A REAL PRISONER REHABILITATION PROGRAM

Tim Watson-Munro was a young Prison psychologist working at Parramatta Prison in the 1970’s.   Although I had met him, I doubt that he would remember me and it’s fair to say that I do not know him.

In 1978 I was training recruit prison officers at Silverwater to work in Parramatta Gaol.  I visited Parramatta Gaol on a very regular basis for training and orientation purposes for my trainee prison officers.  It was there that I met Tim.  He was largely responsible for conducting one of the most successful prisoner rehabilitation programs I have witnessed. 

A Judge or Magistrate would sentence a first time prisoner to one day in gaol at Parramatta.  Parramatta Gaol was a very old, convict built prison that was commenced in 1833.  It was built of sandstone and to my mind is a stately group of historic buildings.

The idea behind this rehabilitation program was to show first time prisoners what gaols are really about.  The young offender would present himself to the main gate early in the morning.  He would be processed like all other prisoners having a description sheet taken, completely stripped searched, placed in prison greens complete with a prison number which was the system in the 1970’s.  The prisoner was brought before the Superintendent where he was informed of the prison routine.  He was then escorted to an area where he would be given mundane tasks such as polishing brass and locks.  He would spend time on Parramatta’s Intractable Circle, locked in a yard completely on his own.  He would be fed the normal prison food and locked in a cell for some time over the lunch break.

Following the lunch break, the young offender would be subjected to a group committee, made up of very heavy and dangerous prisoners, chaired by Tim Watson-Munro and with a prison officer or two also present.

During this group session, the prisoners would tell him what prison was really like and what their personal experiences were leaving nothing to the imagination including the possibility of being raped.  At the end of the day, the young offender was released to freedom.  Most realised that they were very fortunate and never returned to their former criminal ways.

The do-gooders however, thought in their wisdom that a day in prison was too harsh and the program was soon dropped.  Perhaps those do-gooders might reflect that the young offenders who are not afforded the opportunity to see for themselves that prisons are not holiday camps as the media may portray them will continually be going through the revolving door of the criminal justice system.

You can read more about this rehabilitation program and others in my eBook Australia’s Best Prison Stories, available through this web page or Amazon.

Please take the opportunity to view the attached sixty minutes segment on the above rehabilitation program.

This I believe.
Peter T. Egge

PRISON RIOT CHAOS

Recently the Western Australian Government released the report on the Greenough Prison riot.  Greenough is a regional prison near Geraldton, approximately 400km north of Perth.

Governments right across Australia learn nothing from past disturbances in our prison systems.  The McGowan Government, like most governments, realizes there are no votes in prisons, hence a major reduction in the W A prison budget. 

I have seen this all before, in New South Wales in particular, but also in other states.  The first thing that the pencil pushers look at when reducing the budget is Prison Officer’s overtime.  It was no different in Greenough Prison. The Superintendent had successfully, under instructions from the Minister, reduced his overtime bill of 1.6 million dollars by $500,000.  This automatically causes crucial security positions to be left unmanned.  It also meant the prisoners spent large periods of time locked in their cells. 

When I was about ten years old, a friend of mine had a blue heeler cattle dog that he kept tied with a six foot chain.  When he let the dog off the chain, the dog would run wild, and that is exactly what has occurred at Greenough Prison. 

Most riots contain three major factors.  Hot weather, overcrowding and overtime worked by Prison Officers.  It seems to me that all three were present in this disturbance.  The prison was overcrowded but understaffed by ten positions.  The roster on the day of the riot showed seven positions vacant that were crucial to the smooth operation and good order of the prison.

These positions. I believe, could have easily been filled by Prison Officers who are rostered on duties other than within a correctional centre.  Departments of corrective services these days, have a number of specialized units that operate outside of an institution. Officers working within these units should be placed back within a prison which is the core business of the department.  I am led to believe that most correctional departments throughout Australia have in excess of 100 Prison Officers working outside of institutions.  This to my mind causes major blowouts to the department’s budget and most of the units could be well done without.  Get back to the core business which is running prisons humanely and safely for all concerned, officers and prisoners alike.

