JOHN R.
KILLICK
ABOUT JOHN
Although John Killick is now an author, he was once a notorious bank robber and multiple prison escapee who often found himself on or near the top of Australia's Most Wanted.
By doing multiple writing courses in prison, John learnt the craft of writing, eventually gaining a scholarship.
He is the author of six books and has published numerous articles and stories, often spoken on radio and television, as well as lectured at universities.
John has met most of Australia's notorious criminals of the past 65 years and was in Pentridge Prison at the time of the controversial hanging of Ronald Ryan in 1967 - Australia's last legal execution.
When it comes to Australian true crime, John is as qualified as any to tell it the way it really was .
When not writing, he now spends his time helping those less fortunate than himself.
John Killick spent over 30 years in some of the hardest gaols in Australia, mostly for bank robberies and escaping.
While in Pentridge, he spent 4 years in the notorious H Division (1968 -1972). John was there with Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged in Australia.
In 1894, while in Boggo Road Gaol, Queensland, John’s girlfriend slipped him a toy pistol and he held up the armed guards and escaped from the hospital. In 1999, another girlfriend hijacked a helicopter and rescued him from Sydney’s Silverwater Prison.
This is his life story, warts and all. At times violent and confronting but now redemptive. It is a no holds barred account of the way it was and how the system has changed. As he has. John makes no excuses for his past.
Now at 81, John Killick has been free for 9 years and has written 6 books.
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The tragic passing of Russell Manser in March 2024 emphasised the importance of his decision in 2021 to publish a book about his life.
Written by his good friend, John Killick, the book was launched in Sydney in April 2022.
In the ensuing 23 months he went on to do much more such as establishing his own podcast, The Stick Up , as well as gaining a huge following on TikTok.
But his book pulled no punches in describing in graphic detail the horrors he endured.
The institutional sexual abuse he suffered at Daruk Boy’s Home and Long Bay Correctional Centre nearly destroyed him.
He turned to drugs to help him forget about the atrocities he had suffered. He became a bank robber and gaol escapee, consequently spending a total of 23 years in some of Australia’s toughest prisons with very little hope for the future.
At his lowest ebb he gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which proved to be an unexpected turning point and set him on the road to redemption .
On release he formed the company The Voice of a Survivor which encouraged others to come forward. The company, now Warriors Advocacy, has helped thousands of other victims of sexual institutional abuse to make claims and gain compensation and importantly an apology from the Government .
Russell’s story goes behind the curtain of crime, revealing what it takes to achieve a Lazarus-like comeback against overwhelming odds.
He was a million to one shot - and won.
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Ron Isherwood was a career criminal before his teens.
He knew this made his father proud. By the time Ron was 17, he was in the notorious Victorian prison, Pentridge, charged with four attempted murders.His father was critical that he hadn’t killed his victims. As an elected member of the feared Painters and Dockers Union, Ron’s father was a tough and violent man. Their home was a drop in centre for some of Victoria’s most notorious criminals.
Ron became a drug dealer, a jewel thief and international criminal. And worst of all, a junkie. As a result he has spent nearly two decades in some of Australia’s hardest prisons.
Ron now helps others to avoid living what he terms: A Lie of Crime.
In 1966 John Killick was on the run, wanted for numerous bank robberies. Arrested in Melbourne he spent over six years in Pentridge Prison, most of them in the notorious H Division.
John details the brutality of H Division, the riots there and the trauma of being in prison when Ronald Ryan was hanged.
Some of the prisoners he met while in Pentridge are William John O’Meally, Peter Walker, Stanley Brian Taylor, James “Jockey” Smith, James Bazley - and many others.
GAMBLING FOR LOVE
Australia's First Decimal Currency Bank Robber
John Killick's autobiography of childhood suffering, petty crime and gambling led to bank robberies, unrequited love, prison brutality and prison escapes. This is a love story by a bank robber.
John's description of the horrors of his four years inside the notorious H Division in Pentridge Prison will shock those who were unaware of it.
THE LAST ESCAPE
The man behind the most daring jailbreak in Australian history
John Killick fed his gambling addiction by robbing banks, but this career criminal entered a new phase when he met Russian immigrant Lucy Dudko. In one of the most audacious prison breaks in Australian history, Killick was broken out of Silverwater prison after Dudko commandeered a scenic helicopter flight at gunpoint. This is a story of self-discovery, of a wasted life of years in prison, and one which he hopes will stop other young offenders from making similar mistakes.
ON THE INSIDE
My life inside Australia's most notorious prisons
On the Inside is John's story about being in some of Australia's most infamous prisons: Silverwater, Bathurst, Goulburn; the conditions inside and the people he met there. The Backpacker Murderer Ivan Milat, Graeme Thorne Kidnapper Steven Bradley, Arthur "Neddy' Smith; the last man hanged in Australia, Ronald Ryan, but also many unknown stories. This is John Killick at his best: raw, confronting and redemptive. In prison, John was able to participate in courses that helped him manage his gambling addiction and put him on the right road for successful rehabilitation.
Return to Pentridge 1972-2022
In September 1972, John Killick, 30, serving 8 years for bank robbery and attempted escape, gave evidence at the Jenkinson Enquiry into Allegations of Brutality at Pentridge. The authorities had been forced to hold the Enquiry after numerous riots in Pentridge including including the notorious H Division - renowned for its brutality. Killick had spent 4 years in H Division and The Age newspaper picked up on a statement he made: “There is no place like H Division to illustrate man’s inhumanity to man.” A week later Killick was released and returned to Sydney. Now, almost 50 years to the day, he has returned to visit Pentridge and in particular H Division which will soon be open to the public. “My cell was number six,” he said. “For years Peter Walker was in number seven. Peter was also a bank robber who escaped with Ronald Ryan. During the escape a prison officer was shot and killed. Ryan was sentenced to death, Peter received a total of 36 years and served 19. Sadly he recently passed away.” Killick was in B Division the day Ryan was hanged. “The place was like a powder keg,” he said. “The guards walked around in threes - the slightest incident would have sparked a full on riot. Most of us believed Ryan wasn’t guilty of shooting the officer, Hodson.” It was the last execution in Australia. “The stars aligned for me to be able to finish parole and come to Melbourne this month,” Killick said. “Almost fifty years to the day when I was released from Pentridge.”
I consider The Voice of a Survivor one of the most important books I've read - Russell Manser's honesty and courage will remain with you forever.
Ray Mooney
Gambling for Love - The best account of how a bank robber is made since I, Willie Suttton and a very different account.
