The WA Police Union has extended its deepest condolences to the family of an officer who died of a gunshot wound.
The union is supporting family and friends of the officer, who died after a firearms incident while he was on duty on Kalgoorlie’s outskirts on Friday evening.
“We will continue to work with WA Police to ensure the best possible outcome for all involved, given the circumstances.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the member’s family, friends and colleagues,” union president George Tilbury said in a statement on Saturday.
Investigators said earlier the incident was not being treated as suspicious.
* For support and information about suicide prevention, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78)
Today our hero from Western Australia police will be laid to rest.
Our condolences and thoughts go out to his family, friends and the thin blue line at this difficult time.
Thank you for your service and dedication sir. We will keep you and your family in our hearts, never forgotten.
Rest easy Detective Sergeant.
”As the sun surely sets,
dawn will see it arise.
For service above self,
demands it’s own prize.
You have fought the good fight,
life’s race has been run,
and peace, your reward,
for eternity begun.
And we that are left,
shall never forget,
rest in peace friend and colleague,
for sun has now set.
We will remember, We will remember ,
hasten the dawn.”
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BLANCHARD:
WA POLICE UNION Members are invited to attend the Funeral Service for our late serving member Scott Andrew Blanchard 9360 at Karrakatta Cemetery on THURSDAY (6.8.2015) at 2.30pm.
BLANCHARD (Scott):
Our hearts once beat together, my Scotty, but now mine beats alone. I know we’ll be together one day. Until then, I continue alone. My soul mate, my lover, my best friend and rock. Scotty, you meant the world to me and will be forever in my heart.
Love you babe, Jussy.
BLANCHARD (Scott):
Dad, we love you more than life itself and we will miss you every single day. Forever you’ll be in our hearts and we’ll see you in our dreams.
Jarrod, Ayden, Miranda
Published in The West Australian on July 28, 2015
41 entries | 20 photos
“Deepest sympathies to Rod, Susan, Dale, Lee and families on…”
A 50-year-old Derby man has survived a night at sea in crocodile infested waters after being washed off his boat and having to swim ashore.
Police say the man was sleeping alone on his boat about two nautical miles north of Point Torment.
Large waves washed him overboard and sank the boat before he could activate an EPIRB.
The next morning a fisherman spotted the empty dinghy and called police, sparking a land and sea search.
The missing man was spotted in mangroves, exhausted and dehydrated but able to cry out to authorities.
Acting Senior Sergeant Scott Blanchard says the man is lucky to get away unharmed.
“One of the police cars that was up there searching the land actually just saw a crocodile that was estimated to be about four metres in the blue holes,” he said.
“So my advice would be just not to go out on your own overnight and just always be checking your boats before you go away.
“On a boat make sure all your EPIRB gear and your life jackets are working correctly.
“Going out to those areas is not the best idea on your own, especially overnight.
“You know you’re talking about areas where the tides can range up to 11 metres, so one minute you’re on sand or in water and the next minute you’re off the water on a rock or something worse might happen like … what happened overnight.”
WA Police officer dead from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at Cockburn station
Updated
WA Police are investigating the death of an officer at a police station in Perth’s southern suburbs.
Key points:
Officer apparently shot himself at Cockburn Police Station with his police-issue firearm
WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said the force was in shock at the news
Death comes after state coroner calls for more support services
It is understood First Class Constable Darren Igglesden, 50, died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at Cockburn Police Station on Monday morning.
In a statement, WA Police said support services were being offered to other officers.
The station has been temporarily closed, and the public has been asked not to attend the station until further notice. They have instead been redirected to nearby Fremantle or Mandurah stations, both of which operate 24 hours a day.
‘Popular member of the force’
Police Commissioner Chris Dawson extended his condolences to the family of Constable Igglesden and colleagues at Cockburn Police Station.
“It appears Darren has drawn his service-issued pistol from the police armoury this morning (Monday), shortly after 6:00am,” he said.
“He was found deceased by colleagues within the Cockburn police building.
“Darren’s death has come as a complete shock to his family, to his friends, and indeed the entire police force.
“At this difficult time I extend my condolences to Darren’s family, his friends, his work colleagues and everyone who knew him.
“A coronial investigation is now underway and so we should let that full investigation be completed, but there does not appear to be any other persons present at the time Darren lost his life.”
Commissioner Dawson said Constable Igglesden was a popular member of the police force.
“Constable Igglesden has been with the WA Police Force for six-and-a-half years, he joined us at about 44 years of age, he has had a varied career in the private sector prior to joining police,” he said.
“Well liked, well respected, a very popular member of the police force.”
Coroner called for more police support
The tragedy comes nearly a month after WA Deputy Coroner Evelyn Vicker released her findings into the suicide of police officer Scott Blanchard, who shot himself while on duty at Kalgoorlie in July 2015.
Ms Vicker found that while Detective Sergeant Blanchard appeared to be coping well with his job as a police officer, he had become “obsessed” that health problems he had were undiagnosable and “consequently took matters into his own hands …”
The inquest into Sergeant Blanchard‘s death heard details of the WA Police Service’s Health and Safety Division, which provides services such as confidential psychological counselling, peer support programs and chaplaincy services to officers and their families, to try to help them manage stress or issues that may arise as a result of their employment.
“At this difficult time I extend my condolences to Darren’s family, his friends, his work colleagues and everyone who knew him.
“A coronial investigation is now underway and so we should let that full investigation be completed, but there does not appear to be any other persons present at the time Darren lost his life.”
Commissioner Dawson said Constable Igglesden was a popular member of the police force.
“Constable Igglesden has been with the WA Police Force for six-and-a-half years, he joined us at about 44 years of age, he has had a varied career in the private sector prior to joining police,” he said.
“Well liked, well respected, a very popular member of the police force.”
Coroner called for more police support
The tragedy comes nearly a month after WA Deputy Coroner Evelyn Vicker released her findings into the suicide of police officer Scott Blanchard, who shot himself while on duty at Kalgoorlie in July 2015.
Ms Vicker found that while Detective Sergeant Blanchard appeared to be coping well with his job as a police officer, he had become “obsessed” that health problems he had were undiagnosable and “consequently took matters into his own hands …”
The inquest into Sergeant Blanchard‘s death heard details of the WA Police Service’s Health and Safety Division, which provides services such as confidential psychological counselling, peer support programs and chaplaincy services to officers and their families, to try to help them manage stress or issues that may arise as a result of their employment.
Police Minister Michelle Roberts said she believed the culture within the organisation was changing.
“I think the police force has changed dramatically over the last 10 years or so, in terms of encouraging officers to come forward and to show some additional care for themselves and their fellow officers,” she said.
“It used to certainly be the case that the attitude was ‘toughen up’ and to show any emotional vulnerability was seen as some kind of weakness. That’s not the attitude that’s been taken by police in recent years.
“We have had some shocking and tragic incidents in recent times where officers have had to turn out to shocking scenes, and sometimes they go to road crashes where they see shocking scenes, so we need to know that they have got the support there.
“And I have certainly received assurances from the Commissioner of Police and others that we have got good supports in place. Sometimes, though, people need to avail themselves of that support.”
Valour Award & bar – VA for act performed in February 1999
Born: 20 November1961, Bridgetown, W.A.
Died on: 3 August 2000
Cause: Murdered – shot
Location: Stuart Hwy & Old Bynoe Rd, Livingstone, N.T.
Age: 37
Funeral date: Saturday 7 August 1999
Funeral location: St Mary’s Cathedral, Darwin
Buried at: Cremated. Ashes scattered at Daly River Crossing, N.T.
Memorial Service: Saturday 3 August 2019 ( 20th Anniversary ) 10.30am –
Glen Huitson Memorial, cnr Stuart Hwy & Old Bynoe Rd, Livingstone, N.T.
Brevet Sergeant Glen HUITSON
[alert_green]GLENIS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
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Brevet Sergeant Glen Huitson memorial, 3 August 2015
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????GLEN HUITSON MEMORIAL????
TWENTY YEAR REMEMBRANCE SERVICE
Saturday 3rd August 2019 will mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Brevet Sergeant Glen Huitson who was killed in the line of duty in 1999 whilst stationed at Adelaide River.
We will honour Glen with a gathering on Saturday 3rd August 2019 from 10.30am at the Glen Huitson Memorial, located at the corner of the Stuart Highway and Old Bynoe Road, Livingstone, N.T.
All current and former members are invited to join Glen’s family in remembering a husband, father, son, and workmate who was tragically taken from his family 20 years ago.
Glen HUITSON joined the Northern Territory in January 1987. He served in both Southern and Northern districts of the Northern Territory.
During his service in the Northern Territory Police, Glen Huitson received a Commendation from the Commissioner of Police on 17 March 1994 when he attended a disturbance at a Community near Alice Springs. He disarmed a drunken person who was armed with a knife star picket and was threatening another person with a billy of boiling water.
In February of 1999 in Litchfield Park, Glen Huitson disarmed an armed man who was threatening the driver and passengers of a bus. He received a Valour Award over this incident.
On 3 August 1999 Glen Huitson was on duty at a road block on the Stuart Highway, 60 kms south of Darwin, in bushland.
There were on watch for an armed offender who had already shot and wounded two other persons several kilometres away during the previous night.
The armed offender had managed to come through bush on one side of the road block where he opened fire with a .30/30 calibre rifle. He fired the first round into the back of a civilian then a second shot at Huitson which struck him and was fatal.
For this incident he received the Australian Bravery Medal and a bar to his Valour Medal.
This park was named in memory of the late Sgt. Glen Anthony Huitson BM, VA, Service No. 1520 on 3 August 2000.
Sgt. Huitson was the officer in charge of the Adelaide River Police Station. He died on 3rd August 1999 as a result of gun shot wounds received in the execution of his duties whilst manning a roadblock on the corner of the Stuart Highway and Old Bynoe Road.