It is common sense that if you lock the prisoners in their cells for long periods of time, they will soon become fed up and restless.  It is not necessary to have prisoners out of their cells for 12 to 16 hours per day but it is necessary that a normal prison routine would be a minimum of eight hours and that would allow ample time for work, eating, exercise and hygiene, as well as access to facilities such as libraries, education and visits.  Providing the prisoners have adequate diet, and discipline is maintained there should be no riots occurring.  That of course is mostly wishful thinking. 

It must be remembered that although Greenough was not classified as a maximum security prison, all prisoners that are classified and housed there come from a maximum security prison.  The officers working in such institutions should, to my mind, spend a considerable amount of time working in maximum security institutions to enable them to handle these prisoners when the going gets tough.  The problems faced at Greenough are the same problems that occur throughout Australia and overseas on a regular basis.  

Politicians and the do-gooders running the institutions do not understand how the criminal mind works and the intricacies that occur on a daily basis within a prison environment.

Whilst the riot was in full swing, and before Prison Officers and Police could be placed strategically to secure the perimeter, ten of the prisoners escaped using poorly secured ladders from within the prison, creating unnecessary and unwarranted Police action in order to recapture the escapees.

During the riot several male prisoners broke into a section that housed female prisoners.  They were there with the female prisons for a considerable time, unsupervised, because of the riotous conditions.  Females, I believe, should never be housed in adjacent area to male prisoners.  No good can ever come from a situation where male prisoners are able to forcible occupy female quarters.

The pen pushers, in their endeavor to save $500,000, cost the tax payer of Western Australia a great deal more than was initially saved by the reduction of overtime.

This I believe.

Peter T. Egge

Have you read my best selling eBook on New South Wales prisons, “It’s all in the Fall”, available through this website or Amazon?

WWI SOLDIERS

PTE. LESLIE ROCKS

PTE. PATRICK BEDE ROCKS

In 1957/58 I was a pupil at South Strathfield Primary School in Sydney.  My parents moved around a great deal and I attended a number of schools throughout New South Wales, but I had fond memories of two teachers at South Strathfield Primary that have stayed with me my entire life.  One was Mr. Rocks and the other was Mr. Allen whom I will talk more about him in a blog around Anzac Day.

Leslie Rocks was what I thought to be an old man when I was in 3^rd or 4^th class at South Strathfield Primary School.  He seemed to be more tolerant and understanding of students like myself who were, to say the least, struggling.  He was also an artist.  He would draw a circle in the boy’s autograph books and with Indian ink (black), he would draw a picture of a hut and some trees and often a little pond with ducks on it.  I have stolen that idea from him and often do the same thing for my grandchildren, minus the Indian ink.

I remember that he was a First World War veteran and because this Remembrance Day celebrates its 100^th anniversary, I decided to research Mr. Rocks’s war records. 

On doing so I discovered that his brother Patrick Bede Rocks also enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force on the same day, on 27^th July 1915 at Liverpool.  Leslie Rocks was 26 years of age when he enlisted and Patrick was only 20 years of age. The two brothers were born in Callinga, Cootamundra in the NSW Riverina area which is an area I know quite well.  When my family moved from South Strathfield, we moved to Temora, just 54 kilometres from Cootamundra.  Cootamundra is known as the birth place for Peter Sterling the famous Parramatta and Australia half back of the 1980’s.

Both brothers did service in France where Patrick was wounded on two occasions, of which one also included the terrible experience of being gassed.  He died on 7^th January 1950, still suffering the effects of his war service.

Mr. Rocks went on to teach at South Strathfield High School, where from all reports he was also well respected and liked by the students.

I was pleased to see Leslie Rocks’s papers that he was a true Australian lad.  He had been insolent to a Sgt. Turner and I loved the term “was rewarded with five days CB”, (confined to barracks).  Both Leslie and Patrick received the 1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Much of the information that is on these First World War records is hard to decipher.  Regardless, I was proud to be taught by Mr. Rocks.  I have only thought of him in the kindest and fondest memories. Sadly on 10^th May 1973 he passed away.

I thank both the Rocks brothers for their service in WWI and for helping to keep Australia safe and moulding the Australian spirit.

