Craig Minogue
Craig W. J. Minogue is an
Australian prisoner, convicted for the
1986 bombing of the
Russell Street Police Headquarters in
Russell Street, Melbourne,
Victoria, Australia on
March 27,
1986. In
1988, Minogue was sentenced to
life imprisonment, with a
non-parole period of 30 years. Minogue is currently serving his sentence at
HM Prison Barwon, near
Geelong, about one hours drive from Melbourne.
The Russell Street Bombing, for which Minogue was initially imprisoned, occurred at 1pm on March 27, 1986. The blast killed 21 year old Constable Angela Taylor, the first Australian policewoman to be slain in the line of duty, left 22 people injured and caused massive amounts of damage to the
Russell Street Police Headquarters and surrounding buildings, with damage estimated at over a million dollars.
In 1992 Minogue established the first ever law library in Pentridge's J Division. This was a 'first' for an Australian prison.
Minogue has initiated many legal challenges against the Victorian government, mostly concerning his treatment whilst imprisoned. In 2002 Minogue applied unsuccessfully to the
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) seeking copies of prison management and operation manuals . His request was refused however he was granted access to limited information and restricted to viewing such information whilst within the prison library.
Minogue's willingness to institute legal proceedings against prison authorities has not endeared him to them. In 2003 Minogue took action in the Victorian Supreme Court against Group4, the UK based company who operates Port Phillip Prison. The action was in relation to the prison's confiscation of his computer and much of his legal and academic materials. Group4 settled the action by returning Minogues belongings. Shortly after this Minogue was moved to the state run maximum security Barwon prison where, as of December 2005, he remains.
In 2005 Minogue, who entered the prison system illiterate, completed his
Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honours from
Deakin University. In the same year he was accepted as a
PhD. student at
La Trobe University, the first prisoner in Australia and one of the few in the world to do so.
Minogue requests a single bed cell whilst imprisoned, as is normal for Victorian prisoners, and shares his cell with a vast amount of legal texts ,hardcover law resource books, academic materials, PC and printer. He has helped many prisoners with legal matters and has authored a series of self help pamphlets explaining in simple terms the workings of the Victorian criminal justice system. These pamphlets are also used in community education programs run by Victorian community legal centers and the "Court Readiness Program" run by Monash University.
On
October 29,
1987, Minogue, along with other prisoners detained in the high security Jika Jika unit of
Pentridge Prison, were dissatisfied with inhumane conditions in the unit. They began to seal off doors to their cells using a tennis net and bedding. Windows were covered with paper so the
prison officers were unable to identify prisoners causing damage.
The prisoners emptied water from the S bend of the toilets in their cells. They had planned to use a wet blanket to cover their heads whilst they attempted to breath the small amount of air in the
sewage plumbing system whilst a fire was lit. Smoke rapidly filled the unit. Jika Jika was completely free of any fresh air whatsoever as it was a
climate controlled division. In spite of the men's attempts to avoid the thick,
toxic black smoke by breathing through the plumbing, prisoners Robert Wright,
Jimmy Loughnan, Arthur Gallagher, David McGauley and Ricky Morris died in the fire. Minogue and three other prisoners survived. All four spent days on
ventilators recovering in the prison hospital.
Attorney General and
Minister for Corrections Jim Kennan immediately ordered the closure of the Jika Jika maximum security section of
Pentridge Prison thereafter saying:
"The level of deaths in Jika Jika has become unacceptable".None of the survivng prisoners were charged with any offences. In the ensuing
coronial inquest into the deaths in the fire Minogue gave evidence over three days. At the completion of the inquest the State Coroner found
Corrections Victoria was, in his words,
"moribund and corrupt". A forthcoming book by
Monash University academic and historian Dr. Bree Carlton examines the prisoner resistance which lead to the Jika Jika fire.
Minogue received a second murder conviction in 1988 for the murder of fellow prison inmate
Alex Tsakmakis. This sentence is to run almost totally concurrent with the bombing sentence. Minogue will serve an additional three months for Tsakmakis's death. The sentencing judge, Justice
George Hampel, stated at the time words to the effect that Tsakmakis's life was not worth any more than that. This murder occurred in the notorious H division of Pentridge, which later figured in
Chopper Read's books and biographical film.
Tsakmakis had previously murdered a fellow prisoner by dousing him in an adhesive and then setting him on fire. He stood in the doorway of the room in which his victim,
Barry Quinn, was on fire and refused to allow guards to enter. As they approached he threatened them with a guitar held in his hands, when they withdrew he began to play the guitar and sing
"Come on baby light my fire" as Quinn burnt to death.
Tsakmakis was a prime suspect in the execution style murder of two men and a young woman during a jewellery store robbery in the
Melbourne CBD. He was found beaten to death with gym weights that had been placed in a pillow case as an improvised weight training device by other prisoners. Minogue has since stated it was simply a matter of
self defence in that if he hadn't killed Tsakmakis then Tsakmakis would have killed him.
*
Stan Taylor, a former actor, was also convicted over the
Russell Street Bombing and is serving life imprisonment without parole.
*
List of Australian criminals*
Prisoner's Rights Brochure (pdf) *
United Nations Human Rights Committee, (CCPR/C/82/D/954/2000) 2004 UNHRC 52 (11 November 2004)*
Russell St bomber seeks transfer for PhD*
PhD prisoner won't leave maximum security*
Pentridge prison memorial*
Article by Craig Minogue (pdf) 