Twice Decorated as a serving Police Officer, Glen Huitson lived his personal life with the same intensity, and was an integral part of community life in Adelaide River. His untimely death has left a gap in this community which will never be filled. Glen is survived by his Widow Lisa and children Joey & Ruby.
Citizens of the Coomalie Region joined with serving Members of the Northern Territory Police Force at this site on 3rd August 2001 to dedicate this memorial stone on the occasion of the second anniversary of Sgt. Huitson’s death.
We honour the life and the achievements of a remarkable citizen.
“On 3rd August 1999, at about 10:45 am, there was a shooting incident on the Stuart Highway at the corner of Old Bynoe Road in the Darwin rural district. In the course of the incident, two persons were shot dead. One, Glen Anthony Huitson, was a Sergeant of police on duty at the time he was killed.” (Coroner’s Findings)
Glen was performing duties on a roadblock with his partner in Livingstone at the Old Bynoe Road Turn off on the Stuart Highway, 55 Kilometres south of Darwin. They were stopping traffic entering the police cordon following a shooting incident the previous evening when the offender Rodney Ansell ambushed the roadblock shooting Huitson fataly and wounding a civilian in the back with his 30/30 rifle. For this incident he received the Australia Bravery Medal and a bar to his Valour Medal posthumously.
On the night of the 2nd of August 1999 Rodney William Ansell and Cherrie Ann Hewson went to a property on Kentish Road. Ansell fired 6 shots at a caravan occupied by Stephen Robertson and Lee-Anne Musgrave who were minding the property. A neighbour, David Hobden, drove his truck over to see what was happening and Ansell fired through the windscreen blinding him. He ran to his residence and another occupant, Brian Williams, ran over to stop Ansell who was trying to steal Hobden’s truck. Ansell shot Williams in the hand. He lost an index finger and shots were fired at his house. Ansell appeared to be yelling about child abduction which was a delusion that had manifested itself during his amphetamine addiction. He fled into scrubland with a 30/30 rifle and Hobden’s shotgun.
Police responded and set up a forward command post in the area. Roadblocks were set up on the Stuart Highway and other roads. Sergeant Glen Huitson and Senior Constable James O’Brien manned the roadblock on the corner of Old Bynoe Road and the Stuart Highway armed with their Glock Pistols a shotgun and a .308 rifle. It appears that during the night Ansell had escaped the cordon but for some reason chose to sneak up on the roadblock at Old Bynoe Road. Hewson had left the area.
At about 10.45 am on the 3rd of August 1999 the roadblock at Old Bynoe Road was still in place. A local man had approached the road block to talk to the police members and was leaning on the police vehicle when suddenly he was shot in the pelvis from behind a large water pipe in nearby scrub. Huitson used the shotgun from the police car and O’Brien returned fire with his Glock pistol. Huitson was hit by a 30/30 round and fell to the ground. O’Brien reloaded the shotgun and returned fire. He called on Ansell to put his weapons down but he called back “Your all dead”.
In response to the gun battle two Territory Response Group vehicles raced to the scene. Just prior to the roadblock the first vehicle swerved and braked and was struck by the second vehicle causing it to roll over. As police exited both vehicles and began to take up positions Ansell got up on one knee to position himself to fire at the arriving police members. This left him exposed to fire from O’Brien and the shotgun fire finally stopped him. As the Coroner, Mr Wallace, said “There is little doubt his (O’Brien’s) bravery prevented further loss of life”.
It was later determined that there were seven entry wounds on his body from return fire from Huitson and O’Brien and numerous grazes. His covered position behind the water pipe and a small tree had protected Ansell from more serious injury until he was forced to change position.
Background – Glen Huitson
Glen Huitson joined the Northern Territory Police in January 1987, served in both Southern and Northern districts and was stationed at Adelaide River Police Station.
He received a Commendation from the Commissioner of Police on 17 March 1944 when he attended a disturbance at a Community near Alice Springs. He disarmed a drunken person who was armed with a knife star picket and was threatening another person with a billy of boiling water.
In February of 1999 in Litchfield Park Glen Huitson disarmed an armed man who was threatening the driver and passengers of a bus. He received a Valour Award over this incident.
Glen was survived by his wife Lisa and young children Joseph (2) and Ruby (6 months).
Roadside memorial alongside Stuart Highway where Sgt Huitson was killed
Huitson was honoured with a full police funeral in Darwin. About 30 officers formed a guard of honour while six others carried Huitson’s coffin.
Huitsons widow Lisa receiving her husband’s police cap and National Medal Award from the police commissioner
Constable 1st Class Glen Huitson
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HUITSON, Glen
This page only contains a eulogy. If you have material that can be added contact the webmaster.
FUNERAL SERVICE FOR SERGEANT GLEN ANTHONY HUITSON
ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL, DARWIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY SATURDAY 7 AUGUST 1999EULOGY GIVEN BY COMMISSIONER BRIAN BATESSERGEANT GLEN HUITSON WAS A DEVOTED AND LOVING HUSBAND AND FATHER OF LISA, JOSEPH AND RUBY. I CAN ONLY CONVEY THE HEARTFELT CONDOLENCES AND SYMPATHY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY POLICE FORCE AND INDEED THE COMMUNITY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY TO GLEN’S WIFE, CHILDREN AND BOTH THEIR FAMILIES. WE WILL DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO HELP THEM, NOT ONLY THROUGH THIS TIME BUT IN THE TIME TO COME.IN HIS LETTER OF APPLICATION TO JOIN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY POLICE FORCE, SERGEANT GLEN HUITSON SAID, AND I QUOTE:“I WAS BORN ON 20 NOVEMBER 1961 IN BRIDGETOWN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, THE OLDEST SON IN A FAMILY OF THREE. MY PARENTS OWNED AND OPERATED A SMALL TIN MINE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF GREENBUSHES WHERE I LIVED FOR 12 YEARS. GREEN BUSHES WAS A GREAT ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH TO GROW UP AS A CHILD, BEING A SMALL TOWN SURROUNDED BY BUSH. WE SPENT MANY HOURS EXPLORING AND DISCOVERING NATURE.LOOKING BACK ON MY CHILDHOOD I AM GRATEFUL TO MY PARENTS FOR THE STRICT BUT FAIR METHOD OF INSTILLING IN ME A SET OF MORAL STANDARDS AND PRINCIPLES IN KEEPING WITH COMMUNITY IDEALS. THIS GUIDANCE WAS TO BENEFIT ME LATER IN LIFE.”
GLEN GOES ON TO TALK ABOUT HIS GROWING UP YEARS AND HIS EARLY EMPLOYMENT, PARTICULARLY WHEN THE FAMILY MOVED IN 1978 TO BUSSLETON WHERE HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE LOCAL FOOTBALL CLUB AS A PLAYER AND AN ADMINISTRATOR, AS A COACH AND UMPIRE AND FOR THREE YEARS AS A FIREMAN IN THE VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE AND WITH THE LOCAL ROSTRUM CLUB. TOWARDS THE END OF THIS LETTER OF APPLICATION GLEN SAYS, AND I AGAIN QUOTE:
“APPROXIMATELY FIVE YEARS AGO I DECIDED THAT IF AT THE AGE OF 25 I WAS STILL DISAPPOINTED WITH THE WAY MY CAREER WAS HEADING, THIS WOULD BE THE TIME TO MAKE A START IN A POSITION IN LIFE THAT I WOULD ENJOY. THE MOST HONEST WAY I FOUND TO FIND A CAREER I WANTED WAS TO SIT DOWN WITH A PEN AND PAPER AND WRITE DOWN JOBS IN WHICH I WOULD WORK FOR NO FINANCIAL REWARD. MY LIST CONTAINED THE FOLLOWING: FISHERIES INSPECTOR, CUSTOMS OFFICER, AMBULANCE OFFICER, WELFARE WORKER AND A POLICE OFFICER.
SINCE WRITING DOWN THAT LIST I HAVE WORKED TOWARDS EQUIPPING MYSELF FOR ONE OF THOSE POSITIONS. THIS HAS INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING: BEING A FIREMAN WITH OUR LOCAL VOLUNTEER FIRE BRIGADE, ACHIEVING A FIRST AID CERTIFICATE WITH A ST JOHN AMBULANCE BRIGADE, INVOLVING MYSELF HEAVILY IN COMMUNITY AFFAIRS, MAINLY THROUGH SPORT, AND INVOLVING MYSELF IN PUBLIC SPEAKING. AFTER READING ABOUT THE POSITION OF POLICE OFFICER FOR THE NORTHERN TERRITORY I DECIDED THAT THIS WOULD INDEED OFFER ME THE CAREER I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR. AS A POLICE OFFICER IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY I WOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN MAKING THE NORTHERN TERRITORY A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE IN, THEREBY ACHIEVING MY GOAL OF JOB SATISFACTION.”
ALL OF US WITHIN THE POLICE FORCE AND INDEED THE DEPARTMENT OF POLICE, FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES, ARE EXTREMELY SHOCKED BY THE DEATH OF SERGEANT GLEN HUITSON. HIS LOSS IS A TRAGEDY FOR THE POLICE SERVICE AND THERE ARE SIMPLY NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THAT SENSE OF LOSS, THE WASTE AND THE TRAGEDY THAT THE WHOLE POLICE FAMILY FEELS TODAY.
I WOULD ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRESENCE HERE TODAY OF SERVING POLICE OFFICERS FROM ALL STATES AND TERRITORIES OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.
IT IS TRITE TO SAY THAT ALL POLICE FAMILIES KNOW THE DANGERS OF POLICE WORK, BUT NOTHING CAN EVER PREPARE US FOR SOMETHING LIKE GLEN’S DEATH.
