Joseph (John) Payne Bridge – Fighting for Justice

First Class Prison Officer, John Bridge

John Bridge, as he was commonly known, was not your common, every day prison officer.  He was a man to be admired.  His achievements went far beyond the pale considering his background and how he believed in, and fought for justice for all.

John Bridge was born on 6th January 1942, and sadly passed away at the age of 75 years on 7^th July 2017.   

He was an Australian Aboriginal man who was reared under horrific conditions on a cattle property, aptly named Koonjie, meaning “Place of Home”, in the Bungle Bungle Range area of the east Kimberly region of Western Australia, and was of the Gijia People.   He later moved to Halls Creek to work on a cattle property there.

His father Ernest Kimberly Bridge was of European decent and his mother, Sarah Parnell, was a Gijia person.  Sarah was part of the “Stolen Generation”. They had seven children together, Joseph (John), Ernie, Benny, Margaret, Peter, David and Ethel.   Ernie Bridge went on to become a State Politician.   He became famous for his visionary attributes, including his proposal in 1984 to pipe water downwards from the Kimberly to Perth and everywhere in between, a dream I’m sure most people would like to see eventuate.  He also was a renowned singer and released several records.

Remarkably, John Bridge completed only one year of schooling at the age of 16 in 1958, at Halls Creek at the original town which is about 11 miles from Halls Creek as we know it today.   This was to be the catalyst for his yeaning to learn more and from then on, he never stopped.  

In 1969 he became one of the very first Australian Aboriginal men to become a Justice of the Peace (JP) in Western Australia.  He was required to travel to various police stations in the harsh Australian outback, including Halls Creek, Wyndham, and Kununurra.   As a JP he would often be called upon to adjudicate and sentence people, delivering swift justice wherever and whenever it was required in these hard country townships.

I had already more than 12 months service with the Department of Corrective Services and had completed my probationary period when John Bridge became a prison officer in mid 1972 at the Long Bay Prison Complex at Malabar, Sydney.   He remained at Long Bay for about a year whilst completing his 12 months probationary period, after which he moved on to Her Majesty’s Gaol, Parramatta.  

*  *  *  *  *

John Bridge stayed in the Department of Corrective Services for ten years, reaching the rank of First Class Prison Officer at Emu Plains Training Centre in New South Wales.  It is what John achieved following his resignation from the Department of Corrective Services, right up until he passed away in 2017 that made him a man to be admired and a man among men.

To read more about John’s dedication to justice for all during his life time, read my latest eBook “Officers, Criminals and Amazing Prison Stories”, available through this webpage or Amazon.

This I believe.

Peter T Egge

WOODHAM’S DOG KENNEL

In the mid 1980’s, Ronald (Rotten Ron) George Woodham, who at the time was the Superintendent of the Internal Investigation Unit of the New South Wales Corrective Services, embarked on one of the most corrupt practices ever encountered in the New South Wales legal system.  He recruited some of the most dangerous, long term, drug affected prisoners as witnesses against prisoners, prison officers and police officers, in return for favours, ranging from extra visits, interstate transfers and assistance for early release. 

Woodham was not alone in this practice.  It also involved a number of police officers including the infamous Detective Inspector Aarne Tees.  The prisoners that were recruited often gave evidence in several criminal cases.  This practice was considered so corrupt that it came to the notice of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).  The ICAC embarked on an investigation and was scathing in their report that was published in January 1993.  The practice of using prisoners as witnesses has since been refined and their input must be supported by other substantiated evidence.

Woodham had recruited so many prisoners willing to say “whatever was required”, that he had to build a special prison to hold these prisoner informers.  Prisoners who give evidence against other prisoners suffer the wrath of the main stream prisoners and are referred to by them as “dogs”, hence the nickname given to Woodham’s protection prison being “Woodham’s dog kennel”. 

One of the prisoners in the kennel was well known escapologist Raymond John Denning.  His crimes and the help given to him by Woodham and Tees are beyond human belief. 

Raymond John Denning

Sketch by Robert A Wood

A small example of the type of prisoner Raymond John Denning was is as follows:

On Saturday 14^th September 1974, four extremely dangerous prisoners attempted to escape from Parramatta Gaol.  They were Raymond John Denning, Warwick James, John Bradley and Errol Manley.  Two were armed with knives and Raymond John Denning was armed with a hammer like implement.   Denning was reported as saying the previous day that he wanted, “To kill a screw” before he escaped.

 

Karl Faber, as he was commonly known within the prison officer fraternity, was on duty as an Overseer, which was equivalent to a First Class Prison Officer, only working in prison industries. The four dangerous cowards, Denning, James, Bradley and Manley, confronted the unarmed Mr Faber, with Denning hitting him so hard from behind with his hammer that he caused Mr Faber severe compound fractures to his skull.  They locked his unconscious body into the storeroom where they left him lying in a pool of his own blood, essentially leaving him to die.  Mr Faber never stood a chance.

Three of the failed escapees were quickly rounded up while Denning had managed to make his way into another yard but was quickly uncovered by an alert prison officer realising he was in the wrong location.  All four prisoners were transported to the OBS (Observation Section) in the Central Industrial Prison at Long Bay.   I was instructed to accompany Principal Prison Officer William “Bill” Bartlett to the OBS where the four prisoners were placed in single cells on the bottom floor.  Mr Bartlett and I were instructed to stay there until the Special Operations Division (SOD) officers came to collect them for their “trip north” as the saying went, referring to the Grafton Intractable Section.   We were to make sure that nothing was to happen to the prisoners, especially from officers who may want to take some form of revenge.   That thankfully did not become an issue.

