Sydney (drugs & social ) crime update

Just a few weeks after his portrait was chosen winner of the Archibald Portrait Prize high profile barrister Charles Waterstreet (below left) has had to withdraw from the drugs and murder trial involving former policemen Roger Rogerson (below right) and Glen McNamara who are accused of murdering Jamie Gao. The trial will now take place early in 2016. He withdrew apparently after a series of social media posts appeared under his name but whether they were actually by him is still a mystery.

Waterstreet makes regular appearances on the Sydney social circuit, has written several books and in his spare time is a film producer and script writer.
He produced the 1986 film Howling 3 and is the inspiration behind the successful ABC series Rake which has also been picked up by US television. Waterstreet is also a columnist for the Sun Herald newspaper and a Facebook pal of Whispers, known for his often witty posts.
Sadly, he has gone a bit silent over the past fortnight.

Meanwhile former blogger Lisa Stickbridge  has been jailed for 2 and half years after being busted in a drugs sting. Whispers often spotted Stockbridge at Sydney parties and was always slightly puzzled about how her blog supposedly profited. We better than anyone know how difficult is to make any website even pay for itself and view it as a...public service?.
The schadenfreude shown by some social writers over Stockbridge's jailing has been a bit over the top though. Not mentioned of course is just who are the high profile customers who indulge in cocaine and the sort of drugs that were supplied by Stockbridge which she dealt out of a luxury Range Rover. Do we know? If so we aren't saying.

But the strangest report must be from the world's worst best tabloid the Mail Online and their claim that a Coogee model Kirsty Dayment was a "socialite". Shurley Shome Mistake as the UK satirical magazine Private Eye would say. Other newspapers echoed that the claim the model was a "fixture" on the social circuit. Not in the ones we mix in. But maybe her alleged customers are.

Pick & Stick with Alan

It's a very Sydney story. A tale of drugs and murder. Four years ago the Shuttle attended  the launch of ex-copper Roger 'Dodger' Rogerson's autobiography at the former gangster hangout, the Iron Duke pub in Waterloo.

Glen McNamara            Tim Priest          Alan Jones            above Rogerson & Jones at Roger's book launch                                                                

Roxburgh as Rogerson

Rogerson's book was launched by radio host Alan Jones. Rogerson is famous for being kicked out of the NSW Police and was portrayed in the TV  film Blue Murder with Richard Roxburgh playing the Dodger.
Above in our photo set is Alan Jones with another former detective Tim Priest at his book launch and in the photo is another former cop Glen McNamara.
Police are now alleging that McNamara and Rogerson entered a storage facility on Saturday evening with 20 year old Jamie Gao. Minutes later, say police, the two ex-cops walked out carrying Gao's body. A body matching his description was found floating off Cronulla beach this morning wrapped in a blue tarpaulin. McNamara has been arrested and charged and police say Rogerson is on the run in Queensland.
Multi millionaire radio network owner Alan Jones is famed for his "pick and stick "claim when it comes to friends. McNamara & Rogerson look like needing all the friends they can get.
#Memorable Jones' quote at Roberson's book launch :" the NSW Police needed 100s of Rogersons."

Will the Duchess of York's Oz sister survive the scandal?

Footballer Mark Bosnich & Jane Ferguson

Much muttering amongst PR ranks this week whether the  public relations business of  Sarah, The Duchess of York's Sydney based sister Jane Ferguson will suffer over  the battering of her sister's merry quip that half a million  pounds will do nicely thanks, her tears of joy at the sight of $40,000 in cash and her sensible request for a spare fifty quid for the driver of her loaned Bentley.

Jane has a thriving Australian PR business looking after all manner of prestige clients from Peugeot cars to the famed English fabric designers Osborne & Little. She was also the go-between for the glossy Australian Woman's Day magazine that scored exclusive pics of Sarah's 50th birthday celebrations at the Lanesborough Hotel in London where HRH Prince Andrew obligingly posed for snaps with Sarah and their children. At a fee of $50,000 it was a steal with the pics on-sold world-wide for 6 times as much ( does Sarah just need a better agent ?).

Jane also co-hosted, along with Britain's favourite ex-Royal butler Paul Burrell the TV reality program Australian Princess , said to be inspired by the "fairy tale" romance during the 2000 Sydney Olympics of HRH Prince Frederick of Denmark and Tasmania's Mary Donaldson who was swept of her feet in a Sydney pub as Frederick purchased a round of drinks for the crowd with his platinum Amex card. In a few decades, our Mary will become the Queen of Denmark which is far more exciting than the job she had when we first met her -in a Kings Cross real estate agency flogging expensive over-priced apartments.

One of the guest judges on Australian Princess was  the  daughter-in-law  of an ex- Archbishop of Canterbury, Diana Fisher who started life as a BBC commentator before moving to Oz in 1964 with her husband Sir Humphrey Fisher. Diana  described her experience on Australian Princess as  the low point in a media career which has spanned 60 years that included covering the state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. But she said it had to happen sometime.