NO POLICE FORCE COULD BE MORE PROUD THAN TO HAVE IN ITS RANKS AN OFFICER OF THE CALIBRE OF GLEN HUITSON. HE TOUCHED AND AFFECTED SO MANY PEOPLE’S LIVES, NOT ONLY WITHIN THE POLICE FORCE BUT WITHIN THE COMMUNITY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY THAT HE SWORE TO SERVE AND PROTECT.
AND HE DID MORE THAN THAT – BECAUSE ON NO LESS THAN THREE OCCASIONS, THE THIRD TRAGICALLY RESULTING IN HIS DEATH, HE WAS CONFRONTED WITH LIFE-THREATENING SITUATIONS.
GLEN RECEIVED MY COMMENDATION FOR AN INCIDENT ON 17 MARCH 1994 WHEN HE ATTENDED A DISTURBANCE AT A COMMUNITY NEAR ALICE SPRINGS.
HE DISARMED A DRUNKEN PERSON WHO WAS ARMED WITH A KNIFE, STEEL BAR, NULLA NULLA AND A STAR PICKET. THE PERSON WAS THREATENING ANOTHER COMMUNITY MEMBER WITH A BILLY OF BOILING WATER. WITHOUT REGARD FOR HIS OWN SAFETY SERGEANT HUITSON PREVENTED THIS PERSON THROWING THE BOILING WATER BUT IN FACT WAS STRUCK AND COVERED IN BOILING WATER HIMSELF OVER HIS UPPER BACK, RIGHT UPPER ARM AND LEFT FOREARM. HIS QUICK ACTIONS ALLOWED OTHER POLICE OFFICERS TO RESTRAIN THE OFFENDER AND REMOVE HIM AS A THREAT TO THE COMMUNITY. THE BURNS GLEN RECEIVED CAUSED HIM CONSIDERABLE PAIN AND SUFFERING AND HE REQUIRED HOSPITAL TREATMENT.
AND THEN THERE WAS THE INCIDENT IN FEBRUARY THIS YEAR WHEN SERGEANT HUITSON DISARMED AN ARMED MAN WHO HAD JUMPED ON THE BULLBAR OF A TOURIST BUS IN LITCHFIELD PARK.
THE MAN WAS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS AND ARMED WITH A LOADED .22 RIFLE AND WAS THREATENING THE DRIVER AND PASSENGERS OF THE BUS ON BATCHELOR ROAD.
GLEN KNEW THAT HELP WAS ABOUT 15 MINUTES AWAY AND WAS DEEPLY CONCERNED FOR THE SAFETY OF THE DRIVER, PASSENGERS AND PASSING MOTORISTS. HE SINGLE-HANDEDLY ATTEMPTED TO DIRECT TRAFFIC, ENGAGE THE MAN IN CONVERSATION AND KEEP POLICE COMMUNICATIONS ADVISED OF THE SITUATION. HE THEN APPROACHED THE MAN TO DISTRACT HIS ATTENTION FROM THE BUS AND PASSENGERS, PLACING HIMSELF AT CONSIDERABLE RISK.
GLEN ENGAGED THE MAN IN CONVERSATION FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES AND EVENTUALLY CONVINCED HIM TO PLACE THE FIREARM ON THE BULLBAR OF THE BUS AND WALK A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY WHERE GLEN TACKLED HIM TO THE GROUND AND WAS THEN HELPED BY OTHER POLICE WHO HAD JUST ARRIVED. THIS WAS WITHOUT DOUBT AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF PERSONAL COURAGE, AND SERGEANT HUITSON WAS IN FACT DUE TO RECEIVE A VALOUR AWARD OVER THAT INCIDENT.
IN SERGEANT GLEN HUITSON THE NORTHERN TERRITORY POLICE HAD A TRUE BUSH COPPER AND AN IDEAL ROLE MODEL FOR OTHER POLICE.
HE WAS A TOTAL PROFESSIONAL WHO GOT ALONG WITH COLLEAGUES AND THE PUBLIC ALIKE AND WAS EXTREMELY POPULAR WITH ABORIGINAL PEOPLE HE WORKED WITH, IN THE COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE TERRITORY. WHAT A TREMENDOUS LOSS HE IS, NOT ONLY TO THIS POLICE FORCE BUT TO THE TERRITORY.
IN CLOSING THERE IS PERHAPS NO BETTER WAY TO TALK ABOUT THIS OUTSTANDING AND COMPASSIONATE POLICE OFFICER THAN BY TELLING YOU ABOUT A REPORT HE RECENTLY SUBMITTED, AND I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT I SHARE THIS WITH YOU ALL.
GLEN HAD RESEARCHED THE HISTORY OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY POLICE SERVICE AND HE FOUND MANY EXAMPLES OF UNRECOGNISED SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY BY FORMER MEMBERS, AND PARTICULARLY POLICE TRACKERS. HE SAID IN HIS MEMO THAT THIS UNRECOGNISED WORK WAS, AT THE TIME, NO DOUBT CONSIDERED TO BE JUST PART OF THE JOB, AND UNLESS YOU HAPPENED TO DIE ON DUTY OR REACHED A HIGH RANK, VERY LITTLE WAS DONE TO PRESERVE THE MEMORY OF THOSE MANY FORMER MEMBERS.
GLEN APPRECIATED THE SERENITY AND BEAUTY OF THE ADELAIDE RIVER WAR CEMETERY WHERE HE ALSO NOTICED SEVERAL PLAQUES DEDICATED TO MILITARY MEMBERS. HE HAD SEVERAL IDEAS TO HONOUR THE MEMORY OF POLICE MEMBERS, INCLUDING PLANTING TREES WITH PLAQUES DEDICATED TO MEMBERS AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MEMORIAL AVENUE IN OUR POLICE COMPLEX, THE PETER McAULAY CENTRE. HE SUGGESTED NEW PLAQUES COULD BE DEDICATED ANNUALLY ON A SIGNIFICANT DAY, FOR EXAMPLE, POLICE REMEMBRANCE DAY. THERE TOO, HE EMPHASISED THE WHOLE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE INVITED AND INVOLVED.
IT IS MY INTENTION TO HONOUR GLEN’S SUGGESTIONS IN THAT REPORT, AND ALSO PAY TRIBUTE TO HIM, IN A WAY I FEEL SURE HE AND YOU WOULD APPROVE OF.
FINALLY, IN THE WORDS OF THE 13TH CHAPTER OF CORINTHIANS:
“THERE REMAINS THEN, FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, THESE THREE; BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.”
ABC News: Aboriginal communities to send reps to police officer’s funeral
Trudy and Rod BrayFri, 6 Aug 1999 00:26:27 -0700
Fri, 6 Aug 1999 11:41 AEST
Aboriginal communities to send reps to police officer's
funeral.
The Gurindji Aboriginal people, from two communities south-west of Darwin, are sending
representatives to the funeral of a Northern Territory police officer.
Sergeant Glen Huitson was killed by Rodney William Ansell on Tuesday.
The sergeant's partner, Constable Jamie O'Brien, returned the fire, killing Ansell.
A Gurindji representative, Roslyn Frith, says the sergeant was given the skin name, Japalyi,
because of the community's respect and love for him.
She says he will be missed greatly.
"To the community he wasn't just a policeman, he was just another person who belonged to
the community," Ms Frith said.
"He got involved - like if there were ceremonies he'd go down and make sure everything was
alright.
"With the younger generation, he took them out. Like he was with the emergency services out
here, he went out fishing and hunting with them," she said.
� 1999 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
https://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2@paradigm4.com.au/msg01295.html
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NT: Aborigines planning funeral for Ansell in Arnhem Land
AAP General News (Australia) 08-09-1999
NT: Aborigines planning funeral for Ansell in Arnhem Land
By Catharine Munro
DARWIN, Aug 9 AAP – Rod Ansell, the original Crocodile Dundee who shot dead a policeman last week, is expected be given an Aboriginal funeral in Arnhem Land.
Ansell, 44, was killed in a shootout with police after fatally wounding Sergeant Glen Huitson, 37, about 50km south of Darwin last Tuesday.
The violent deaths followed a 12-hour search for Ansell, who had shot at two houses in the area the previous night.
His motives remain a mystery and the case is being investigated by the coroner.
The events shocked Darwin, where Ansell was known as a buffalo hunter and a bushman who had been living on an Aboriginal-owned property in Arnhem Land, about 600km south-east of Darwin.
Ansell’s two sons, Shaun and Callum, are believed to have requested that an Aboriginal community at Mt Catt, near Bulman in central Arnhem Land, allow a funeral to be held on their grounds.
“The two boys said they want to have the funeral at Mt Catt,” said Lorna Martin, who works at the clinic at Bulman.
Ansell spent some time in the area in the 1980s as a buffalo catcher and continued to make frequent visits.
The service will interrupt an important ceremony being held at Mt Catt but arrangements were being made for the proceedings to be halted for one day for the funeral on Thursday, Mrs Martin said.
“Everybody said it’s okay,” she said.
Ansell’s parents, George and Eva, both in their 70s, are understood to have journeyed to the Northern Territory from their home in Murgon, 260km north-west of Brisbane, to say goodbye to their son.
Meanwhile, the widow of the slain policeman, Lisa, said she had just returned from Daly River Crossing, where she had scattered her husband’s ashes.
Mrs Huitson told reporters she had spent three happy years there with Sgt Huitson and they had taken their son, Joseph, two and Ruby, six months, back there to be baptised.
“It was just a special place for us,” Mrs Huitson said.
Sgt Huitson‘s brother Bevan, sister Julie and parents Carole and John attended a press conference to thank the police and the people of the NT for their support.
