FIRST CLASS PRISON OFFICER TIMOTHY DAVID BURT ESCAPE FROM PARKLEA PRISON

Timothy David Burt became a Probationary Prison Officer in 1985.   Through time and diligent service he had made his way through the ranks to the substantive position of Senior Prison Officer, and was acting up to the position of Assistant Superintendent at Parklea Prison.   It seems somewhere around 1997 he accepted a voluntary redundancy package, just more wasted money by the government to my way of thinking.

Mr Burt gained employment with the Queensland Corrective Services.  In September 2000 he returned to NSW and again sought employment with the NSW Department of Corrective Services and was accepted with open arms, proving my point about wasting our taxes on redundancy packages.  In February 2001 Mr Burt returned to Parklea Prison as a First Class Prison Officer.

On the 27th December 2001 he was rostered as compound 1 Officer.  Part of his duties was to relieve the officer in the control room for a break.  In this case he relieved Correctional Officer Trevor Burke at about 10.20 hours.  Senior Correctional Officer James “Jim” Linos was the officer in charge.  I remember Mr Linos well from my time at Parklea Prison.

At about 10.30 hours or shortly thereafter, two prisoners escaped over the wall in the activities/oval of the prison.  They were Silva and McMillan and one prisoner failed the fitness test as he was unable to pull himself over the formidable wall of the oval in Parklea Prison, his name was Cooper.   As can only be expected, the “suits” within the Department had to head hunt someone to blame at the lowest level possible in order to protect their mates a little higher up the promotional ladder.

The fiasco that followed investigating the escape was nothing short of shameful and disgraceful behaviour on behalf of the New South Wales Department of Corrective Services at the time, in particular the way they wasted valuable resources in pursuing Mr. Linos and Mr. Burt.

To find out more about this story and others, read my book “Australia’s Best Prison Stories”.

This I believe.
Peter T Egge

PRISON OFFICER GERRY HULBERT – A CALL TO THE GATE

“Gerry Hulbert was an English migrant who was a nice enough bloke and a lot older than me.   I’d like to be very clear on this matter so as not to unduly offend anyone.  As a general rule I like English migrants.  My maternal great grandfather, George Sansom, migrated from our mother England, so of course I like English migrants.  


The English have so many different sounding accents I can’t always distinguish between one from another and quite often there are dramatic changes in accents from one village to the next, often just a few kilometres apart down the motorway.   Most English accents are very pleasant to listen to, but not Gerry Hulbert.  His accent was harsh and grinding on my nerves.  Put simply I could not stand listening to the man talk.

In 1982 I was a Senior Prison Officer in the Metropolitan Reception Prison at Long Bay.  On this particular day I was rostered Night Senior in charge of the prison on the “B” watch, from 00.01 until 08.00 hours (night work).

Like most Night Seniors it was my habit to report for duty at about 22.30 hours for a midnight start.  That allowed me ample time to catch up with the day’s events, do a proper “handover” and enjoy a cup of tea with the “C” Watch Senior (16.00 to 23.59 hours).   It also allowed me time to work out my placements of officers, (what posts I wanted to place them on).   I know it sounds discriminatory in 2017, but it was not the case in 1982.   Purely for the reason I could not stand the grating sound of Mr Hulbert’s voice, I placed him in the main gate.  The main gate normally went to the most senior officer of “prison officer” rank so he was happy and so was I.

Mr Hulbert was known to like a drink or three, so on his arrival I took a mental note that he showed no signs of being effected by alcohol, at least anytime close to reporting for duty.   Mr Hulbert made his way to the gate and relieved the officer from the “C” watch.

I was still talking to the “C” Watch Senior when I received a phone call from Mr Hulbert who said, “Mr Egge can you come down here to the gate please, I have an officer here who has reported for duty in an unfit state”.   I looked at the “C” Watch Senior and asked him if he would mind waiting for me to take over for a couple of minutes until I sorted out whatever the problem was.   On my way to the gate, which was only a matter of 100 metres or less, I thought it rather interesting that it was Mr Hulbert reporting the officer, knowing how much he loved a drink.”  

To read more of the unbelievable traumatic event that confronted me when I attended the main gate of the MRP, read my book “Australia’s Best Prison Stories”, available from this website or Amazon.

This I believe
Peter T Egge

ERIC THOMAS TURNER – QUADRUPLE KILLER

“When I became a probationary prison officer in 1971 I was amazed at the very generous uniform issue, there seemed to be no end to it.  We were each given a large cardboard box that was overflowing with uniform; tunic, shirts, trousers, socks, ties, cap, rain coat, over coat, belt, key lanyard, two post duty books, one for the CIP and the other for the MRP, and the most astounding one of all was two pairs of boots.  All my working life at that young age, seven years of working, I had only ever had one pair of shoes to go to work in of which I had to buy and pay for myself.  It didn’t stop there. I was also entitled to have two pairs of my boots resoled and healed per year by the prisoners in the boot shop in the CIP at Long Bay, previously known as the State Penitentiary.  The whole uniform issue was automatically handed to me every 12 months.

