Australian True Crime

Melbourne criminal defence lawyer Bernie Balmer has represented some of Victoria’s most notorious identities like gangland matriarch Judy Moran, Mick Gatto and Mark “Chopper Read”, AFL and NRL players, past and present, and people you’ve probably never heard of, like the woman who stabbed to death the child she gave birth to, on an access visit, with the adoptive parents nearby. He and his team are also known for representing some of the most vulnerable people, including children, who enter the court system each day. Bernie is quite literally, a fighter - he was a boxer and has been involved in the sport, in and out of the ring, since 1966. Bernie, a country boy, even has an Australian University Heavyweight title. He boxed, nightclub-bounced and grafted his way through a law degree at Melbourne University.  On March 27, 1986 Bernie, then a young solicitor, was, fatefully, at the site of the Russell Street bombing just as the bomb detonated. He tended to young police constable Angela Taylo