Rod Ansell – The inspiration behind Crocodile Dundee
The day the real Crocodile Dundee Rod Ansell was shot dead
ELLIE TURNER
Herald Sun
January 05, 201412:00AM
Rod Ansell in the Outback in 1987.
ROD Ansell’s amazing story of Outback survival is one many Australians know – although they’ve probably never heard of his name.
As strong as an ox and as brave as a lion, the blond haired, barefoot bushman survived for more than seven weeks on a small island at the mouth of a crocodile-infested river in the remote Northern Territory, sleeping up a tree with a brown snake at night to avoid the salties lurking below.
His story was the inspiration for the 1986 film Crocodile Dundee. But the film only tells part of the story of Ansell’s wild life.
More than a decade after his tale of survival brought fame and fortune to actor Paul Hogan, the real Crocodile Dundee was shot dead by police after a drug-crazed rampage that saw a police officer killed and three other men wounded.
***
STRONG men in uniform broke down on the side of the Stuart Highway the day Territory police officer Glen Huitson was shot dead in a gun battle with Rod Ansell.
It was like a scene from a cops and robbers movie.
But nobody won.
Sergeant Huitson was gunned down at a roadblock in bushland 60km south of Darwin by Ansell, who had been on the run from police.
Ansell was shot in the chest as Senior Constable James O’Brien returned fire.
“The only verbal communication I had with the gunman was when I was reloading the shotgun for the first time,” the surviving officer, who has never spoken openly about the ordeal, said in a statement almost 15 years ago.
“I called out to him to put his weapons down. He called back, ‘You’re all dead‘.”
Ansell was deranged and wired on speed, more than 20 years after he emerged from the wild, a handsome young hunter armed only with a knife, a gun and a story to tell, his boat having capsized on the remote Victoria River.
His crazed life came to an end on August 3, 1999, but not before he had gunned down a police officer, leaving two young children to grow up without a father.
Northern Territory police say they lost “an all-round good bloke” that day.
Sgt Huitson’s family was robbed of much more.
In 1994, Sgt Huitson had been commended for bravery after arresting a knife-wielding drunk man – who was also armed with a star picket and a billy of boiling water in a bid to harm another person – at a community near Alice Springs.
He received a Valour Award after he talked delusional man Wayne Costan – who had tried to hijack a tourist coach with a sawn-off .22 rifle – into dropping the weapon, before tackling him to the ground at Litchfield Park in February 1999.
Six months later Sgt Huitson was killed, aged 37.
His then-infant daughter, Ruby, and five-year-old son, Joseph, grew up without their dad.
His widow, Lisa, took home her husband’s posthumous Australia Bravery Medal and a broken heart.
Former NT Police assistant commissioner John Daulby was among those who raced out to the double killing.
“Everyone was stunned,” he said. “It was just a tragedy.”
Darwin police officer Glen Huitson was one of two policemen shot by gunman Rod Ansell.
“The grief at the scene is something that sticks with me – grown men in tears.”
Ansell had wounded two men on a shooting spree in Darwin and fled into the bush, raving mad, on the night of August 2, 1999.
He was convinced members of the Freemasons had kidnapped his sons – Callum, then aged 20, and Shawn, 18.
His girlfriend, Cherie Ann Hewson, had told him that as a child she had witnessed the sacrifice of young girls that her family – members of the secret medieval fraternity – “brought out of the woods”. They were bound, raped and slaughtered, she said.
The shared paranoia came to a head when Ms Hewson claimed she spotted three bow hunters, dressed in camouflage with night vision goggles, near their bush camp.
NT Coroner Dick Wallace would later say the “wretched drivel” was at the root of Ansell‘s madness, after the couple visited mates Steven Robinson and his partner, Lee-Anne Musgrave, on a property at Noonamah, about 50km south of Darwin.
Ansell fired six shots at their caravan on Kentish Rd.
Resident David Hobden jumped in his truck, armed with his double-barrel shotty, and went to investigate the shootings. He lost an eye when Ansell put a bullet through the windscreen of his truck.
He ran to alert his neighbour, Brian Williams, who “waxed wrath” at the state of his mate’s face and grabbed a baseball bat.
He charged at Ansell, who was trying to steal Mr Hobden’s truck.
“I smacked him straight down the forehead, and that’s when he blew my hand off,” Mr Williams told police.
“He was going on about stealing his children, and Freemasons, and being a baby killer … oh, just, he was mad, mate.”
Ansell fired shots at the Williams‘ house.
Then he ran away, his rifle in one hand and Mr Hobden‘s shotgun in the other.
Ms Hewson disappeared before the police shootout. Some feared she had committed suicide.
About 11pm, Territory Response Group sent two troop carriers with six cops in each to set up a command post. They manned the north roadblock.
Adelaide River police station boss Sgt Huitson and his second-in-charge, Sen-Const O’Brien, guarded the south cordon – at the corner of Old Bynoe Rd – with a pistol each, a 12-gauge shotgun and standard police issue .308 rifle.
About 10.30am the next day, a removals worker named Jonathan Anthonysz was leaning on the cop car, chatting to the officers when a bullet blew a hole “the size of a baseball” in his pelvis.
He was flung forward, screaming, on to the ground.
Mr Anthonysz’s colleague – David Hobden‘s brother, Anthony – dragged him out of view as Snr-Const. O’Brien covered them.
The shots were coming from light scrub behind a roadside water pipe.
The cunning fugitive had sneaked through the bush and was hidden by dappled tree shadows.
In his statement, Snr-Const O’Brien said: “I heard Glen shout out, ‘Get on the ground’.
I swung round to look over the boot of the car with my Glock drawn …
“I saw my shots hit the ground close to where (Ansell) was,” he said.
Sgt Huitson called TRG for help and grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun.
He fired a shot through the windows of the police car and two shots over the roof.
But a bullet from Ansell‘s .30-30 lever-action rifle ricocheted off the top of the metal door and struck him in the abdomen.
His bulletproof vest hadn’t been properly fastened. The bullet tore through a velcro strap that should have been covered by a Kevlar panel.
Sgt Huitson fell, landing on top of the shotgun.
Snr-Const O’Brien, who wasn’t wearing a vest, dodged a bullet and rolled his bleeding colleague off the shotgun, reloaded it and returned fire.
“I realised unless TRG arrived I could run out of ammunition, in which case I would have to retreat with the others,” he said.
“I loaded two more rounds, looked up and saw the gunman wriggling forward.
“I heard a sound like a match being struck just past the right side of my head.”
Then the TRG troop carriers came hurtling down the highway.
The first driver hit the brakes and swerved as he heard gun fire – the 4WD rolled when the second car crashed into it, unable to stop in time.
Ansell got up on one knee and began lining up the cops, who were crawling out of the vehicle.
Snr-Const O’Brien got a clear shot.
The autopsy showed 33 bullet wounds and grazes to Ansell‘s body.
Two were fatal. One shot had ripped through his aorta.
He fell face down in the dirt.
Sgt Huitson was declared dead after being rushed to Royal Darwin Hospital.
Snr-Const O’Brien was scrutinised and cleared of any wrongdoing after a rigorous police investigation.
His actions were praised as “simply outstanding” when Magistrate Wallace handed down his coronial findings in September 2000.
“If he felt any fear, it seems to have been submerged by his concern for his wounded colleague and others,” he said. “There can be little doubt his bravery prevented further loss of life.”
Ms Hewson handed herself in to Queensland police four days later.
Evidence that Ansell clung to the back of a road train and escaped the roadblocks fuelled a question that would never be answered – why would a skilled bushman give up his ticket to freedom and return to gun down police when he could have slipped away?
IT was no secret the 44-year-old buffalo hunter and grazier was bitter.
Writer Robert Milliken, who spent time with Ansell while working on projects in the NT, said Ansell never saw a penny for the myth surrounding his tangled life, despite being the inspiration for the main character in Crocodile Dundee, which propelled actor Paul Hogan to fame in 1986.
Ansell blamed his troubles on a Federal Government program to wipe out wild buffalo, his livelihood, to eradicate tuberculosis from the cattle industry. He had told reporters he was living on unemployment benefits and “bush tucker”.
Magistrate Wallace heard Ansell believed police and the government were against him.
He had moved to the Territory aged 15 from the small town of Murgon, 270km north of Brisbane, in country Queensland.
The ordeal that brought him fame happened when he took a fishing trip in a motorboat on the Victoria River in May 1977.
When the boat sank, he jumped in a dinghy and salvaged his two eight-week-old bull terriers, a rifle, a knife, some canned food and bedding. The tinny drifted out to sea, washing up on a small island at the mouth of the Fitzmaurice River.
He slept in the fork of a tree, out of reach of crocodiles, at night, but shared the branches with a brown tree snake.
Ansell never counted on being rescued. He roamed for seven weeks before stumbling on two Aboriginal stockmen and their boss.
But he kept the adventure under his hat – fearing his recklessness would upset his mother – until media got hold of the yarn.
Dubbed the “modern day Robinson Crusoe”, Ansell said: “I think if you come through in one piece, then nothing else really matters.
“It’s like going out to shoot a kangaroo.
“You don’t come back and say you missed by half an inch – you either got him or you didn’t.”
Mr Milliken described Ansell as “strikingly handsome with blond hair, blue eyes and bare feet” when he met him in 1988. It was the year Ansell was named Territorian of the Year for his role in putting the Top End on the map.
At the time, he lived with his wife, Joanne van Os, and their two small sons on their buffalo farm at Melaleuca, between Darwin and Kakadu.
“He was charming,” Mr Milliken said.
“He seems never to have worn shoes, even when travelling on aircraft and staying in city hotels at the height of his fame.
“The press went mad over his story and no one seemed to mind if the details grew ever more incredible.
“A hero had been born.”
