“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
