Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

The tale of Russell 'The Fox' Cox and the prison that never was

By Bernie Matthews - posted Monday, 6 December 2004


All light inside Katingal was artificial. Air was pumped in through large air conditioning ducts. The ventilation principle relied upon the introduction of air through a small gap under the cell door or through the food hatch. Waste air was sucked out through ventilation shafts built into the toilet. It was a theoretically sound principle but it failed in reality because the stale air did not exit and remained in the cells causing constant headaches and nausea.

The confined space and lack of ventilation and increased body heat created condensation that soaked through the foam mattresses and formed pools of water underneath. It gave new meaning to the water bed concept.

Dubbed “The Blockhouse” or “The Electronic Zoo” life inside Katingal was comparable to living inside a submarine or an atomic bomb shelter: Night and day blended into one intensely isolating vacuum.

Advertisement

The faint rays of natural sunlight that did manage to trickle into Katingal squeezed through a canopy of steel bars that rested over the two elevated exercise yards at the end of each cell-block complex. The exercise yards nestled inside high concrete walls that obscured any views of the outside world. Exercise periods were initially permitted for one hour per day but were gradually extended as more “intractables” were transferred into the building.

“The Fox” was transferred into Katingal during 1976. A mass escape from Maitland Jail during 1977 resulted in a fresh intake of escapees that included Ray Denning, Dick Lynott, Steve Shipley, Roy “The Red Rat” Pollitt, Terry Humphries, Freddy Owens and William “Billy the Kid” Sutton.

A concerted effort was made to get a hacksaw blade into Katingal so the Maitland escapers could cut their way out of a van taking them to court. A hacksaw blade wrapped in carbon paper foiled the metal detectors and was smuggled into Katingal. A portion of the hacksaw blade was given to “the Fox” who used it to cut through one of the bars over the exercise yard.

On November 4, 1977 Cox asked the duty screw if he could retrieve his shoes from the exercise yard. In the exercise yard Cox jammed a paddle tennis bat into the crevice of the wall and shimmied up to the cut bar. He pulled it down and squeezed through the caged ceiling of the exercise yard and climbed down off the roof. He was spotted as he scaled the couple of 4.5 metre barbed wire topped perimeter fences that surrounded Katingal, but it was too late. “The Fox” had made the break: He had escaped from the escape-proof Katingal.

The underworld connections of an old boy network from inside Katingal enabled Cox to make his way to Melbourne following the escape. In July 1978 he left Australia and travelled to England where he worked as a seaman. In 1980 “The Fox” traveled to Germany and remained there until 1982 before returning to Australia. He settled in Victoria and began work as a builder’s labourer.

On July 14, 1988 ex-Katingal “trac” Raymond John Denning escaped from Goulburn Correctional Centre. Shortly after the escape Denning established contact with the old boy network from his Katingal days.

Advertisement

In 8 days Denning was able to accomplish what the combined efforts of the Queensland, Victorian and NSW Police Forces had failed to do in 10 years, 8 months and 19 days. On July 22, 1988 Denning established contact with Australia’s most wanted fugitive Russell “The Fox” Cox. The reunion was short-lived. Both men were recaptured after a shootout with Victorian Police at the Doncaster shopping centre. Also caught up in the swoop was Denning’s girlfriend, Ann Denton.

Six months after their recapture Denning rolled over and became a “supergrass” for the NSW Police department. He was rewarded with immunity from prosecution for all crimes he had committed. The deal also included an indemnity from the then Queensland Attorney-General, Dean Wells, for a bank robbery he had committed at Zillmere prior to linking up with Cox.

In return for the unlimited immunities and indemnities Denning decimated the secretive old boy network by revealing its existence to law enforcement agencies. The clandestine network spawned inside Katingal during 1975 was finally destroyed from within its own ranks. Denning was rewarded for his treachery and released from prison after serving 19 years. He died shortly afterwards from a heroin overdose.

Cox eventually faced trial at Sydney District Court for the 1977 Katingal escape. In a final twist of fate the trial judge directed the jury to acquit Cox because the Crown was unable to prove that he had been lawfully in custody at the time of the escape. Although Katingal Special Security Unit had been closed by the NSW Government seven months after his escape it had never been gazetted as a prison. There had never been any lawful warrant for the transfer of any prisoner into the building during its existence.

Katingal was the prison that never was. A prison that Russell “The Fox” Cox successfully escaped from 27 years ago.

As Cox prepares for his re-entry into a world he left nearly three decades ago the memories of places like Grafton, Katingal, Jika Jika and H Divison will slowly fade into obscurity for the man they call “The Fox”. He survived prison but now he must grapple with the complexities of a new world they call freedom.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

17 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Bernie Matthews is a convicted bank robber and prison escapee who has served time for armed robbery and prison escapes in NSW (1969-1980) and Queensland (1996-2000). He is now a journalist. He is the author of Intractable published by Pan Macmillan in November 2006.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Bernie Matthews
Photo of Bernie Matthews
Article Tools
Comment 17 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy