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| HM Prison Pentridge | |
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| Location: | Coburg, Victoria |
| Coordinates: | 37°44′21″S 144°58′9″E / 37.73917°S 144.96917°ECoordinates: 37°44′21″S 144°58′9″E / 37.73917°S 144.96917°E |
| Status: | Closed, partly demolished |
| Security class: | Maximum security |
| Opened: | 1851 |
| Closed: | 1997 |
HM Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison built in 1850, with the first prisoners arriving in 1851 and located in Coburg, Victoria. The prison officially closed on 1 May 1997.[1]
Pentridge was often known by the nickname The Bluestone College. The grounds were originally landscaped by renowned landscape gardiner Hugh Linaker.[2] Since decommissioning, the prison has been partly demolished to make way for a housing development [1] which threatens preservation of the history of the site. Large, obtrusive and inappropriate buildings have been built and a 16 floor modern apartment block is being planned.
The site is split in two with the northern prison being developed by Valad Property Group and the other areas by Pentridge Village. The former have proven to be uninterested in the history of the prison and are hoping to "re-brand" the site in order to make their apartments, wine bars, hotels and cafes more marketable.
The recent removal, without prior permission, of the famous "HM Prison Pentridge" sign from the National Trust Listed front gate of the Prison is an example of their flippant disregard for the significance of the site.
The 1994 Australian film Everynight ... Everynight details prison life inside Pentridge's H Division.[3]
Contents |
Divisions
The prison was split into many divisions, named using letters of the alphabet.
- A - short and long-term prisoners of good behavior
- B - long-term prisoners with behavior problems
- D - remand prisoners
- E - similar to “A”
- F - remand and short-term
- G - psychiatric problems
- H - high security, discipline and protection
- J - long-term with record of good behavior
- Jika Jika - maximum security risk and for protection, later renamed to K Division
Jika Jika high security unit
Jika Jika, opened in 1980 at a cost of 7 million Australian dollars, was a 'gaol within a gaol' maximum security section, designed to house Victoria's hardest and longest serving prisoners. It was awarded the 'Excellence in Concrete Award' by the Concrete Institute of Australia before being closed in the middle of controversy after the deaths of five prisoners in 1987.[4]
The design of Jika Jika was based on the idea of six separate units at the end of radiating spines. The unit comprised electronic doors, closed-circuit TV and remote locking, designed to keep staff costs to a minimum and security to a maximum. The furnishings were sparse and prisoners exercised in aviary-like escape proof yards.
In 1983 four prisoners escaped from ‘escape proof’ Jika Jika. When two prison officers were disciplined in relation to the Jika Jika escape a weeklong strike occurred.
1987 Jika Jika prison fire
In a protest initiated by conditions in Jika Jika, inmates Robert Wright, Jimmy Loughnan, Arthur Gallagher, David McGauley and Ricky Morris - from one side of the unit - and Craig 'Slim' Minogue and three other inmates on the other side sealed off their section doors with a tennis net. Mattresses and other bedding were then stacked against the doors. The windows in the day room were then covered with paper so the prison officers couldn't identify which prisoners caused the ensuing damage. Plumbing was then torn from the walls in the cells to enable the prisoners to breathe after the fire started, as Jika Jika was a climate controlled division and devoid of any fresh air circulation.
In spite of the men's attempts to avoid the toxic black smoke by breathing through the plumbing, prisoners Robert Wright, Jimmy Loughnan, Arthur Gallagher, David McGauley and Ricky Morris died in the fire. Convicted Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue and 3 other inmates survived.
Victorian Attorney General and Minister for Corrections Jim Kennan ordered the closure of Jika Jika immediately afterwards.
Grave sites
The grave site of bushranger Ned Kelly lies within the former walls of Pentridge Prison while Ronald Ryan's remains have been returned to his family. Kelly was executed by hanging at the Melbourne Gaol in 1880 and his remains moved to Pentridge Prison in 1929, after his skeleton was disturbed on 12 April 1929, by workmen constructing the present Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) building. The gravesite, as of 2005, is covered in many weeds and is largely unkept by the developers, who have fenced off the area until a decision is made on its upkeep. Reverend Peter Norden, former prison chaplain at Pentridge Prison is campaigning for the site's restoration.