All persons enlisted were required to take an oath.  In Leslie Rocks’s records I found the following oath:

I, Leslie Rocks, swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lord the King in the Australian Imperial Force from 26^th July 1915 until the end of the War, and of four months thereafter unless sooner lawfully discharged, dismissed, or removed therefrom; and that I will resist His Majesty’s enemies and cause His Majesty’s peace to be kept and maintained; and that I will in all matters appertaining to my service, faithfully discharge my duty according to law.

LEST WE FORGET

This I believe

Peter T. Egge

MICHAEL PATRICK MURPHY

ARMED ROBBER, ESCAPEE AND SEX MURDERER, LIFE IN PRISON, NEVER TO BE RELEASED

Sketch of Michael Murphy by Robert A. Wood

Over the past days I have received numerous phone calls and messages from retired Prison Officers and others who have no dealings with the prison system, ensuring that I am aware that Michael Patrick Murphy had been admitted to palliative care.  To my mind, this means he has less than a few weeks to live.

The majority of those callers expressed a view of, “Will he have suffered enough”.  On 2^nd February 1986, Murphy, in the company of John Travers and Michael Murdock along with Murphy’s two brothers Lesley and Gary Murphy, committed one of Australia’s most heinous crimes when they abducted, robbed, raped and savagely brutalised and murdered 26 year old Sydney nurse Anita Lorraine Cobby in the most gruesome and humiliating manner ever known to man. 

For these horrific crimes, all five murderers were sentenced to Penal Servitude for Life with a recommendation “Never to be Released”.

Michael Patrick Murphy’s criminal history is as follows:-

  He was born in 1952

 Michael Patrick Murphy’s juvenile records are sealed.  I believe in special circumstances like Murphy’s the public are entitled to know all there is to know about him.

The adult criminal record of Michael Murphy began in 1970 when he was convicted of stealing a motor vehicle and granted 12 months probation. 

In May 1972 he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with hard labour with a 6 months non-parole period, for stealing a motor vehicle.   There would be no turning back from this point forward for Murphy.

Whilst still in prison, In August 1972 Murphy received an additional 12 years imprisonment with hard labour for robbery in company, break, enter and steal and break, enter and steal with an armed person.

Murphy was paroled in May 1976.

In October 1977 his parole was revoked

In July 1978 he received 8 years imprisonment with hard labour, plus balance of parole for break enter and steal and larceny.

In November 1979 Murphy was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment with hard labour for attempting to escape from Her Majesties Prison Parramatta.

On 29^th April 1983 Murphy escaped lawful custody.

In March 1984 he received 1 month penal servitude for escaping lawful custody on 29^th April 1983.

On the 27^th December 1985 Murphy again escaped lawful custody, this time from Silverwater Correctional Centre.

On the 10^th June 1987 Michael Patrick Murphy was sentenced to penal for life imprisonment, plus 45 years P. S. With the trial Judge recommending, “Never to be released” for his part in the atrocities committed in the Anita Cobby Murder.

On Monday 15^th February 1988 Murphy received a “Token” prison sentence of a further 9 months Penal servitude for escape lawful custody from Silverwater Correctional Centre on the 27^th December 1985.

For cases such as Michael Murphy’s, I believe in capital punishment as being most appropriate.  This may sound harsh and I am sometimes asked if I would be prepared to pull the lever.  In Michael Murphy’s case my answer is always, “Absolutely”.

Early on, the do-gooders painted Murphy as a modern day Ned Kelly.  The only similarity is that they both have Irish/Catholic heritage.  They claimed that Murphy, being the eldest boy in a large family, began his criminal career in order to help his mother support the family.  Perhaps he could have tried finding a legitimate job. 

The crimes that he committed and escalated to, were beyond comprehension when he, with his four fellow murderers, kidnapped, brutalised, tortured, sodomised and murdered Anita Cobby, leaving her exposed to the elements, naked, in a paddock until found two days later by a hapless farmer.   

You can read more about Michael Patrick Murphy in my latest book “Australia’s Best Prison Stories”.  There will also be a major chapter on Murphy in my next book due out within a few months’, titled “Officers, Criminals and Amazing Prison Stories”. 

May God forgive his soul because I am unable to.

This I believe.