He said Ansell once told British TV personality Michael Parkinson he preferred to sleep on the floor of his five-star Sydney hotel in his swag rather than in the kingsize bed.
Ansell’s Parkinson interview sparked the interest of Hogan and led to the creation of Mick “Crocodile” Dundee.
But the fame took its toll on Ansell’s personal life. His marriage disintegrated.
In 1992, he was convicted of cattle rustling and assaulting the owner of a cattle station in Arnhem Land.
Police raided Melaleuca. He eventually lost the property.
For more than a year before his death, Ansell had been living with Ms Hewson, a former tour guide, on a billabong at the Aboriginal outstation Urapunga, on the Roper River, about 480km south of Darwin.
He was initiated as a white member of local Aboriginal clan and got on well with the Ngukkur community. But the spiral into a drug-induced psychosis continued as Ansell smoked cannabis and injected amphetamineswith vengeance.
“I didn’t know Ansell really well, but I’d met him a few times,” long-time Territorian and former reporter Chips Mackinolty said.
“He was tough as nails, the sort of person that could do what he said he did, and did do it when he was working as a stockman, as a wrangler and that stuff.
“He was an extraordinary person at that level, but it ended up in tears.”
Mr Mackinolty was heading to Katherine and had been allowed through the roadblock earlier on the day the killing happened.
“It was one of those ‘goose steps on your own grave’ sort of feelings – you were very close to what ended up being a very awful thing.
“It’s always sad when the threat of poverty and frustrated ambition get mixed up and send people off the edge, big time,” Mr Mackinolty said.
“I was completely shocked, as were a lot of people who knew him in the earlier years.”
In his coronial ruling, Magistrate Wallace said the contrast between the “original Crocodile Dundee who appeared on television” and the emaciated drug addict – who weighed just 53kg when he opened fire on police – could hardly be more marked.
“His drug abuse rendered his mind so addled he believed fantasies that a child would dismiss with contempt,” he said.
“His pointless and destructive actions caused immediate agony and suffering to the men he wounded.”
The infamous rampage means Ansell is remembered in Darwin not as a knockabout bushman, but as the man who murdered a heroic cop.
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Sergeant Glen Huitson
Posted on
Along the side of the Stuart Highway, heading to Batchelor and points south, there’s a turnoff at Old Bynoe Road. On this corner there’s a simple cross like far too many you see on Australian roads. This one is the same in that it marks the point where a loved one lost his or her life. The ever-present, neatly-arrayed booze bottles testify to the fact that his friends have not forgotten him.
However this site is also different. It doesn’t mark a road fatality, but rather the death of a police officer on duty, Sergeant Glen Anthony Huitson, killed protecting the community from a man who had gone on an overnight shooting spree. The further tragedy is that this death, left a young widow and two little children who will never know their father: the risks that police face daily in doing their duty.
The Policeman from the bush
By all accounts Glen Huitson was a quietly impressive young man and an excellent policeman who was soon to receive the Police Valour medal, given posthumously to his wife, Lisa. Huitson had worked out bush and was well respected by the communities he’d worked in. Stationed at Adelaide River at the time of the shooting, Huitson is also remembered by a memorial there.
Across the new railway track on the Old Bynoe Road, there’s a different kind of memorial from the simple cross with beer bottles. It’s the official memorial in Glen Huitson Park. It has an impressively large stone brought from a distance and plaques to honour the man and the police officer.
Roadside memorial stone
I recognise that another family lost a person they’d loved that day. No doubt as they pass Huitson’s memorial they think of their own loved one. However for me this is about the loss of a man doing his duty. As you go about your routines today, please remember all those police officers who daily risk their lives to protect us.
I leave you with Glen Huitson’s eulogy, testifying to his concern for others and his true community spirit. Rest in Peace, Sergeant Glen Huitson, you did your duty well.
On the Darwin Esplanade, near the Cenotaph, there’s is a memorial to all Northern Territory Police and Emergency Services workers who gave their lives in service to the community.
4 thoughts on “Sergeant Glen Huitson”
What a wonderful tribute …thank you for bringing us this introduction to a man without whom the world is a poorer place.
Thanks Chris. It happened a couple of years after we got here and was a great tragedy. I really feel for his family and the loss of a good man.
I stumbled across this post today… For some reason Glen came to my mind, and I did a search. Maybe this all came about as I saw a photo of his gorgeous sister and his 2 beautiful children.
Glen was a friend and I know his family well. He was a great man and it was an extremely sad day the day he left this life.
hi Vicki, sorry I hadn’t realised I’d omitted to reply. Thanks for sharing…it was indeed a tragic day for all concerned…we have a connection through the other officer that day though we didn’t know him at the time.
IT was 15 years on Sunday since one of NT Police’s darkest days.
On August 3, 1999 Brevet Sergeant Glen Anthony Huitson was manning a roadblock on the Stuart Highway at Livingstone when he was shot and killed by “Crocodile Dundee” Rod Ansell.
Ansell was then hit with fatal return fire by Sgt Huitson’s partner, Senior Constable Jamie O’Brien.
He was the first policeman to be murdered on duty in the Territory for 47 years, and to this date he remains the last.
Sgt Huitson’s wife Lisa said the anniversary was always emotional.
“But he’s always with us and it’s good to see his colleagues and friends return,” she said.
“It’s nice to come back.”
The couple’s children Joe and Ruby were just 2 and 10 months old when their father was killed.
Police Commissioner John McRoberts said the memorial was a sobering reminder of the dangers of policing.
“It’s really good to pay our respects to a man who died doing what he loved and wanted to do – which was serve and protect,” he said.
Sgt Huitson joined the NT Police in January 1987. He served in both Southern and Northern districts.
During his service, he received a Commendation from the Commissioner of Police in March 1994 when he attended a disturbance at a community near Alice Springs. He disarmed a drunk armed with a knife and star picket, and was threatening another person with a billy of boiling water.
Then in February of 1999 in Litchfield Park, he disarmed an armed man who was threatening the driver and passengers of a bus. He received a Valour Award over this incident.
For the incident which cost him his life, he was awarded the Australia Bravery Medal, and a bar to his Valour Medal.
BERNARD is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance *BUT SHOULD BE
Bernie was apparently being ‘interviewed’ inside Collaroy Police Station and when he was left alone in the room, with a loaded gun in a drawer, Bernie has committed suicide with the use of the Service weapon.
FURTHER INFORMATION IS REQUIRED ABOUT THIS MAN AND INCIDENT AT THE COLLAROY POLICE STATION
[alert_yellow]THOMAS is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO
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Front Inscription
On July 25th 1857, Senior Constable Thomas Cooke single-handedly faced down a rioting mob of several hundred miners at the Golden Point diggings.
The insurgents were on their way to destroy a camp of Chinese miners, who were at the time extremely unpopular on the gold-fields.
Probably no-one would have then blamed Constable Cooke if he had backed down and allowed the mob to pass, but through his courage and determination to see the rule of Law enforced, he prevented what would otherwise have been a shameful massacre.
Let his name be remembered in honour.
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Senior Constable Thomas Cooke
Senior Constable Thomas Cooke : 28-May-2011
Photographs supplied by Kent Watson
Plaque commemorates Senior Constable Thomas Cooke.
In 1857, Thomas Cooke, undoubtedly saved the lives of a number of Chinese miners from a public riot that could have had grave consequences for the young colony of Victoria. The foray commenced near the bottom of Golden Point, and out about a mile from the chief camp. The ringleaders of the affray tore down and destroyed mining equipment owned by the Chinese and the situation escalated.
Senior Constable Cooke boldly placed himself in front of the mob and by his presence of mind, tact and discretion, lives were probably saved, and the Chinese camp not destroyed. A compromise was reached, giving the Chinese permission to remain for several more days. On leaving the police force Cooke took up the running of The Panama store at Chewton and suicided by hanging on the 28 August 1882.
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Arthur Alexander John FORD
| 27/07/2015
Arthur Alexander John FORD
( late of St James Ave, Glebe )
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # ?
Rank: Constable
Stations: Bathurst, Grenfell, Petersham
Service: From ? to 19 December 1927. Went onto sick report on 14 December 1927
[alert_yellow]ARTHUR is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO
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Arthur Alexander John Ford died 19/12/1927 aged 49 from self inflicted gun shot wound to the head. He lived in Glebe with his wife and was stationed at Petersham at the time.
He shot Mrs Florence Laws in a lane way off Norton St, Leichhardt close to Parramatta Road. Mrs Laws lived in Stanmore.
The inquest stated that she was shot twice. Other accounts said that 5 shots were fired. Fords wife stated that he had ‘troubles’ following fractures to the base of his skull and above his left eye (not known if they were job related) and suffered fits of violence.
A couple of letters were not admitted into evidence but it was noted that Ford loved his wife.
Death is due to temporary insanity.
The information came out after the inquest. Unbeknown to Mrs Ford maybe until his final day(s) Ford had ‘known‘ Mrs Laws for some time. In one of the letters that was not read at the inquest he professors his love for his wife and said to her ‘you know all’ I think meaning he told her of Mrs Laws.
The letter that Mrs Laws wrote told of her deep love for Ford and just wanted to be with him. It would appear that on the day of their deaths, she had a dental appointment in Norton St, Leichhardt and she said to the dentist “I have a friend waiting outside”.
A friend says that he would hear the voice of his very young daughter who had died 2 years previously asking him to play a particular tune on the pianola (perhaps due to the affects of his head injuries).
Now comes the finale. He is buried in the Presbyterian section of Rookwood Cemetery. A report in the press has it that just as they finished the readings over his coffin, the coffin of Mrs Laws passed by and she was buried “a few yards” from Ford.
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Northern Standard ( Darwin ) Tuesday 20 December 1927 page 3 of 4
STANMORE SHOOTING
Sydney, Monday.
