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Naked City

Naked City

About the podcast Naked City

Take a journey into the dark depths of the Australian criminal underworld with Australia’s most formidable crime reporter - John Silvester.

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The podcast Naked City is embedded on this page from an open RSS feed. All files, descriptions, artwork and other metadata from the RSS-feed is the property of the podcast owner and not affiliated with or validated by Podplay.

Season 4
From undercover to under lock and key
Cliff Lockwood was just 19 when he left the peace of a tiny town to join the police force. “I know it sounds funny but I just wanted to do good. Nineteen was way too young. You don’t know anything.” On Sunday April 9, 1989 Lockwood and his partner, Senior Detective Dermot Avon arrested car thief and suspected violent criminal Gary Abdullah and took him to his Drummond Street two level flat to search for evidence and an accomplice. According to police Abdullah grabbed and imitation firearm and Lockwood responded by firing six shots from his gun, then grabbed Avon’s to fire the last and fatal shot. Both police were charged with murder and were acquitted. Lockwood’s left policing and his life spiralled out of control. He was jailed in the Northern Territory. Now he is back in Victoria trying to rebuild his life. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 25, 2021
35 min
Purana: Melbourne's gangland taskforce
For a time gangland figures lived a fast and often lucrative life, but very few made it out alive. After 11 unsolved murders, including Moran brothers Mark and Jason, and their father Lewis, police put together a taskforce to tackle the gangland war. They investigated Andrew 'Benji' Veniamin, Mick Gatto, Carl Williams and Tony Mockbell among others. Purana ended up investigating over 300 people, listening in on more than 100,000 hours of phone conversations, using 39 tracking devices to follow suspects for more than 22,000 hours. One of the key police informants was lawyer Nicola Gobbo, a fact which puts several convictions into jeopardy. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 17, 2021
28 min
A country school kidnapping: An unbelievable tale
The rookie teacher at the tiny country school was startled during morning recess when some of the kids ran into the single weatherboard classroom, yelling: "There's a man outside with a gun." Rob Hunter had been the sole teacher at the Gippsland town of Wooreen for just nine days - his first posting after three years at teachers' college. He was 20 years old. Maree Young was his student, she was just 11 years old. The man with the revolver and wearing a Collingwood beanie as a balaclava was Geelong Prison escapee Edwin John "Ted" Eastwood, 26, who five years earlier pulled the same crime 270 kilometres away, kidnapping a teacher and six students from Faraday. It was February 14, 1977. In the next 21 hours they would experience a car crash, a night imprisoned at a remote campsite, an escape, police pursuit, a shootout and a wounding before final rescue. In this episode of Naked City, Rob Hunter and Maree Young tell their story, first hand. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 10, 2021
37 min
Rent-a-kill: Australia's number one hitman
By early 1985 hitman Chris Flannery was running out of friends. This was hardly surprising, as he’d killed most of them. Flannery had built a fearsome reputation for killing on command but when an attack dog begins to snarl at its master it is time for the big sleep. Flannery’s boss Sydney gangster George Freeman had lost patience with him and was a little frightened of the unpredictable gunman. Flannery had threatened police and had shot one – undercover detective Mick Drury. Even in corrupt Sydney that was a crime that couldn’t go unanswered. He killed gangsters, shot dead a law-abiding Melbourne businessman, stabbed a major banking figure and orchestrated the murder of a teenage girl who could have given evidence against him. The man they called Rent-a-Kill made sure most of his victims were never found and that proved to be his fate when he was ambushed and murdered. He was no great loss. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
August 4, 2021
36 min
Abe Saffron and Sydney's corrupt cops
Abraham Gilbert Saffron was a successful Sydney businessman who hated his nickname and spent a fortune trying to have it expunged from the record by threatening anyone who used it publicly. The name was Mr Sin and it was well deserved. He built a vice empire on a triangular business model – the three points were bribery, blackmail and arson. He organised sex, often with under-age boys and girls, secretly photographing patrons to use against them. He paid bribes to police - $750 per club for local police and $5000 a week for senior police and was so brazen he repeatedly visited the bent Deputy Commissioner Bill Allen at headquarters. Six of Saffron’s many properties caught fire between 1980 and 1982 - all deliberately lit. On June 9, 1979, the ghost train at Sydney’s Luna Park was engulfed in flames, killing six children and the father of one of them. It was a property Saffron wanted to own. The police investigation was a disgrace, not because of incompetence but corruption. Saffron said he wasn’t involved but he would, wouldn’t he? Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 27, 2021
27 min
The man who put three police in a rubbish bin
Robbo' Robertson was a natural undercover cop. A Vietnam veteran with the gift of the gab, he slipped seamlessly into the role of Brian Wilson, an underworld heavy from Sydney. In 1978 Robertson was given a new mission. He was to go deep undercover to infiltrate Australia’s best armed robbery crew, the men behind the 1976 multi-million Great Bookie Robbery. He was to pretend to be a corrupt armoured van driver who would tip the team about a lucrative payroll. But this time police would be waiting to make the arrest. What they didn’t know at the time was that one of the gang was the notorious NSW prison escapee Russell “Mad Dog” Cox. In the final meeting before the armed robbery Cox and Robbo were stopped by three uniformed police, unaware of the sting operation. Cox pulled a gun and only the quick thinking and quick talking Robbo saved them all. In 2021 Robbo finally received a Valour Award for his heroism. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 20, 2021
34 min
ANoM: The app that spied on crooks
It was a Friday night when Federal Police contacted their Victorian counterparts with an urgent message. A shooting had been ordered by an overseas bikie boss to be carried at a Melbourne fight night. The planning was so detailed police moved in to seize two stolen cars to be used by the hit team, cloned plates, and guns. Someone is walking around today unaware they are alive because cops unscrambled the encrypted message. What the arresting officers didn’t know is the original tip didn’t come from an informer but something much more reliable. As part of an international police sting over three years police had monitored 27 million encrypted messages from crooks from 300 cartels using a purpose-built app called ANoM. The app had been built with a trap door for police and spread through the world enabling police to monitor criminals in Australia, US, Europe, Asia and South America, In the end police made more than 1000 arrests with more than 200 in Australia alone. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 13, 2021
38 min
Ron Fenton: The cop and the dog that saved him
In 1984 policeman Ron Fenton was nearly given up for dead. Shot in the head and slumped unconscious next to his police car. That is until a cop in an unmarked car took it upon himself to charge do drag Ron to safety. They thought Ron wouldn’t make it to hospital, then that he would not regain consciousness and finally that he would never return to work. They didn’t know Ron. He battled back and eventually was back on the road. But it came at a cost – he would suffer PTSD and leave the Force to battle his demons alone. Depression, flash backs, mood swings and vicious night terrors had led him to attempt to take his own life. That is, until he met Yogi, a companion dog trained by an inmate in Bathurst prison. The dog and the prisoner saved Ron’s life. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
July 6, 2021
38 min

About the podcast Naked City

Take a journey into the dark depths of the Australian criminal underworld with Australia’s most formidable crime reporter - John Silvester.

Categories

The podcast Naked City is embedded on this page from an open RSS feed. All files, descriptions, artwork and other metadata from the RSS-feed is the property of the podcast owner and not affiliated with or validated by Podplay.