Peter T. Egge

EX SENIOR PRISON OFFICER

MICHAEL KAY

Senior Prison Officer Michael Kay

I was saddened to see and hear of the arrest of ex Senior Prison Officer Michael Kay in today’s media.  He suffers severely from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

Michael’s career as a Prison Officer started in October 1979 as a Probationary Prison Officer at Parramatta Gaol.  His career extended over 31 years, during which time he was subject to being involved with seven separate murders at Parramatta Gaol.  He was involved in three separate prison riots at Parramatta and Parklea Prisons and he was directly involved in the worst prison escape by two drug lords, one from Mexico and the other a Spaniard, both wanted for murder and major drug offenses in America.  He witnessed several deaths in custody and had at least five of his fellow Prison Officers take their own lives. 

He had been arrested for firearm offenses that were unfounded for which he received a “No Bill” on two of them and received a Section 556A, (no conviction recorded, on the third offense), which was involving an antique pistol that did not require a license at that time.  He had been bullied and harassed by prison management and received little help from the Department of Corrective Services for his PTSD.  He was retired on medical grounds in 2010.

To read more in depth information on the rise and fall of Michael Kay’s career, read my latest eBook Australia’s Best Prison Stories available on Amazon.

I hope and pray that the New South Wales legal system will treat Mr. Kay with the utmost courtesy and respect for his service to the people of New South Wales, keeping in mind his severe PTSD.  I wish Mr. Kay a speedy recovery and a fair hearing.

This I believe.

Peter T Egge

Senior Correctional Officer Wattie

MORE BAD DECISIONS FROM NEW SOUTH WALES CORRECTIVE SERVICES COMMISSION

Jason Wattie is a Senior Correctional Officer (SCO).  For those who may not know, a Senior Correctional Officer wears three stripes and is the equivalent to a Sergeant in any other uniformed service such as the Police or Military.  It is my view that a Senior Correctional Officer is a highly respected and sought after rank within the New South Wales Corrective Services.

SCO Jason Wattie was suspended from duty in January 2015 as a result of allegations that he used excessive force against a prisoner at the Amber Laurel Correctional Centre at Emu Plains.  The Centre was designed to hold 56 prisoners who had been refused bail and replaces Police lock-up’s in surrounding districts, yet is manned by Prison Officers rather than Police.

The matter concerning the allegations of excessive use of force, were heard in a court.  It seems to me that the court hearings ended favourably for SPO Wattie, although I have no confirmation of that.  Regardless of the result, the Department in their vindictive, malicious and soul crushing manner chose to dismiss SCO Wattie on 13^th May 2016.  In June 2016, the Public Service Association (PSA), the union representing New South Wales Correctional Officers, appealed to the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) for unfair dismissal.  The IRC ordered the Department of Corrective Services to reinstate SCO Wattie on 18^th October 2016.  The Department of Corrective Services in their arrogance refused to reinstate SCO Wattie and appealed to the Full Bench of the IRC.  On 28^th February 2017 the IRC denied the Leave to Appeal, resulting in SCO Wattie being allowed to don his uniform and return to his normal duties.  On 30^th November 2017, the unforgiving and revengeful Department of Corrective Services decided to pursue SCO Wattie to the Supreme Court of Appeal. 

Subsequently, the Department won on this occasion and sacked SCO Wattie.  However on 20^th December 2017, the PSA sought Leave to Appeal in order to appeal the decision that occurred some three weeks earlier.   The PSA was granted a stay in the proceedings and again SCO Wattie was reinstated to duty.  On 28^th February 2018, the final appeal was heard in the Supreme Court.  The decision from that hearing was not handed down until June 2018.  The splendid results were that SCO Jason Wattie won the appeal and his full costs. 

The decision by the Department of Corrective Services Commission to pursue this Officer in such a ruthless and spiteful manner shows a real lack of common sense and demonstrates how they are extremely willing to waste the tax payer’s money.  I do not know the real figure that the Department had to pay to pursue SCO Wattie.  I can only imagine the amount would be several hundreds of thousands of dollars.  That amount of money simply does not make good business sense.  If they were genuinely concerned, they could have spent a few hundred dollars on some re-training if that was considered necessary. 

