Funeral location: Hills Family Funerals Chapel, corner of Mile End Road and Windsor Road, Rouse Hill
Buried at: ?
Memorial: NSW Police force Service Memorial Wall, Sydney Police Centre, Surry Hills, E29 ( left wall )
[alert_yellow]PATRICIA does not qualify for the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO
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Funeral location:
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I regret to advise the death of Patricia Cynthia BUTCHER on Monday 10 August 2015.
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Stewart Ian KERLIN
| 15/08/2015
Stewart Ian KERLIN
Queensland Police Force
Regd. # ?
Rank: Detective Sergeant
Stations: ?
Service: From ? to ?
Awards: National Medal – granted 5 May 2000
Born: ?
Died on: 11 November 2006
Cause: Motor vehicle accident
Event location: Pacific Hwy, Woolgoolga, NSW about 10am
Age: 42
Funeral date: ?
Funeral location: ?
Buried at: ?
[alert_green]STEWART IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_green]
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Grave location: ?
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Police officer killed on duty
AAP
November 12, 200612:00AM
………….
Const Wilson was the second police officer killed on the state’s ( NSW ) roads yesterday, with a Queensland detective dying after a multi-vehicle crash south of Coffs Harbour on the NSW mid-north coast.
Detective Sergeant Stewart Kerlin, 42, was killed when two cars and a truck collided near Woolgoolga about 10am (AEDT).
Fellow officer 43-year-old Detective Senior Constable Paul Meese, who was in the same car, was injured and a 60-year-old woman passenger in the second car also was hurt.
Both were taken to Coffs Harbour Hospital, where they are in stable condition.
The two police officers were travelling in an unmarked car to a number of locations around NSW as part of a Queensland Police investigation.
Mitch ClarkeI always think of Mick, as we often go through Adelong
August 1, 2014 at 10:50am · Like · 1
Joy BrownLovely man remembered with fondness. RIP Mick
August 1, 2014 at 11:07am · Like
Jeffrey Littlehard exterior – soft underbelly
August 1, 2014 at 11:56am · Like · 4
Linda PillLove that rascal!
August 1, 2014 at 12:07pm · Like · 1
Stephen BaumannGave a great clip across the ears to I know. Rip.
August 1, 2014 at 12:07pm · Like · 1
Andrew Royds RoyanYes indeed. And a quality kick up the arse for good measure! Sadly missed. Thanks for posting cal
August 1, 2014 at 12:17pm · Unlike · 5
Lee WigginsRIP Mick.
August 1, 2014 at 1:11pm · Like · 1
Chris HinesWas a great bloke and great Sgt, firm but fair, can remember vividly him picking up a charge book and slapping probationary constables with it who had inadvertently written with the wrong coloured ink. RIP
August 1, 2014 at 1:51pm · Like · 3
Gary ThompsonI remember our Wollongong cricket trips to Belconnen, Canberra with fond memories. RIP Curly and Frank.
August 1, 2014 at 2:10pm · Like · 3
Steve HodderTwo tough characters there, highly respected. RIP Curly and Frank.
August 1, 2014 at 3:01pm · Like · 5
Nigel StrettonDitto Jeff Little and Shags
August 1, 2014 at 5:39pm · Edited · Like · 2
Mick-Chelle PearceLike Nigel ( Junior) stated, good men RIP Curly and Frank ……
Steven DaviesCal I remember Sgt Royan (couldn’t bring myself to call him Curly) tearing me a new one about an exhibit and saying he was going to “spiflicate” me. Had to look it up and never heard it used by anybody else. Where on earth did he find those words ….RIP.
August 2, 2014 at 12:19pm · Unlike · 4
Andrew Royds RoyanHaving been on the end of many a “spifflication” I can tell you it’s not pretty!
August 2, 2014 at 12:44pm · Like · 3
Lance MiltonTwo great men in this photo Mick and Frank may they both RIP.
August 3, 2014 at 3:45pm · Like
Tony ChaplinWorked the Berkeley weekend car many times with Curly- John Dryburgh and Bob Payton ( R I P ) early 80′ s. Curly got PCA one night, charged him, Curl said he was Inpixicated with Toss Curls version of intoxicated w piss ???