Mrs. Florence Ellen Laws, of Percival Road, Stanmore, wife of a master builder, was shot dead in a lane off Norton Street, Leichhardt, yesterday morning, following a quarrel with Constable Arthur Alexander John Ford, of Petersham. The policeman is alleged to have killed Mrs. Laws and to have turned the revolver on himself. He also died. Ford fired five shots, four of which took effect on the woman, who died instantly. Ford was also married. When his wife heard, of the tragedy she collapsed.
Truth ( Sydney ) Sunday 25 December 1927 page 13 of 20
MYSTERY LETTERS IN LEICHHARDT LOVE SHOOTING
‘MY OWN DEAREST LOVE’ Passionate Expressions to Policeman Who Killed Woman and Then Himself
“ALL MY LOVE UNTIL I SEE MY DARLING!”
MYSTERY letters, pulsating with terms of love and endearment, were found in the pockets of tall, strapping, handsome Constable Arthur Ford when he and Mrs. Florence Laws met death from revolver bullets in a little dead-end lane at Leichhardt on Tuesday morning. They were all unsigned. Only crosses to denote kisses concluded their amatory passages..
WHO – were these letters from? That is a big question for the Coroner when he delves into the tragedy that shocked the city, wrecked two homes and took a handsome man and an attractive and sunny-natured woman, from the earth. A wondering, heartbroken wife weeps silently in a little home in Glebe, mourning the death of her husband. “A fine man, Mr. Ford,” everyone said. He was big and straight and frank.
But on Wednesday he was buried, having gone from life by his own hand. On the fourteenth of this month he went off duty from the Petersham police station— ill. The next day he saw a doctor, who prescribed, and gave him a certificate which substantiated his application – for sick leave. His poor health apparently preyed upon his mind — a mind worried a good deal about other things. His mother had died and he mourned her passing. But there was more. And his thoughts turned to a little home in Percival-road, Stanmore, and to a little woman who lived there with her husband and her family.
Constable Arthur Ford and Mrs. Florence Laws were very firm friends and probably more, if the letters were penned by her, then they were lovers — passionately enamored. In her Stanmore home an astonished husband and father grieves at almost incredible news. Reddened, tear-stained eyes tell of the anguish of three sons, the youngest about 15, and of a pretty daughter. Their mother was her usual bright and cheery self on Monday morning. She left home, trim, petite, dark and well dressed and called at the grocery store just around the corner in Parramatta road. She left and walked smartly along Parramatta-road to Norton-street, where she went to the dental surgery of Dentist C. G. Everingham.
She was well-known there as a genial, lovable and striking woman, with a radiant personality and an unfailingly bright outlook on life. The adventure of existence was real to her. She revelled in it, and she had the happy knack of making others feel that life is worth while. At the surgery she submitted a plate to be repaired. It had been broken— by being dropped on to the floor, she explained. It was broken in such a way that a blow on her mouth might have conceivably been the cause. Only a few minutes she had been in the surgery, chatting away, when she excused herself by saying that a friend was waiting outside for her. The pair spoke on the pavement, and he walked along with her about ten yards, leading the way into a little dead end laneway between two houses facing Norton-street.
There the man, 49 years of age, and the woman, who was 12 years his junior, but who looked only 30, had a conversation which will never be known. Something was worrying Ford, and he told her about it.
Was there another man, – apart altogether from the husband? Or did he want her to be his own, and give up her home and children? The Coroner will he faced with a difficult task in elucidating this.
Whatever the discussion, they disagreed. Ford spoke plainly and bluntly.
The woman sensed danger and wanted to get away. In a frenzy he grasped her and tore her clothing. Then she saw the deadly service revolver being drawn out. There was one awful second of realisation. She screamed. In a frightful tattoo five shots barked out in rapid succession, tearing into her body on their work of destruction. The bullets emerged and bespattered the wall. She crumpled up and, with a little murmuring cry, fell dead, the red blood of life pouring from her, staining the green grass that grew along the wall at the side of the lane.
Without any hesitation Ford turned the revolver on himself. Just one shot. It was aimed true, and it seared through his head and brain. He was breathing still when horror-stricken people rushed to the laneway, but he died after being hurried away towards hospital.
Six shots had been fired. Two lives were taken. And a ruptured romance the cause of it all. Just what they were to each other is the problem that at once presents itself. The wife of Ford, attached and devoted to him, was in a state of collapse when police officers had told her the facts of the tragedy.
The husband of Mrs. Laws could shed little light on the matter beyond saying that he had met Ford, had, in fact, been introduced to him by his wife, who told him that Ford had helped her with a punctured tyre one day. Patrolling Parramatta-road, the stalwart constable must have met the woman in difficulties with her car. She drove herself about and had been a motorist for years, having in her home no lack of anything she desired; good clothes, jewellery, a car, and seemingly no lack of ready cash. Her husband is a master carrier, partner in a business concern. Whatever their association was it must have been heart whole. If the batch of letters found on the dead man came from the woman. Mr. Laws told the police that the writing was like that of his wife. Many of the screeds were on red ruled foolscap paper. Most had been posted in Sydney, and some in Annandale, but not one bore a signature except the crosses, crosses, crosses.
Sometimes the mystery she who wrote them would add a cross or two to the back of the letter for good measure. ‘My Own Dearest Love,’ was the favored form of introduction. Then the screed went on to messages of burning affection. “I’m sitting all alone thinking of my sweetheart,” read one. “I’ve been doing that all day. I’ve never been deceitful to you since I’ve known you. . .” and more like that. “I feel I must see you before I go to bed at night, and in the morning I wake up at four or five and think of my loved one . . ” One letter was apparently in reply to a criticism levelled regarding attendance at a dance, or possibly to forestall criticism. “I went to a dance last night,” wrote the mystery woman of the letters. “I danced with only one person all night, and I was wishing that you were with me . . .” And then followed fervent passages addressed to “Dear Sweetheart” speaking of lovely kisses and declaring that if he ever tired of her it would kill her. But apparently, if Mrs. Laws was the writer, poor Ford grew anything but tired of her. His passion seemed to transcend all reason, all restraints. Two of the letters in the batch are particularly significant regarding an obviously clandestine association, and the difficulties of avoiding detection. One letter, with no other date than “Sunday, 5 p.m.,” I read: “My Own Dearest Love,— I got your letter in the box this morning, sweetheart, at ten-past six, early for Sunday morning. I tried to keep awake on Saturday night, so I could hear you pass, but sleep overtook me. I woke about four o’clock this morning, and never went to sleep after thinking of you, darling, and of the happy hours we spent together. My Dear Arthur, you still seem to doubt me that I love you. I wish you would not think that. I have proved, dear, how much I do LOVE YOU, and I will never, never give you up. I read your sweet letter over and over again, and loved it. I was thinking of you out in the cold on Saturday night at the dogs. Darling, you must have nearly freezed. Did you ring here about 9.30? Somebody rang, and I thought it might have been you. Somebody else answered the ‘phone, and there was no answer. If you ring me on Tuesday let it be after 4. G. goes then. All my love and thoughts till I see my darling. X X X X X x F.L. x x xxx The F.L., thinly traced in a multitude of kisses, seems to have been the only attempt at signature. Both letters were capitals.
Another letter spoke of the suspicions that had been raised by the association of the writer and the Constable.
Dated only ‘Sunday,’ in much the same way as the other, it read:— My Own Dearest Love,— I’ve been thinking of you, love, since I saw you yesterday. You shouldn’t have come over to the car to speak to me after what I told you in the morning. I was that upset I didn’t know what I was talking about. Arthur, dear, you ought to have a little consideration for me when you know how I’ve been talked about. I Just feel I could clear a thousand miles away. Darling, when you see the little kid, N, I mean, don’t ask about me. I will tell you why when I see you. I will try and see you on Wednesday at lunch-time. I will drop you a note before then, sweetheart. All my love till I see you, dear. Then followed those little crosses that mean kisses – thirteen of them. An unlucky number !
The Sydney Morning Herald Friday 13 January 1928 page 12 of 20
LEICHHARDT TRAGEDY.
CONSTABLE “UNDOUBTEDLY INSANE.”
CORONER’S VERDICT.
” There cannot be the slightly doubt that Ford was suffering from some temporary insanity, ” said the Acting City.
Coroner (Mr. Flynn) at the conclusion yesterday of an inquiry into the death, on the morning of December 19, of Arthur Alexander John Ford, aged 49 years, a police constable, stationed at Petersham, and Mrs. Florence Ellen Laws, aged 37 years, of Percival-road, Stanmore, in a lane off Norton-street, Leichhardt.
The evidence was to the effect that Ford, after a quarrel with Mrs. Laws, drew his service revolver, and fired two shots at her, killing her instantly. He then turned the weapon on himself, inflicting a wound in the side of the head, from the effects of which he died a few minutes after admission to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
Summing up the evidence, Mr. Flynn said the letters left behind by Ford showed that he regarded his wife with deep affection. All the evidence indicated that be was subject to an increasing mania for some time before his death, and the tragedy had occurred in one of his fits of violence.
Linda Beatrice Ford, wife of the constable, said that he had suffered, some considerable time before the occurrence, two fractures of the skull, one at the base and the other over the left eye. Shortly before the tragedy, he had continually complained of gnawing under the points of fracture. Witness had also noticed a change in his mental disposition. One night, seated at the pianola, he had asked for the roll “Rock of Ages,” stating: “Margery is calling me to play it.” Margery, witness explained, was an adopted daughter, who had been dead two years. On December 18 Ford told witness that he had a confession to make, and spoke of a woman named Florrie. Ford was perfectly sober when he left home on the morning of the tragedy. He was not a heavy drinker.