Being a Correctional Officer is not an easy task.  There is no mention of the actual incident in the article that I have read concerning this matter, however I am aware that prisoners that have newly been arrested and taken to a holding centre such as Amber Laurel Correctional Centre are often under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, may suffer from mental illnesses and can quite often be very violent.   A ‘Use of Force’ by Prison Officers unfortunately is a common event.  It goes with the territory, yet prisoners must be controlled and often have to be restrained.  In those cases the Officers are protected by the Prisons Act to do so.  The Administration being the New South Wales 

Department of Corrective Services Commission, must do all they can to support their Officers instead of ruthlessly pursuing them over matters such as this which has thrown SCO Wattie’s and that of his family, into total chaos.  I have no doubt that he will find it difficult in obtaining promotion within the immediate and near future. 

Had the Commission supported SCO Wattie and others in similar situations, they may find that moral within their Department would rise considerably.

Original article courtesy of PSA Red Tape magazine.

This I believe.

Peter T. Egge

Death of Harry M. Miller

HARRY M. MILLER – JANUARY 1934 – JULY 2018

Sadly, New Zealand born entertainment entrepreneur Harry M. Miller, passed away this last week.  The following is a small extract from my eBook “Australia’s Best Prison Stories” about his life and the time he served within the New South Wales Prisons.

His company brought international acts to the southern hemisphere including artists such as Judy Garland, Louie Armstrong, Sammy Davis Jnr, Ella Fitzgerald, Chubby Checker, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and bands including Herman’s Hermits, the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones.  I went to the first Rolling Stones concert when they performed in Australia which was held at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. During our courtship before we were married, I also took my wife Margaret to the Beach Boys concert which was also held at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.  Both concerts were sensational and were major milestones leading to a hugely successful career for Harry M Miller.

He strengthened his prominence by collaborating many concerts and theatrical promotions, possibly the most successful being the Australian stage productions of Hair, that ran from 1969 to 1972, during which he was acclaimed for having discovered the 16 year old American singer Marcia Hines, a show I saw twice, also Jesus Christ Superstar from 1972 to 1976 and The Rocky Horror Show from 1974.To this day Miller accredits Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar as his greatest accomplishments. His long list of rock stars included the very famous Joe Cocker and Dusty Springfield, and he acted as an agent and manager for news worthy celebrities of which Lindy Chamberlain was possibly the most prominent, however his client base has included Judy Moran, the wife of the slain Melbourne underworld figure Lewis Moran, Gai Waterhouse, Maggie Tabberer, Deborah Hutton, Alan Jones and Stuart Diver, the only survivor of the 1997 Thredbo landslide.

In 1971 Miller established himself as the largest breeder of Simmental cattle in the Southern Hemisphere, a project that he loved and held his attention up until 1989.   At one stage he became a director of the Australian icon airline Qantas. Harry M Miller received the highest accolade when he was appointed the organiser of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations for Australia in 1977.

My father once told me, “It’s only those people that don’t do anything that don’t make mistakes”. Harry M Miller was most certainly a “doer”. He was a highly innovative man who became part of Australian entertainment history, having been described as audacious, self-confident, a broker and not afraid to go past the accepted boundaries.  

On 28^th August 1979 he created Computicket, the first ever computerized ticket service for main events in Australia however just six months after its inception, due to the lack of cash flow, the company went into receivership on 12^th February 1997.  It was the collapse of Computicket that set law enforcement into a frenzy.  Some call it the “Tall Poppy Syndrome”.  Harry M Miller was a dynamo of entertainment, promotion and management and an example of innovative, entrepreneurial distinction within this country, yet for some reason we must do all we can to seize the tall poppy and cut it down. 

To read more about Harry M. Miller’s life, his time spent within the New South Wales Prisons, and to read the hand written note he sent my brother Phillip following his release from Cessnock Corrective Centre, read my eBook “Australia’s Best Prison Stories”, available through this website or Amazon.

Peter T. Egge

Police, priorities and what they DON'T do that really matters.

POLICE PRIORITIES AND WHAT THEY DON’T DO THAT REALLY MATTERS

These days Police will not be first responders to home burglar alarms.  They refuse to attend minor car accidents.  They will not take finger prints or DNA from a simple car theft or a home break and enter unless additional crimes have been committed. 