August 3, 2014 at 6:13pm · Like · 3
Greg CallanderRemembered for yesterday, back in 2007.
Retired Senior Sergeant Mick ‘Curly’ Royan who served at Pt Kembla and Warilla, who died in Wollongong Hospital of Cancer, aged 65. Curly joined the NSW Police on 26 January 1962 and Retired on 5 January 1997.
May you forever be Resting In Peace mate.
Frank WeirRIP Curly…Great old school Sgt.
23 hrs · Like · 1
Mark MurphyRIP.
23 hrs · Like · 1
Paul GlockRIP.
22 hrs · Like · 1
Peter GouldRIP
22 hrs · Like · 1
Dave CarrollRIP Mick Champion of a man..
22 hrs · Like · 1
Mark KitchenerRIP
22 hrs · Like · 1
Ian BorlandMike was lock up keeper at Adelong and Noel Coggan was the Sergeant when I was at Talbingo from 1976 to 1979. He was a great bloke and a very funny man. RIP Brother.
21 hrs · Like · 2
Kris DundeeRIP friend.
21 hrs · Like · 1
Bunny WarrenRIP.
19 hrs · Like
John CrowleyOnly man who, whilst playing his beloved squeeze box and singing, could get off a bus, unzip his fly, do his business, do up and return to bus without missing a note. Say hello to your good mate from Adelong and my mate from Cyprus and Moruya, Noel Cogan. Crowls
16 hrs · Like · 3
David KingTop bloke Mick. Sat in as me during a record of interview while Noel Coggan and I attended to other matters at Adelong. Low and behold many years later we end up at Warilla together. Still don’t know how we didn’t cross paths Ian Ian Borland when you were at Talbingo. RIP dear friend.
10 hrs · Like · 1
David KingEven bloody old Crowls, John Crowley is on fb. G’day you old bugger.
10 hrs · Like
Linda PillI have some very fond memories of that old scallywag, Mick Royan! RIP Sarge
8 hrs · Like
Ronald Douglas DOBSON
| 15/08/2015
Ronald Douglas DOBSON
( late of Nelson Bay )
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # 8051
Joined NSW Police Force via NSW Police Cadet system on 1 October 1952
Cadet # 1032
Rank: Sergeant 2nd Class
Stations: ?, STP North Sydney – ( early 1970’s ), 21 Division – 1974 / 78 ( Special Squad ), Manly
Service: From 1 October 1952 to 21 February 1986 = 33+ years Service
Awards: ?
Born: ?
Died on: Tuesday 28 July 2015
Cause: ?
Age: 79
Funeral date: Friday 31 July 2015 @ 10am
Funeral location: St Michael’s Catholic Church, 12 Sproule Street, NELSON BAY
Buried at: ?
Police Cadet Ronald Douglas DOBSON – 1952
Senior Constable Ron Dobson, third from the left. Taken at Bathurst in the early sixties.
[alert_yellow]RONALD is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO
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Funeral location:
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Ronald Douglas DOBSON, 79 old, former Regd. No. 8051, an Unattached Member of the RPA of Nelson Bay.
Ron passed away on 28/07/2015 and his funeral is proposed to be held at 10am on Friday 31st Instant at St Michael’s Catholic Church, 12 Sproule Street, NELSON BAY.
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William Arthur HARRIS
| 15/08/2015
William Arthur HARRIS
( late of Allawah )
aka Jack
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # 4222
Rank: Detective Sergeant 1st Class
Stations: ?, C.I.B. Sydney, Redfern, Mascot
Service: From ? to 19 October 1970 = 32 years Service
Awards: ?
Born: ? October 1915
Died on: Sunday 26 July 2015
Cause: ?
Age: 99
Funeral date: Friday 31 July 2015 @ 10.30am
Funeral location: West Chapel, Woronora Cemetery, 121 Linden Street, SUTHERLAND
Buried at: ?
Bill Harris
Bill Harris
[alert_blue]JACK is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_blue] * NOT JOB RELATED
Father and Father-in-law of Bill and Lynne, Leonard, Melissa and Peter (dec). Grandfather of Jillian and Billy, Grandpa Jack of Grace, James, Benjamin and Hunter.