At this stage a letter was produced, and objected to by counsel for the relatives. In upholding the objection, Mr, Flynn said Ford was obviously insane when he wrote it. It was addressed in very affectionate terms to his wife. Another letter, found on the dead man, was not admitted, the Coroner explaining that it was a letter, couched in affectionate terms, from a certain person to Ford.
The Coroner found, that Mrs. Laws died from the effects of bullet wounds inflicted on her by Ford whilst he was suffering from some temporary mental aberration, and that Ford died from wounds self-inflicted whilst in the same condition of mind.
Mr. Sproule (of Messrs. R. D. Meagher, Sproule, and Co.) appeared for the relatives of Ford; Mr. Thomas Green for the relatives of Mrs. Laws; and Inspector Horsell for the police.
When Constable FordmurderedMrs. Laws and then shot himself at Leichhardt recently, he completed a tragic triangle of death. He was the third constable who has served at Grenfell to die by violence.
Constables Claude Bovard and George J. Duncan were the other two. Over ten years agoFord and Bovard served together at Grenfell, and Duncan was stationed there soon after they left.
Service: From ? ? 1907 to 19 February 1934 = 27+ years Service
Awards: ?
Born: ? ? 1884 to Martin & Julia at West Maitland NSWBDM 24190/1884
Died on: 19 February 1934
Cause: Suicide by pistol stemming from a Nervous Illness
Event location: Erskinville Street Police Station
Age: 48
Funeral date: Monday 22 February 1934 @ 1.30pm
Funeral location: St. Brigid’s Church, Marrickville
Buried at: Woronora Cemetery,
Roman Catholic Monumental: Section 2, position 0680
DANIEL is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance *NEED MORE INFO
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Barrier Miner ( Broken Hill )
Saturday 20 January 1934 page 8 of 12
SYDNEY, : Saturday. – Sergeant Daniel Markham (48), of Marrickville, was found fatally wounded yesterday in a telephone box in Erskineville street Police Station. A revolver, one chamber of which had been discharged, was beside him. He had recently suffered a severe illness.
Hearing a report of firearms at Erskine-street lock-up to-night a constable rushed to the front of the building where he found Sergeant Daniel Markham fatally shot through the head. The officer, who was 48, had been in ill-health for a number of years.
MARKHAM. – The Relatives and Friends of the late DANIEL BERNARD MARKHAM ( Sergeant of Police ) are kindly invited to attend his Funeral leaving his late residence Myall, 22 Carey street, Marrickville, Next MONDAY AFTERNOON, at 1.30 o’clock, for Catholic Cemetery Woronora. W. N. Bull, Ltd., Funeral Directors.
SYDNEY. Saturday.- Sgt. Daniel Markham, aged 48, who was found fatally shot in the Erskine Street Police Station yesterday was loyal to his service to the last. Because of a nervous illness the Commissioner of Police (Mr Childs) and the Metropolitan Superintendent (Mr MacKay) frequently suggested that he refrain from duty, but he refused.
MARKHAM.-The Relatives and Friends of Mrs. EDITH MARKHAM and FAMILY are kindly Invited to attend the Funeral of her late beloved HUSBAND and their dear FATHER, Daniel Bernard; to leave his late residence, Myall. Carey-street, Marrickville, THIS (Monday) AFTERNOON, at 1.45 o’clock, for the Catholic Cemetery, Woronora. A train leaving Tempe Station at 2.24 p m. will arrive at Sutherland at 2.55 p m.
Catholic Freeman’s Journal ( Sydney ) Thursday 15 February 1934 page 4 of 40
SERGEANT DANIEL BERNARD MARKHAM.
The death took place at Sydney, on the 19th ult., of Sergeant Daniel Bernard Markham, who was attached to No. 4 Division of the New South Wales Police Force. Mr. Markham, who was only 48 years of age, was one of the most popular and efficient members of the Force. He had been in ill-health for some time, but bravely performed his duties despite his illness.
Being 6 feet 2 inches in height, of magnificent physique, and possessed of a bright and genial disposition he was a popular figure with his comrades and the general public.
Mr. Markham was a devout Catholic and a member of the A.H.C. Guild at St. Brigid’s, Marrickville. His numerous acts of kindness towards the poor and needy brought him numerous friends wherever he went.
Joining the N.S.W. Police Force in 1907, Mr. Markham was attached to North Sydney Division for some time. He later was transferred to the Traffic Department, and afterwards to No. 4 Division, where he continued to perform traffic duty for many years.
He was a popular figure along the water front, where he handled the heavy traffic with tact and courtesy. As a result Mr. Markham was promoted to the rank of first-class constable, and later to the rank of sergeant. It is safe to say that no promotion was more popular or so well deserved.
From the formation of the Police Association Mr. Markham was president of No. 4 Branch, from 1920 to 1925. The popularity of that branch was to a great extent, due to his personality. He was transferred to Clarence-street Division, where he performed varied duties, and finally was Assistant-traffic Sergeant of that very busy and important portion of Sydney. In January, 1933, Sergeant Markham was sent back to his old Division (No. 4) as Sergeant in charge of traffic there. It was during this latter period that he was stricken with a serious illness. It was hoped that he had recovered, but, to the extreme grief of his devoted wife and young family, death took place as already stated.
Mr. Markham was a native of New South Wales, and a member of a large family, all of whom are devoted members of the Catholic Church.
A Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Brigid’s Church, Marrickville, on the 22nd ‘ult. The cortege leaving the church proceeded to the Sergeant’s late residence at Carey-street, Marrickville. A police funeral was accorded deceased.
Superintendent Lynch ( representing the Commissioner of Police ). Inspectors Winter, Collings, and Stanton, and a large squad of uniform and plain-clothes police under Sergeant Rodding, were in attendance.
Beautiful and solemn music was rendered by the Police Band as the sad procession wended its way to Woronora Cemetery. Thousands of people watched the sad procession. The burial took place in the Catholic portion of the cemetery, in the presence of a large number of his old comrades and many prominent citizens.
The last prayers were recited by the Rev. Father Lloyd (Cronulla), who afterwards paid a tribute to the Sergeant’s sterling qualities.
The chief mourners were Mrs. Markham (widow), Master George Markham (son), Misses Dorothy and Joan Markham (daughters), and James, Thomas, Frank, and Vaughan Markham (brothers), Misses Margaret and May Markham, and Mrs. A. Swanson and Mrs. F. Bullivant (sisters).
THEY were the untouchables, an elite band of Australian Federal Police, some of whom insiders say were no better than “gangsters with police badges”. Their headquarters were Redfern’s landmark TNT twin towers, where extramarital conquests and drunken “happy hour” parties were common. It was the 1980s and, as one former officer of the 35-strong AFP Sydney drug investigation unit recalls, it was like “living inside a grubby episode of Miami Vice“.Memories of the heady days of the twin tower crew have been revived because of the charges laid against one of the squad’s alumni, senior NSW Crime Commission investigator Mark Standen.Following his arrest on drug charges this month, insiders have told The Sun-Herald some members of the unit were compromised and beyond control.
Michael Anthony Wallace – convicted of stealing $20 million worth of seized heroin in 1990 and then of murdering girlfriend Zoe Zou and dumping her body in the Blue Mountains in 2006 – was one.
Another was Allan Gregory McLean, sentenced to 16 years’ jail for helping import millions in heroin from India hidden inside a consignment of soccer balls in 1988.
Others were named at the NSW Wood Royal Commission over filching $200,000 from a Sydney cocaine dealer in 1983.
But with authorities infatuated with rogue NSW cop Roger Rogerson, some of the officers went bad and started trafficking drugs, taking bribes and ripping off crooks.
Ensconced on the lower floors of the TNT block, the unit was run for a time by chief inspector Cliff Foster, who committed suicide after a battle with depression in 2001.
It can now be revealed he had been under investigation for supplying heroin and was linked to an organised crime syndicate shipping huge amounts of hashish into Australia from New Zealand.
In the days after charges were laid against Standen, AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty was forced to deny claims that he and Standen worked side by side at Redfern and were once daily jogging partners.
Standen, who left the AFP to join the Crime Commission in 1996, is now accused of trying to smuggle in by sea enough pseudoephedrine to make $120 million worth of ice. He is due to face court again on August 6.
Mr Keelty said he and Standen had only ever been stationed together at the AFP‘s Sydney city headquarters in Goulburn Street.
They “might have been involved in some of the same operations” but were not close.
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Mr Keelty also said he was unaware Standen had admitted to the 1982Stewart Royal Commission that he once flushed 18 foils of cannabis down a toilet instead of declaring it as evidence. Former NSW detective turned University of Western Sydney academic Michael Kennedy said another member of the unit was allowed to take up a government job after admitting to stealing a kilogram of seized heroin displayed at a media conference. Another detective resigned after being confronted with allegations he was using and dealing cocaine. He eventually went to work for standover man Tim Bristow, who died in 2003.One-time head of AFP internal affairs Ray Cooper says security at the TNT offices was a disgrace.”Operational details were being leaked to the crims,” Mr Cooper said. “As a result, I warned the hierarchy that we needed to keep an eye out.”
Mr Cooper said his investigation into the Foster allegations was taken from him and deliberately derailed to avoid a public scandal.
He was denied permission to use phone taps and several witnesses against Foster were kidnapped and threatened by other corrupt federal detectives.
Wayne Sievers, who worked at the Redfern towers between 1983 and 1988, likened the experience to “living inside a grubby episode of Miami Vice”.
“You were looking at a group, some of whom were simply cowboys with huge egos, who were allowed to drive around town in fast cars with guns, doing whatever they wanted.”
Mr Sievers said the same day he reported being offered payola by a more senior officer he was transferred to non-operational duties.
Following a raft of AFP corruption claims at the Wood Royal Commission, a federal inquiry chaired by Sydney barrister Ian Harrison was set up in 1996-97.
