Crime in Melbourne
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia has a lower crime rate than Sydney (see Crime in Sydney for details), and it is a reasonably safe city by world standards. It has the lowest per capita rate of violent crime of any Australian capital city.
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Early history
The Depressions of the early twentieth century generated organised crime, as in most western cities. Infamous gangsters of the time included Squizzy Taylor, and were portrayed in Author Frank Hardy’s 1950 novel "Power Without Glory".
From the 1950s until the early 1990s the majority of underworld crime figures and major incidents can be traced back to the Painters and Dockers Union that existed on Melbourne's waterfront. Similar in structure to Italian crime gangs, the 'dockies' followed an unwritten set of rules which included assistance to members, rejection of conventional justice and a code of silence.
Activity was centered around control of the Union, and the cut associated with the drugs that passed through the port. In the early 1970's the amount of drugs increased, and so did the violence associated with it. This was later the subject of a Royal Commission
Timeline of major incidents
1970s
Eloise Worledge kidnapping
1976: Eloise Worledge kidnapped from her suburban home and presumed killed although her body was never found.
1980s
Russell Street Bombing
Image:RussellStreetPoliceHQ.JPG Template:Main On March 27, 1986 a car bomb exploded outside the Russell Street Police Headquarters, killing 21 year old Constable Angela Taylor. The bomb caused extensive damage around the area.
Hoddle Street massacre
Template:Main In the afternoon of August 9, 1987, former army cadet Julian Knight went on a 30 minute shooting spree in Clifton Hill, killing 7 and wounding 19 before being arrested. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Queen Street massacre
Template:Main On December 8, 1987, around 4:00pm, 22 year old Frank Vitkovic walked into the offices of Australia Post on Queen St, and over a period of four hours, killed 8 staff, as well as seriously wounding five others, and seriously traumatising many many others, before jumping out of a window and killing himself.
Walsh Street police shootings
Template:Main On October 12 1988, two police officers were ambushed and killed in Walsh Street, South Yarra. Victor Peirce and Trevor Pettingill, Anthony Farrell and Peter McEvoy were charged, though later acquitted at trial by jury. In 2005, the wife of Peirce gave an interview detailed how her husband planned the murders.
1990s
Karmein Chan murder
Silk-Miller police murders
Image:Silkandmiller.jpg Template:Main On August 16, 1998 Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller were staking out a restaurant when they were shot at close range. Bandali Michael Debs, and Jason Roberts were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders as well as 13 other charges of armed robbery.
Melbourne gangland killings
Template:Main Between January 16 1998 and March 7 2006 at least 29 underworld figures were killed in Melbourne, in a series of tit-for-tat killings between various groups, starting with the murder of Alphonse Gangitano and culmunating in the arrest of Carl Williams and the killing of suspected hitman Andrew Veniamin
2000s
Monash University shooting
Template:Main At 11:20am on October 21, 2002, Huan Xiang, a student at Monash University went into a tutorial room at the Clayton campus with 5 guns and shot and killed 2 students. He was tackled and restrained by a lecturer until police arrived. He was found not guilty of murder due to mental illness
The Korp Tragedy
Template:Main In early 2005, a public appeal was held by Joe Korp, who's wife Maria had disappeared days earlier. Maria was found in the boot of a car, barely alive, and later dying in hospital, and Joe Korp's mistress, Tania Hermann, was convicted of her murder. Joe Korp was also charged, but committed suicide while on bail. The family's luxurious mansion in Greenvale was later sold for $860,000.
Major figures
Billy "The Texan" Longley was a leader of a union faction within the Painters and Dockers. He was known as "The Texan" either because he wore a Stetson and carried a Colt .45. or because the character played by Rory Calhoun in the film The Texan was Bill Longley. A biography, In Your Face has been written of his life by Rochelle Jackson, published by ABC books.
Mark "Chopper" Read, as a figure, has been immortalised in film Chopper, played by actor Eric Bana. Due to a high profile through his books, he is perhaps the best known figure to have emerged from Melbourne's criminal underworld. His deeds as reported in his books are considered to be a mix of fiction and non-fiction, however he has only spent 18 months of his adult life out of prison. He was a standover man in prison and most of his convictions are for jail violence against weaker prisoners.
See also
- Crime in Australia
- List of Australian criminals
- Timeline of major crimes in Australia
- Royal Commission on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union
- Melbourne gangland killings
- Moran family
- Pettingill family
External links
- Melbournecrime.com Crime Scene - Melbourne Underworld (An online reference guide from the Crime Writers Association of Australia)
- Victoria Police Crime Statistics