Aged 99 Years
A happy and long life
Relatives and friends of JACK are kindly invited to attend his Funeral Service, to be held within the West Chapel of the Woronora Crematorium, Linden Street Sutherland Friday 31/7/2015 commencing at 10:30am.
Please meet at the chapel.
Southern Cross Funeral Directors
ALL SUBURBS
PROUDLY AUSTRALIAN
9529 6644 9521 4422
.
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Deepest condolences to Bills family . Bill was adored by all our staff and will be sadly missed by all at City Tatts . A beautiful man who lived such a full life and now rests in peace x
~
Krissy Jones,
Sydney, New South Wales
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
Our deepest sympathy to all who were family and those touched by Jack’s presence. He was a legend within the Policeandthe Entertainment industry. God Bless.
~
Barry Gobbe,
Sydney, New South Wales
Published in The Sydney Morning Herald on July 29, 2015
The Sydney Morning Herald Friday 5 February 1954 page 17 of 34
Dope Case Hearing Near End
Preliminary hearing of doping conspiracy charges against four men will conclude before Mr. T. Doolan, S.M., in Central Court of Petty Sessions to-day.
The men are Reginald Aubrey Doyle, 42, who is serving a 10-year gaol sentence for forgery, fraud and theft; Jack Sharpe, plumber and former stablehand, of Park Avenue, Ashfield; Ronald Edward Irwin, 42, stud groom, of Scone; and Gordon Ray, 37, horse trainer, of Croydon Avenue, Croydon Park.
They are charged with conspiring between January 1 and April 6, 1952, to defraud bookmakers and members of the Wyong District Agricultural Association Turf Club by administering a drug to the horse Buccaneer to improve its performance.
Mr. Doolan heard the last of evidence yesterday. To-day he will hear addresses by counsel for Ray, Sharpe and Irwin, and by Doyle.
Detective William Arthur Harris, of the C.I.B., Sydney, said that information which had led to police interviewing Ronald Irwin at Scone last year had come from Harold O’Dwyer.
[ Earlier evidence was given that O’Dwyer was a racehorse trainer with stables in Avoca Street, Randwick. ]
INTERVIEW
Detective Harris said that he had been present when Detective-sergeant Frank Lynch had interviewed Irwin at Scone.
To Mr. J. Lee, for Irwin, he said that he went to see Irwin over disclosures about the racehorse Tarien. He said he had not interviewed Doyle before this time.
Nor had he read statements in newspapers to the effect that Buccaneer had been doped.
He had suspicions at the time that Doyle was implicated in the doping of race-horses, but they had not led him and other police to Irwin.
Mr. Lee: Are you willing to tell the Court why you interviewed Irwin before you interviewed other defendants in the case?
Mr. J. O’Brien, for the Crown: I object to that question. I know the source of that information, but it is not wished that it be disclosed.
Mr. Doolan: He may answer the question.
Harris said he was not willing to disclose the identity of the man who had given the information unless directed to do so.
Pressed by Mr. Lee, he said it was a man interested in the racing game.
Mr. Lee: Has that man given evidence here at the inquiry?
Harris: Yes.
S.M.’s VIEW
Mr. Lee then asked the name of the witness. Mr. Doolan said: “He has given evidence here. I can’t see why the name shouldn’t be disclosed.”
Mr. O’Brien said: “It’s the usual procedure that the name of a man who has given information confidentially is never disclosed. It may have been mere hearsay.”
Mr. Doolan ruled against him, and Mr. Lee asked: “Will you tell the name of the witness?”
Patty MaceyThe Daily Telegraph did a feature piece on Bill in the past few days! As well as being a very fine detective he was also a very well known and accomplished acrobat! Not to mention a capped Rugby player! RIP good man, your time has come to join your brothers and sisters in arms!
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The Daily Telegraph
Bill Harris, former detective, acrobat and rugby representative, shares stories of his luminary past
Dave Meddows
The Daily Telegraph
May 22, 201512:00AM
BILL Harris is just months away from his 100th birthday but the retired detective’s memory is sharper than that of men half his age — and it holds amazing tales you’d be forgiven for thinking were closer to fiction than fact.