As of 2009, most of the bodies have been exhumed by archaeologists and are either awaiting identification at the Melbourne morgue or have been returned to their families. The developers of the prison continue to push for the sidelining of the site's history in order to make apartments more marketable. Removal and inadequate commemoration of the grave sites is an example of this.
Executions
- John Weechurch (John Taylor) 6 December 1875
- Frances Lydia Alice "Minnie" Knorr (The Brunswick Baby-farmer) 15 January 1894
- David Bennett 26 September 1932
- Arnold Karl Sodeman 1 June 1936
- Edward Cornelius 26 June 1936
- Thomas Johnson 3 January 1939
- George Green 17 April 1939
- Alfred Bye 22 December 1941
- Eddie Leonski (US soldier and serial killer) 9 November 1942
- Jean Lee 19 February 1951
- Norman Andrews 19 February 1951
- Robert David Clayton 19 February 1951
- Ronald Joseph Ryan 3 February 1967
Notable prisoners
- Dennis Allen, oldest member of the Pettingill family. (d. 1987)
- Garry David, (d. 1993), also known as Garry Webb, responsible for the Community Protection Act 1990
- Peter Dupas, Australian serial killer
- Keith Faure, Convicted of murdering Lewis Caine and Lewis Moran with Evangelos Goussis during the Melbourne gangland killings was also the basis for the character of Keithy George in the film Chopper
- Christopher Dale Flannery, aka Mr Rent-a-Kill, hitman
- Ned Kelly, bushranger
- Julian Knight, murdered 7 people in the Hoddle Street Massacre
- Eddie Leonski, the Brownout Strangler
- Derryn Hinch, Author and broadcaster
- Clarrie O'Shea, trade unionist
- Craig 'Slim' Minogue, Russell Street Bomber
- John Nicholls, Carlton footballer
- Kevin Murray, Fitzroy footballer, Brownlow Medal winner
- Frank Penhalluriack
- Victor Peirce, member of the Pettingill family, acquitted of the 1988 Walsh Street police shootings. Killed in 2002.
- Harry Power, bushranger
- Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, Ex-criminal and author
- Gregory David Roberts, Author of Shantaram, escapee of Pentridge who fled to India
- Ronald Ryan - The last person to be executed in Australia.
- Maxwell Carl Skinner, constant escapee, infamous for commandeering a Coburg Tram in one of his escapes[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
- Squizzy Taylor, gangster
- Stan Taylor, actor and convicted Russell Street bomber
- John Zarb, first person to be found guilty of having failed to comply with his call up notice during the Vietnam War
timmothy michael neville bank robber
Timeline
- 1850's 'F' Division opened
- 1870's 'G' Division opened as an Industrial Reformatory School
- 1894 Female prison at Pentridge ('D' Division)
- 1951 Last woman executed in Australia, Jean Lee is hanged.
- 1967 Last execution in Australia - Ronald Ryan (between 1842 and 1967, 186 prisoners were executed)
- October 1987 - Five prisoners die in a fire in Jika Jika during riots over prison conditions. Craig Minogue and 3 other inmates survived the fire.
- 1 May 1997 - Pentridge Prison is closed.
- Present day - Development threatens the integrity and preservation of the sites important history
External links
- http://www.forbidden-places.net/urban-exploration-h-m-melbourne-s-pentridge-prison
- http://www.jikamemorial.com/
References
- ^ a b Egger, Simone; David McClymont (2004). Melbourne. Lonely Planet. p. 69. ISBN 1740597664. http://books.google.com/books?id=LuEjVydczZEC&pg=PA69&dq=%22Pentridge+Prison%22&lr=&as_brr=3&sig=FUNsOqrMhxBGogEy3cQLP1U0Wpw.
- ^ "Mont Park Psychiatric Hospital Precinct". Register of the National Estate. http://www.heritage.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahpi/record.pl?RNE100229. Retrieved on 2008-11-12.
- ^ Everynight... Everynight, National Film and Sound Archive, Accessed 08 March 2008
- ^ O'Toole, Sean (2006). The History of Australian Corrections. UNSW Press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0868409154. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HWqHAKxvV-cC&pg=PA85&dq=%22Jika+Jika%22&sig=-s9huKQyT5mocPD7yReBUz29Yf8#PPA85,M1.
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