Mr Cooper gave evidence but has since criticised the proceedings.
No public hearings were held and all findings were classified. Dr Kennedy and Mr Sievers also testified but believe little was achieved.
All three have called for the inquiry report to be opened.
Last week, NSW Supreme Court judge Harrison said it would be inappropriate for him to comment.
[alert_yellow]JOHN is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO
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The Argus ( Melbourne ) Saturday 16 August 1856 page 5 of 8
DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.
SUICIDE OF AN EX- DETECTIVE OFFICER
Early yesterday morning it was discovered that John Elsey, late of the detective force of this city, had committed suicide by cutting his throat. The deceased was lodging in the Galway Arms Hotel, in Flinders-lane, and on his not making his customary appearance at breakfast, some person went to his room, and found the unfortunate man lying on his face on the floor, with his throat cut, and quite dead.
The deceased was about thirty years of age, a married man, and a native of Kentucky. Some time ago he left his wife behind him at Castlemaine, and went home to America. On his return, it appeared that she had formed an acquaintance with another man, by whom, it is alleged, she had two children.
Elsey obtained a situation in the detective force but was soon after summoned to Castlemaine to provide his wife with a maintenance, and the Bench made an order of £1 per week. This award the deceased was dissatisfied with, and as Mr. Smith, the late superintendent of the detective force, wished, to keep back from his salary the amount awarded by the Bench to his wife, the deceased left the force. This happened about a month ago.
Since that time Elsey appears to have been harassed by applications on the part of the man who is living with his wife for the award of the Castlemaine Bench for her maintenance, and the deceased had since given way to dissipation, and formed acquaintances with disreputable women. His health appears to have broken down, and those circumstances together are supposed to have led to the committal of the rash act.
An inquest will be held over the body this morning.
Empire ( Sydney ) Friday 22 August 1856 page 6 of 8
The following extraordinary case of suicide by a detective officer is from the “Herald ” of the 10th instant : —
” Yesterday, Dr. Wilmot, City Coroner, held an inquest at the Galway Hotel, Flinders-lane east, on the body of John Elsey, who was found dead in his room with his throat cut that morning. The deceased had been a well-conducted member of the detective force, and the circumstances which led him to commit suicide were of a very painful nature, as will be seen from the following evidence given at the inquest :– Abraham Fenton, sergeant of police, said that he knew the deceased as belonging to the detective force, and hearing yesterday morning that he had committed suicide, he went immediately to the Galway Hotel, and found him lying on his face on the floor of the room, with a razor in his right hand, which was underneath the throat. On the dressing table there was a bottle labelled “laudanum,” and in his trunk, amongst other documents, he found the following paper, in the handwriting of deceased : —
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” Galway Hotel. August 11, 1856.
This is a correct statement of John Elsey. My name is John Elsey. I was born in the county of Norfolk, England. My people emigrated to the United States when I was only one year old. My mother died about six months after landing.
The first of my experience was working with a farmer for my board and clothes. At twelve years of age I went to drive on the Erie canal ; from that coasted out of New York till I came to this colony, which was in 1852. I came out as ordinary seaman in the brig Augustas ; I ran and left the ship three days after she arrived. I went to Gisborne and worked on the roads for two months, after which I went to Castlemaine, and joined the police.
I was promoted to sergeant, and made plenty of money, and on the 11th of February, 1855, commenced my troubles. I married a girl about sixteen years of age. She turned out very bad, so much so that I concluded to go home till she forgot. I went home, and was gone twelve months. When I arrived in this country again I joined the detective police. I had not been in them more than (?) before my wife summoned me to Castlemaine, and the bench of magistrates ordered me to pay the sum of 25s per week. I could not afford to pay the same. I went and saw the Chief Commissioner of Police, and he told me he would suspend me for the period of which I was gone to Castlemaine to find proof against my wife, and when I come back from Castlemaine he should immediately take me on again. When I came back from Castlemaine I went to him, and he told me he would take me on. After detaining my time for two weeks, he would not do it.
And now for that reason I am about to commit this : and may the great God cast a punishment on him that will make him feel that he has got this most abominable sin to answer for. I cannot do hard work, and there is nothing else left for me to do ; and before having to knock about the country like some, I will commit suicide.
Given under my hand this 14th day of August, 1856.
JOHN ELSEY.
14th August — I state that I owe nearly the sum of £3 for board which I wish to be awarded out of my effects.
JOHN ELSEY.
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Patrick Kelly, landlord of the Galway Hotel, said that the deceased had been a lodger at his house for about three months, with the exception of a few weeks’ absence.
On his return to the house on the 31st of July, after being away for a few weeks, he observed a change in his appearance, and deceased told him that he had been unwell ever since he left his house, and was getting worse. He only complained of a cold, and about a week ago said that he had again joined the detective force, but had leave of absence for a week in order to get rid of his cold. The last time he saw him alive was on Thursday at mid-day, when he appeared the same as usual. One of the lodgers saying that he had knocked at the door of deceased without receiving any answer, he sent up to ascertain the fact, and subsequently forced open the door, when he saw deceased in the state in which he then lay. To his knowledge deceased was not addicted to drinking.
Patrick Boyle, teacher, had known the deceased for the last fortnight, and had opportunities of seeing a great deal of him. For the last eight or nine days he appeared very dejected in mind, and said that he was very unwell. For the last three days he could hardly go up and down stairs, and seemed to have lost the power of his limbs, and to have been very absent in mind. He had never seen him under the influence of liquor.
Henry White of the detective force, had known the deceased since March last, when he was in the detective force, and was a steady well conducted man. He resigned in June, and proceeded to Castlemaine, where he had been summoned by his wife for maintenance, and he was ordered to pay her a weekly allowance.
He felt greatly aggrieved at his wife living with another man. He then resigned the force, and had since been leading a very irregular life. The last time he saw him alive was on Monday, the 12th instant, when he seemed very low in spirits, and said he thought he should rejoin the force. He traced all his troubles to the conduct of his wife, which preyed heavily upon his mind.
The jury, by their verdict, found that John Elvey(sic) had died from a wound inflicted by his own hand by a certain razor across the throat, whilst in a state of temporary derangement.”
John Elsey, a native of Kentucky, and an ex-detective officer of the Melbourne Police, committed suicide by cutting his throat, on the 15th inst., in the Galway Arms Hotel, Melbourne, where he had been lodging.
The Age ( Melbourne ) Thursday 17 April 1856 page 3 of 4
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.
The Assault on the Detectives. — George Pickering, the oyster-dealer, who, on Tuesday, created a serious disturbance in Little Bourke street, and was secured with great difficulty, made his appearance on Wednesday, with his head and face severely mauled and blood-stained.
On Detective Elsey’s announcing his authority to arrest him, he said that he never went without a fight for it, and immediately struck the detective a violent blow in the chest.
In self-defence he drew and wielded his neddy vigorously, and, besides contending with the prisoner, had to withstand the attacks of a whole host of pick pockets and oyster men, the friends of the prisoner. At last, by the aid of Detectives White and Randall, he was hauled off to the lock-up.
His wife, at whose instance he had been arrested, appeared against him.
She supports herself by washing, and on the present occasion had a considerable quantity of clothes in the house. Pickering, just out of gaol, went into the house, and after brutally ill-treating his wife, threw all the clothes out of the window into the street.
She has two children by the prisoner, who broke the leg of one of them in a fit of drunkenness, some time previous. The prisoner was sentenced to three months’ hard labor, and at the conclusion of that term he was ordered to find two sureties of £25 each, to keep the peace towards his wife for twelve months.
The Argus ( Melbourne ) Monday 12 May 1856 page 4 of 8
THE ARGUS Publish Daily.
MORE STURT’S JUSTICE
Another sample of this very peculiar commodity has been exhibited at the Melbourne Police Office during the past week.
Four ” fast ” young men, named James Bruce, William Bruce, Henry Younger, and John Ford were charged on Tuesday with having the previous evening created a disturbance at the Theatre Royal, and assaulted Detective Elsey in the execution of his duty.
The evidence of the detective was to the effect that, hearing James Bruce making use of disgraceful language he (Elsey) desired him (Bruce) to desist.
Bruce hereupon first abused and then struck Elsey, who tried to arrest his assailant, but the latter was immediately reinforced by the other three prisoners.
Elsey was severely beaten among them, his clothes torn, and a ” gold nugget pin ” plucked from his breast and flung away.
Ultimately Elsey received succor, and the brawlers were arrested. On being brought before the Police Court the next day, James Bruce, William Bruce, and Henry Younger were sentenced to one month’s imprisonment, Ford being released on payment of a forty shilling fine, his participation in the disturbance having been small.
[alert_yellow]? is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO
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The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser ( NSW )
Monday 15 June 1840 page 4 of 8
By the mail that arrived this morning from Goulburn, I am informed that one of the mounted Police committed suicide last week, by shooting himself through the head.
later – in the same article:-
But the rumour relative to the mounted trooper having committed suicide has been confirmed by late intelligence from Goulburn – the cause which urged the unfortunate man’s committing this rash act, has not yet transpired.
Thursday 6 August 2015
What a wonderful tribute …thank you for bringing us this introduction to a man without whom the world is a poorer place.
Thanks Chris. It happened a couple of years after we got here and was a great tragedy. I really feel for his family and the loss of a good man.
I stumbled across this post today… For some reason Glen came to my mind, and I did a search. Maybe this all came about as I saw a photo of his gorgeous sister and his 2 beautiful children.
Glen was a friend and I know his family well. He was a great man and it was an extremely sad day the day he left this life.
hi Vicki, sorry I hadn’t realised I’d omitted to reply. Thanks for sharing…it was indeed a tragic day for all concerned…we have a connection through the other officer that day though we didn’t know him at the time.