Skills as acrobat led to recognition on television and with colleagues
Entertained senior police with spontaneous demonstration on table
Led taskforce that investigated gruesome murders of ‘The Mutilator’
Still gets birthday calls from NSW’s most senior policeman
BILL Harris is just months away from his 100th birthday but the retired detective’s memory is sharper than that of men half his age — and it holds amazing tales you’d be forgiven for thinking were closer to fiction than fact.
The 99-year-old was one of the state’s first drug squad detectives and the man entrusted with tracking down The Mutilator, one of Australia’s first known serial killers.
But when he wasn’t fighting crime on the streets of Sydney, Harris was moonlighting as an internationally renowned acrobat and was a first grade rugby union player who was selected to play for Australia.
Bill Harris was an investigator on the case of serial killer William MacDonald, who died this month. Picture: Richard Dobson
Bill Harris, 99, at his Allawah home with his photos of his acrobat days. Picture: Mark Evans
The young cop would head to Bondi Beach to practise hand balancing, something that was apparently a “thing” at the famous beach in the 1940s.
It was there that his talents were recognised by a professional acrobat who suggested he team up with Thelma Harris.
The pair would go on to tour the country with their death-defying acrobatics and even appeared on an early edition of The Graham Kennedy Show.
But his talents almost got him booted from the police force. Ironically it was those same skills that saved him.
[blockquote]With a footballer’s build and the strength of a top athlete, Harris was sometimes called on for some tough tasks.[/blockquote]
After taking a number of weeks off to tour with the Tivoli Circuit, a hugely popular group of roving entertainers, Harris was hauled in front of the Commissioner of Police.
“I’m standing in front of the Commissioner and he’s tearing strips off me,” Harris said. “He said: ‘You young fellas, there’s a book of rules and you just ignore them’.”
His boss who was also in the room urged the Commissioner to take a look at the young constable’s talents and he reluctantly agreed.
“So up I go and jump on his table and do a handstand on his table,” he said.
As Harris continued to perform, the stunned Commissioner picked up the phone.
Harris’ prowess helped him as a policeman.
Bill Harris as an acrobat (in the middle).
He appeared on television as an acrobat
Harris holds his son on Bondi beach.
“He got all the superintendents and all the bosses and they came in (to watch),” Harris recalled with a laugh.
After more than a decade in the drug squad, the then-detective was one day transferred out of the unit and across town to Redfern.
“All of a sudden I was transferred and nobody could tell me why. The superintendent said, ‘You are transferred as of now’ and I said ‘Can I ask why?’ and he said ‘No, you can’t’.”
It was more than 10 years later when Harris got a call from the boss of the unit he had been kicked out of.
That man, who Harris didn’t want to name, came clean with the real motive behind the transfer.
“He said: ‘I was jealous of you and your success and I told the superintendent you were on the take’.”
Harris was stunned.
“It was wrong. I was as clean as a whistle,” he said. “I was found guilty without a chance to talk.”
But he refused to take the man to task and moved on with his career.
“The next thing I had anything to do with him was at his funeral,” Harris said.
However, the move to Redfern led him to head up investigations into one of the most gruesome mysteries of that era — the Mutilator case, which he remembers well.
Harris investigated crimes committed by murderer William McDonald, known as The Mutilator, who died at 90 this month.
William McDonald murdered his first victim, Amos Hurst, in Brisbane in 1961 before he terrorised the streets of Sydney, killing four more men he had plied with alcohol before butchering them and cutting off their genitals.
“Not many people know this but that first penis — the only one we recovered — had a tattoo on it,” he said. “It read: All for a night of love.”
Harris led the task force that investigated the murders but was on leave when McDonald was finally caught in Melbourne in 1963.
“My face hit the dashboard and I had hundreds of pieces of glass over my face and one in the pupil of my left eye.”
While Harris is often referred to as one of the country’s first serial killers, Harris said they just didn’t think like that back then.
“No, we never thought about a serial killer then,” he said. “It was just one of those things that happened.”
Harris didn’t have the chance to speak with McDonald in the years after his imprisonment and had been organising to finally interview him at Long Bay jail this year when he heard the news The Mutilator had died.
With a footballer’s build and the strength of a top athlete, Harris was sometimes called on for some tough tasks.
