The harsh lessons of Christmas in B Block, Sir David Longlands

“Got emptied up to Woodford last year,” He said. “I got self-bail on the receiving blues in April ... they date back to ‘95 ... and got paroled in May.”

Merv had been on parole for seven months and had reported to Police three times each week as part of his bail requirements. During that time he had registered for a bone-marrow transplant at The Brisbane Mater Hospital.

“I fronted Brisbane Magistrates Court but "the beak" (a magistrate) took my bail.” Merv complained. “Said he had reasonable doubts about whether I would appear on the receiving charges. Five fail-to-appears and an escape in ‘79 put the lid on it.”

“For Chrissake mate, I couldn’t piss off if I wanted to.” He chuckled. “I’d chuck a wobbly. Look at me ... Steady Eddy could run a mile before I’d walk a yard.”

I had to agree. Merv’s chances of pulling a Skase were not realistic by any stretch of the imagination. The leukaemia was evidence of that. Nevertheless, courts and prisons are unemotional precincts that base their assessments on past history - and Merv’s history was not exemplary in regard to court appearances and the odd escape or two, even if it was 20 years ago.

“They sent me back to the Remand Centre and a bloke on Sentence Classification over there told me I was High Security. One hundred and thirty point high. I nearly wet meself laughing.” Merv chuckled uncontrollably. “One hundred and thirty points! Fair dinkum mate, they tried to say I was Darcy Dugan, Russel Cox and Brendan Abbott rolled into one ‘cos I ran away in ‘79.”

Merv’s uncontrollable bout of laughter depleted the remaining oxygen supply in his battered lungs as he wheezed for another breath.

“This system ... this system is stuffed ...” Merv gasped between breaths, “The system is ratshit mate ... I’m telling ya it’s stuffed these days.”

Nobody knows why they dumped Merv in B Block. A place where fresh air and sunlight had become a privilege since the Melbourne Cup Day escape of ‘97.

Merv wasn’t there then but he had seen it all going down on TV. The news flashes. The drama. And the political grandstanding. Then slowly ... one by one ... The recaptures. The stringent security with extra cladding over cell windows and the exercise yards in B Block had become a legacy of the escape.

B Block had become the dumping ground for men that other Queensland prisons did not want and I wondered what Merv had done to achieve the dubious honour of being on B Block’s nominal roll.

“Over at Remand they said I would have to do some educational courses to get me points down,” Merv explained after his breathing returned to normal.