To read more about Woodham’s dog kennel and Raymond John Denning, read my latest eBook “Officers, Criminals and Amazing Prison Stories”, available through this website or Amazon.

Peter Arthur Crofts

14 Years Hard Labour

Painter & Docker, Stand over Man, Armed Robber and Perhaps Murderer

Inside Peter Crofts’s story you will find the following people and prisons:

PRISONERS

Russell (Mad Dog) Cox

(Born Melville Peter Schnitzerling)

Gregory Workman

Lance Woolcock

Robert Bowers

John Stewart

Robert Davis

Robert Kidd

Marco Motric

Allan McDougall

Raymond John Denning

Robert Vandine

Peter Train

Lawrence Johnson

Graham (Abo) Henry

Edward James Mawson

Michael Carl Lingman

Rodney Stanislau Finlay

Rodney John Finlay

Gregory  McNamara

Harley Shambler

David (Diane) Sutton

PRISON OFFICERS

Peter Egge

Phillip Egge

Paul Cafe

Sandy Storrier

Ron Woodham

Frank Hutchen

Stan Morgan

Ernie Worth

Joe Carter

Mal Robinson

William Poulton

Jimmy Roulston

John Fitzpatrick

John Boyd

Brynley Hill

George Cornford

PRISONS:

Central Industrial Prison

Metropolitan Reception Prison

Katingal

HM Gaol Goulburn

Cessnock Corrective Centre

HM Gaol Grafton

Parramatta Gaol

HM Prison Cooma

POLICE:

Cessnock Local Police

Newcastle CIB

Australian Federal Police

OTHER PERSONS:

Justice Nagle

Costigan Commission

Bob Hawke Government

Alphonse Gangitano

Virginia Gangitano

Frieda Cornford

If you are wondering why all the above people and prisons are inside my story on Peter Crofts, you can find out by reading my latest eBook, “Officers, Prisoners and Amazing Prison Stories”, available through this website or Amazon.

Peter T. Egge

Release of Officers, Criminals and Amazing Prison Stories

OFFICERS, CRIMINALS AND AMAZING PRISON STORIES

This is my sixth eBook that I have written on the subject of prisons.  This book, I believe, is by far my best.  It is full of great short stories about officers, some of the worst criminals in Australian history, and the true realities that occur behind those 30 foot high brick walls. 

I have endeavored  to bring to life many of the officers that worked in the 

1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and the way they operated within the prison system in those times, which were very much different than today’s era.  

The criminals and the crimes they have committed will astound you as you read the true stories behind their crimes and their time whilst in prison.   Some of these criminals are amongst the hardest and toughest in the world.  Their lives and the crimes they have committed will sometimes leave you shocked. 

I have also written about numerous prison riots, ranging from the world’s worst prison riots at Attica in America, various New South Wales prisons, through to Fremantle Prison in Western Australia that eventually led to the closure of that historic prison.

Some of the stories you will find funny, some serious, and on occasions gruesome, but they are always factual and truthful.

Once again, Robert A Wood has provided his brilliant artistic skills with some outstanding sketches and paintings.  I have no doubt that people with artistic ability will appreciate and admire his work.

I  worked in the New South Wales prison system from 1971 to 1986 during which time I worked my way through the ranks to the position of Senior Assistant Superintendent and became a Commissioned Officer in 1985. 

My stories come from firsthand experience and from those with whom I worked.  Some of the prison officers were hard and stern men.  You will get to know these men as you read through the pages. 

The Long Bay Prison Complex during the 60s, 70s and 80s was a hard place for hard men.  I know that if the subject of prison officers, criminals and prisons are of interest to you, you will thoroughly enjoy this book.  It is a great read based on fact and enlightened by the detail.

This I believe.

Peter T. Egge

My New Book

My new book Officers, Criminals and Amazing Prison Stories is now out and available at Amazon or you can get it from my website.

To get your copy - CLICK HERE

MICHAEL PATRICK MURPHY 

IS DEAD

One down, four to go.  These were the words of John Cobby, and I feel certain there are few who would disagree.

Murphy was one of the ringleaders of the cold, callous kidnap, torture, rape and murder of 26 year old Sydney nurse Anita Lorraine Cobby.

Murphy has been reported as being 65 or 66 years of age.  Some, including me, believe it is 65 or 66 years too late, that he has finally left this earth.

 

I am very concerned that he will be either cremated or buried at Pinegrove Memorial Park Cemetery at Minchinbury which is the local Crematorium and Cemetery for the Blacktown area, from where Michael Patrick Murphy and his extended family were living at the time of this despicable crime.

Anita Cobby, her father Garry Lynch and her mother Grace Lynch have been put to rest in a humble, yet dignified gravesite at the Pinegrove Memorial Park Cemetery.  It would be unconscionable if Michael Murphy’s remains were taken to Pinegrove in any capacity whatsoever, be it for cremation or burial.  He simply should not be allowed to sully the hallowed grounds where his victim rests. 

In my opinion, his body should be taken to Rookwood Cemetery for cremation and his ashes spread over the local tip.

I will be very interested in observing which do-gooders from the New South Wales Department of Corrective Services attend Murphy’s funeral.  He is now dead and does not require any person from the Department to attend.  Murphy is one of the lowest forms of human being to ever exist.

I have written extensively about Michael Patrick Murphy in my eBook “Officers, Criminals and Amazing Prison Stories”, which will be released through my web page and Amazon within the next few weeks.  You will read facts concerning Murphy that have never before been published.

My other eBooks, available through my website or Amazon are - It’s All in the Fall, Cutting the Bars – Volumes 1, 2 & 3 and Australia’s Best Prison Stories. 

You can email me on petertegge@gmail.com.au

This I believe.

Peter T Egge