick in hospital.
At that court hearing an application for a summary judgment was made to have the matter resolved without a trial, and Ms Williams was not there to advise her lawyer.
‘Every party has a right to be present when his or her matter is heard,’ Mr Selimi said.
‘It is not in the interests of justice for an application for summary judgment to be made when a party was an inpatient suffering from an intractable migraine.’
‘It is an absolute right for every person to have their day in court, to expose their truth,’ Mr Selimi said.
‘Rather than sweep the case under the carpet … and sell their home and kick them out on the street.
‘That’s not justice.’
The appeal hearing will continue on Tuesday.
Roberta Williams, ex-wife of Carl Williams is embraced as she arrives at the funeral of convicted drug trafficker and murderer Carl Williams at St Therese’s Catholic Church on April 30, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia
Earlier in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled Ms Williams had no claim to the house
File photo of convicted murderer Carl Williams smiles as he sits in the dock at the Melbourne County Court, Monday, May 7, 2007