The boots were made in the early 1970s at H M Gaol Bathurst, H M Gaol Parramatta or the CIP, they were very nice comfortable boots laced up and covering up to just over my ankles.  In general terms the boots were of a high quality and I could get a good shine on them.  I never worked in the boot shop, yet in 1973 I had noticed a new prisoner was working in there. He had a lifer’s number on his jacket and was housed in 4 Wing. I observed this prisoner for some time and observed that most officers and prisoners seemed to know him. He gave me the impression he must have been transferred to the CIP from another gaol.  He was quite by nature as he went about his business around the gaol. His name was Eric Thomas Turner. I had simply thought he must have murdered someone only because of his life sentence.  It was always my policy not to enquire into the prisoners criminal offences, it was less emotional and I could be more professional in carrying out my duties that way.

It was only recently that I decided to research Turner as a subject piece for this book that I realised this man cheated the hangman’s noose in 1948. He was also an excellent example of why murderers should be sentenced to life imprisonment and never be released.”

Prison Officers all around the world have to deal with prisoners like Turner and his ilk on a daily basis.  To read more about this quadruple murderer, you can read my latest book “Australia’s Best Prison Stories” available from this website or Amazon.

This I believe.

Peter T Egge

THELMA LANGFORD – RIP

In 1972 the mail room at the Long Bay Prison Complex was moved to a new location in the newly built Boom Gate at the entrance to the complex.

First Class Prison Officer Thelma Langford was in charge of the mail room.   I was at that stage a base rate Prison Officer.

From time to time all junior officers were required to report to the mail room to assist in the censoring of the prisoners’ mail and enter the mail into a large log book.

Working with Thelma Langford could only be described as a pleasure.   It was a fun place to be.   Thelma would always have great stories to tell and was not backward in letting the junior officers know what her philosophies were on prison reform.

One such gem amongst her many philosophies was, “At Mulawa, we turn prostitutes into call girls”.  That was her view on rehabilitation of female prisoners.

Thelma was just a great lady to work with who had a wicked sense of humour.  

When I told my brother Phillip that Thelma had passed away, he said, “She was just a lovely lady”, and as simple as that sounds, it is exactly what she was.

Her persona was that of a very hard officer and I have no doubt if the occasion arose, she could be.   The Thelma I knew was a highly respected officer, very efficient and diligent in carrying out her duties and at the same time always enjoyed a yarn and some good hearted fun.

You can read more stories about Thelma Langford in my first book, It’s All in the Fall, on page 52 under the title “Thelma Langford – Hard as nails, heart of gold”.

I am not sure of the details in relation to her age or the cause of her passing.   She will be sorely missed by her family and the friends and officers who knew and respected her.

Peter T Egge

TONY MALCOLM – RIP

I received a message on Wednesday morning 1st March 2017 informing me of the sad news of the passing of Tony Malcolm at about 4.30am on that day.

The message included that Tony had succumbed to that insidious disease cancer.

Tony was to me, one of those infallible officers who could handle any situation that occurred on his shifts with calm and total control.  He was especially well liked and highly respected, in particular by me.

In 1975 I was promoted to First Class Prison Officer.   Tony was in charge of the Observation Section (OBS) and his 2nd in charge was John Blanche.  I was fortunate enough to be selected to be their number three officer.   Both Tony and John were outstanding officers with their knowledge and skills of the special requirements of the OBS.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with both men and they taught me a great deal.

Tony was exuberant with his obvious love of his chosen career.  He always had a smile on his face, he loved a joke and was always willing to pass on his knowledge and aptitude to all who had the privilege of working under his direction.

Tony will be sorely missed by all those who knew and respected him.

I believe Tony’s funeral will be held on Thursday 9th March 2017.   Please check this if you wish to attend.

I pass on my sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Peter T Egge

SENIOR PRISON OFFICERS

LONG BAY PRISON COMPLEX - EARLY 1970’S

Senior Prison Officer Ron Taylor

Below is a list of the Senior Prison Officers at Long Bay Gaol in the early 1970’s.   These men were the backbone of the prison system.   Every one of them contributed greatly to my knowledge and skills and assisted me with my career with the Department of Corrective Services. 

You will find stories about many of these men in all of my five books, It’s all in the Fall, Cutting the Bars – Volume 1, Cutting the Bars – Volume 2 – Cutting the Bars – Volume 3, and my recently released book Australia’s Best Prison Stories.

I am sure you will enjoy reading about these men who have dedicated their lives to protecting the public by working in one of the most dangerous environments in Australia, the Long Bay Prison Complex.

SPO Frank Hutchen	SPO Peter Murphy	SPO George Morris
SPO Stanley Horden	SPO George Silis	SPO Anthony Mullherin
SPO Reginald Hennessy	SPO Eric Wilson	SPO Peter Greenaway
SPO Laurie Rawlings	SPO Ronald Cooper	SPO Andre Lapacek
SPO Neville Weeks	SPO Samuel Pavich	SPO Robert Humphries
SPO Rodney Schneider	SPO Joseph Caba	SPO Richard Quinlan
SPO Brian Usher	1/C PO Roy Linehan	SPO Robert Dyson
1/C PO Donald Coppen	SPO Adrian Howard	SPO Alex Cook
1/C PO Cecil Cross	SPO Edgar Bosholm	1/C PO William Hobbs–OIC Prince Henry Hospital Annex

This I believe. 

Peter T Egge