In 1944, Roy Kable, a 32-year-old married father, killed his wife, Irene, with an axe in front of their children and neighbours in Newtown.
This accident forced Bill Harris out of the police, leaving him needing facial surgery.
When the time came for Kable’s trial, prosecutors believed the killer would lose it when the bloodied axe was presented as evidence.
Harris was called in and told he would be handcuffed to the accused in the dock during the trial.
When the time came for the axe to be shown to the court, Harris — standing alongside Kable with their hands joined in cuffs — prepared for the worst.
But what actually happened left him gobsmacked.
“He turned around to me and said: ‘She was a bloody nagger, what else could I do?’ and that was it!” Harris recounts.
“I couldn’t say anything. I was staggered.”
After a distinguished career, Harrisretired from the police force after an accident in a police car left him seriously injured.
“I’ve had two facial reconstructions because when I was in the car, we hit a fence and a pole came through and hit my ear,” he said.
“My face hit the dashboard and I had hundreds of pieces of glass over my face and one in the pupil of my left eye.”
It was the end of one amazing chapter of his life but Harris has remained a big part of NSW Police since and meets regularly with detectives past and present.
He is particularly fond of current Commissioner Andrew Scipione, who calls him on each of his birthdays and visited him at home after a recent accident.
Harris will be honoured by fellow detectives in October when they come together and celebrate his 100th birthday just a few months early.
“It’s what I’m really looking forward to.” ( Sadly, those celebrations did not happen )
Harris stands next to a marijuana plant grown by the drug squad in an effort to better prosecute against its use.
Bill Harris looks back on memories at his Allawah home.
Spritely Old Bill Harris, NSW oldest detective, never misses a beat
Mark Morri Crime Editor
The Daily Telegraph
June 27, 201112:00AM
Sydney’s oldest retired detective 95 year old Bill Harris. Pic. Nic Gibson – 2011
AMONG the azaleas and roses at the Botanic Gardens grew one of the finest marijuana crops Sydney had ever seen – nurtured by the NSW drug squad with seeds supplied by the FBI.
It is just one of the amazing stories NSW’s oldest living detective – who joined the force in 1938 – has to share.
It was the 1940s and NSW police were incredibly naive about narcotics and drug use.
“We lost our first prosecution for possession of cannabis on a technicality,” retired detective Bill Harris, now 95, said. “The scientists said they needed to grow and test live samples so we wrote to the FBI. A couple of weeks later a package arrived with enough seeds to grow a large crop – which we planted in the Botanic Gardens. They grew pretty well too.”
Despite his age and being retired 40 years, he still inspires and mentors police.
An international acrobat and the oldest surviving NRL first-grade and second-oldest Waratahs rugby player, Bill’s first passion was the police.
He still attends functions as NSW drug squad patron.
“The force is probably as good as it has ever been since I can remember,” he said.
Every day at 8.30am, Bill can be found at City Tattersalls Club – where he has been a member for 50 years – recounting his time catching crooks, playing football or performing with wife Thel as acrobatic duo The Marvettes.
When he was appointed to the drug squad it brought the number in the squad to two.
“Drugs were not a big deal back then. They put me in the drug squad because I had worked in a chemist when I was 14,” he said, smiling.
“Me and Eric Baker. That was the entire drug squad.”
He also recounts how in the ’40s he spotted a car tearing up Pitt St: “We took off after him and finally caught him up around Central.
“He started going off at us, saying, ‘Don’t you know who I am!’. I didn’t and I dragged him down to Central booking and charged him with drive in a manner dangerous.
“That was the first charge ever laid against Lennie McPherson,” Bill adds with a touch of pride. At the time McPherson, unbeknownst to Bill, was the No.1 suspect in the robbery of a payroll at Cockatoo Island the day before. As with most of Bill’s stories there is a sequel.
One night performing his acrobatic show on stage at the Paris Theatre in George St, he peeked out to see the crowd.
“The entire front row was taken up with the commissioner, deputy and other senior police. In the back row was Lennie McPherson and all the crooks in town.” Bill will feature in a book being written by Patrick Lindsay for the NSW Police Force commemorating 150 years of the force. Police have asked anyone with photos or stories to contact www.flickr.com/photos/60610599@N04/
