Notorious Melbourne underworld figure Judy Moran enlists Mick Gatto to help petition for early prison release

Melbourne crime queen Judy Moran is pleading to be let out of prison and has enlisted the help of underworld figure Mick Gatto to aid her cause.

Serving a minimum 21 years for the murder of her brother-in-law Desmond ‘Tuppence’ Moran she is bedridden at the maximum security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, according to The Herald Sun.

Ms Moran is now reportedly lodging a petition for mercy, asking to be released from prison on the grounds of poor health.

Gatto, who was cleared of murdering hitman Andrew Veniamin in 2004, confirmed to The Herald Sun that Moran had contacted him and that he was helping with her application, reaching out to lawyers on her behalf and “funding it a bit”.

“Anyone who’s been through what she’s gone through deserves to be helped,” Mr Gatto, who was an ally of her husband and sons, said.

“She pretty much hasn’t got very long to go. I’d like to help her out if I can. She reached out to me for help and how could I not.”

It is not known what medical condition has left Moran bed-bound, however, she was hospitalised in December for a liver complaint.

It is understood a health condition would need to be terminal or for it to leave her bedridden or incapacitated for her petition to be granted.

The condition would also have needed to have worsened since she entered the prison system.

The Attorney General considers petitions for mercy in the first instance and would then make a recommendation to the Premier about whether the Governor should exercise mercy.

All valid petitions for mercy must be put forward to the Governor for consideration and only the Governor can decide whether to grant or refuse a petition for mercy.

A spokesperson for the Victoria Government would not comment on Moran’s case, saying “It would be inappropriate to comment on individuals in custody and any appeals they make including petitions for mercy”.

Judy Moran lost some of her closest family members in Melbourne’s bloody gangland war led by drug baron Carl Williams. Her sons Mark and Jason and her husband Lewis were all shot dead.

Five years later, she was convicted of orchestrating the murder of Tuppence in 2009, driving the hitman Geoffrey “Nuts” Armour to the deli where he was shot, and for being an accessory after the fact.

When the case went to court Moran was using a motorised wheelchair due to a hip complaint.

Armour, 45, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 26 years in jail with a 21-year minimum and Moran, 67 at the time, copped the same sentence.