In the 1980’s, Detective Sergeant Graham Rosetta and his team of detectives at Blacktown Police Station in Sydney’s western suburbs, became the lap dog of the then Superintendent of Internal Investigation Unit within the Department of Corrective Services, Ronald George Woodham. 

Together they set their priorities on setting up a number of innocent Prison Officers at Parklea Prison.  Among them were Michael Kay, (you can read about his case in my eBook “Australia’s Best Prison Stories”), and of course myself, (you can read about my case in my bestselling eBook “It’s all in the Fall”).

What D.S. Rosetta failed to do was look for two extremely dangerous and wanted men who were roaming the streets committing atrocities on the people within his own Policing district. 

John Travis was wanted in three states, Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales for violent, sexual offenses.  Michael Murphy had escaped from Silverwater Prison on 27^th December 1985.  He was serving a sentence of 24 and a half years imprisonment.  Both men had families living within the Blacktown Police district.  They had been on many occasions living and associating with their families in D.S. Rosetta’s precinct.

It seems to me both these violent criminals were not in any way whatsoever on D.S. Rosetta’s radar.  I believe it is fair to say, he was asleep at the desk in relation to these wanted men.  I can find no records of Blacktown Detectives taking any pro active steps to re-capture Michael Murphy or arrest John Travis. 

On 2^nd February 1986, some 37 days following Michael Murphy’s escape from Silverwater Prison, he in company with John Travis, Michael Murdoch and Michael Murphy’s two brothers, Leslie and Gary Murphy, abducted, humiliated, brutalised, raped and brutally murdered Anita Lorraine Cobby.  Michael Murphy and John Travis were the two ring leaders and major influences over the other three perpetrators of these heinous crimes. 

Anita Cobby’s body was not found until 4^th February 1986, some two days after her murder by a hapless farmer who had leased the paddock from the Water Board.  D.S. Rosetta was one of the first responding investigators to attend the scene, one that I might suggest would not have existed had he pursued Michael Murphy and John Travis prior to this horrific murder taking place.  

Detective Inspector Ian “Speedy” Kennedy from the Homicide Squad based at Police Headquarters in Sydney was called to the scene and to take charge of a task force to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. 

I have no doubt members of the task force, including Detectives Kennedy, Rosetta and Raue spent many hours in their endeavours to resolve this case in order to bring it to a quick conclusion, however it took the task force 19 days before they made their first arrest when D.S. Rosetta, along with members of the TRG entered a home at Wentworthville where they found John Travis and Michael Murdoch in bed together in what could only be described as a compromising position and they were both taken into custody at that point.  At the same time a second team led by D.I. Kennedy raided the family home of John Travis where they located Leslie Murphy and took him into custody.  It was not until 26^th February 1986, 24 days following Anita Cobby’s murder, that Detectives Kennedy, Rosetta and Raue, along with more than 50 TRG Officers surrounded a home in Tari Place Glenfield where they arrested Michael and Gary Murphy.

There is a great deal more to this story involving the incompetence and lack of proper investigative procedures that were carried out by these Blacktown Detectives. You can read all about this case in my new book to be released in the coming months, titled “Officers, Criminals and Amazing Prison Stories”.

Needless to say, D.S. Rosetta and his cohorts received special commendations for their detective work in bringing this case to a conclusion.  I believe they should have been reprimanded for their lack of diligence in carrying out their duties in protecting the people within their Police precinct by pursuing the two major influences in the Anita Cobby murder, being the dangerous escapee Michael Murphy and the equally dangerous John Travis, wanted in three states, who were both living and associating with their families close by Blacktown Police Station, right under D.S. Rosetta’s nose.  This horrific murder should never have occurred. 

Michael Murphy, John Travis, Michael Murdoch, Leslie and Gary Murphy were all sentenced to life imprisonment with the recommendation, “NEVER TO BE RELEASED”. 

Watch out for my next eBook “Officers, Criminals and Amazing Prison Stories” due out within the next few months. 

This I believe.

Peter T. Egge

Anita Lorraine Cobby's final resting place