Send in your questions for a special mailbag episode

We're coming to the end of season seven of this humble podcast, and as a thank-you (or alternatively, as a punishment), we wanted to open the floor to you. So if there's a question you've always wanted to ask John Silvester about a case, a crime, a cop, a crook, or his career, now is your chance. …

In a world of two-bit gangsters, Charlie Wootton was the last old-school crook

One of the underworld's old guard passed away quietly this year. Charlie Wootton didn’t need to be well known to be well respected in shadows occupied by hard men, controlling Melbourne’s illegal gaming industry long before the glittering behemoth of Crown casino. Though he posted death notices pay…

My brother, the Great Bookie robber

On April 21, 1976, six bandits raided the Victoria Club where Melbourne’s biggest bookies were settling their accounts with cash. No one knows the exact figure, but the take was supposed to be in the vicinity of $15 million. Just after the armed robbery, and a few kilometres away at a pub in the su…

Naked City special: A conversation with John Silvester

A couple of months ago we held a night for subscribers to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, a conversation with John Silvester, hosted by crime and justice reporter Erin Pearson. We recorded the whole thing and so for today’s episode, we bring you this special episode with Sly. In the conversati…

Don’t play god, don’t mess with their mail – in prison with the worst of the worst

Brian Coghlan is laid back, an asset he was able to use in his workplace. As a prison officer, he quickly learnt that being seen as a good guy around bad people was the key to life behind bars. For 26 years at Port Phillip Prison, he dealt with the worst society had to offer – sex offenders, serial…

The champion boxer and the crime boss who wanted him dead

Barry Michael was a professional boxer who made his name in the ring as a smart and brave fighter with a kit of wicked body punches. Alphonse John Gangitano, a mobster who preferred a king hit to a fair fight, was in the corner of the talented Lester Ellis when Michael took Ellis’ world title. The …

The cop, the sovereign citizen and the arrest that ruined a life

Michael Aston loved being a cop, or more specifically, a road policing officer. He said it was the best job in the world, until it wasn't. Aston is no longer a cop, with his career and mental health disappearing into the quicksand of the legal system where no one is accountable. It was 2020, and t…

The top cop who used his music career to find Tony Mokbel

Former deputy commissioner and counter-terrorism boss Ross Guenther had a unique life before policing, playing in big bands with music greats Jerry Lewis and Barry White. He was no slouch in his policing career either, heading up the counter-terrorism squad for Victoria Police. In this episode of N…

They were violent young offenders. But something happened to these ‘lost boys’ of Port Phillip

Anne Hooker worked as a prison officer for 13 years for Corrections Victoria, and Port Phillip Prison for a further 23 years. She also set up and ran a unit in jail called Penhyn, which housed young men aged 18 to 25. The unit became so highly sought after within the prison system that there was a …

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