In the introduction to Australian Princess ( which we are sure included at some stage London PR Liz Brewer and that darling of the aristocracy Lady Colin Campbell), Jane helpfully informed us that she had been "brought up around royalty !". Which is no lie, what with her dad, the late Major Ronnie Ferguson being the head of the stables at Windsor Castle . Whether she actually ever got into the big house is a mystery.

Before you scoff, we should point out that some historians  claim both Princess Diana and The Duchess of York (and Jane Ferguson) are distant, be it ever so remote, descendents of Georgina Cavendish, the Duchess of Devonshire and may well have far more aristocratic blood in their veins than the present occupants of Buck House who so cruelly threw them both out to the wolves.

We digress. Jane wasn't taking calls from the media last week as the ghastly News of The World sting video was broadcast worldwide . There had already been some sort of mix-up when her gorgeous daughter Ayshea  a cousin to Prince's William and Harry had inadvertently spoken out of turn, innocently to a media person, of her recent visits to the rellies in London and, as it is with that family, was banished for a certain cooling period (which could be decades) before being invited back to a family barbeque  at Windsor Castle.

It's claimed today in a Sunday tabloid  that  Jane Ferguson had been "disinvited" from a black-tie charity event last week that she had helped organise.
Absolute tosh. Jane had purposely stayed away knowing that the event  would be crawling with reptiles (like us) and had no wish to draw attention away from the very special cause. Sadly, it actually meant the charity was completely ignored. No Jane, no press.

Instead, she and 2009 Masterchef finalist Lucas Parsons were giving cooking lessons to a select few at the luxurious Point Piper home of American born designer Charlie Brown and her husband, the ex-Israeli paratrooper Danny Avidan.    

Will her clientele list suffer? Good grief no.
Each Sunday millions of viewers are devouring  the TV series Underbelly which is based upon the sordid underworld characters of Kings Cross (many still alive and operating) with one of the main stars often featured on these pages, the handsome John Ibrahim, nightclub owner and security consultant-although the police describe him as a "serious crime figure" -almost achieving hero status and who is on every guest list in town.

 At the same time Rupert Murdoch's beloved Daily Telegraph has hired our favourite ex-detective Roger Rogerson who admitted shooting a few people dead (all in the line of duty) and who was run out of the police force for corruption and jailed, as an expert commentator on the series and the interested can blog with him on Monday mornings where Roger will set you straight on who was a bigger crook than who.

Jane Ferguson, always charming, can look forward to a fabulous year with new clients battering down her door when the clamour dies down !

                      *******************

In the next few days-a full report on the party to launch the autobiography of our favourite dominitrix Madame Lash which is being held at The Kirk, the former Presbyterian Church she purchased many years ago and where all manner of spooky events take place.

Gretel, as she is know to her friends  who was once featured on the TV show Eurotrash, also owns the rather splendid Florida House at Palm Beach where snootier residents have complained to the local council over 'renovations' she has in plan. They have no idea who they are dealing with !

do not judge...

"Exercise judgement no matter what harm it will do..." was broadcaster Alan Jones perplexing opening statement as he launched ex-cop Roger "Dodger" Rogerson's autobiography at the former gangster drinking hole, the Iron Duke pub.

Exercising judgement hasn't really been a Jones trait over the years. Like the infamous
"cash for comments scandal" when it was discovered he was receiving millions of dollars in secret payments to weave product mentions into his daily broadcast show.

And when a batch of correspondence was released between he and fragrant monarchist David Flint (left), who as head of the government broadcasting authority ABA was investigating the brouhaha. They sounded for all the world like love letters and led to Flint's resignation.

He avoided judgement when charges were dropped after his arrest for impropriety in a Piccadilly Circus toilet in London, with the aid of a friend, the novelist Jeffrey Archer

He did exercise judgement of a type when as a tutor at the very expensive private boarding school Kings. Former pupils recalled in the Chris Master's biography 'Jonestown' , of Alan's fierce temper as he would fling solid wood blackboard dusters at a young lads head with a deadly accurate aim. Other say they were so terrified of attending his classes that they would wet themselves in fear.

But good judgement appeared to be lacking when at the King's year's end school concert , the then slim Jones burst on to stage in purple bell-bottoms and belted out "If I ruled the World" ( from the West End musical Pickwick Papers ) in falsetto to a startled audience, stunned into silence when they realised he was for real.

With better judgement he might give up those troubling matching ties and handkerchiefs or those pink shirts and pullovers that accentuate his pink complexion.

As for the Dodger- he just looked unsteady on his legs. A much smaller man than expected for someone who shot 3 men dead and was renowned as a 'gang buster" (while apparently working with them at the same time) was implicated but cleared in the attempted assassination of honest cop Michael Drury who refused to take bribes.

Most of those in attendance at the book launch, assorted lawyers and former cops and some very hard looking men had kind words for Rogerson. Just don't mention his name to anyone currently serving in the police force.

As he downed another beer Roger said "most people think I'm the most evil man in town". He wobbled slightly, gripped the bar and looked rather frail.

Sydney reverts to type...

broadcaster Alan Jones 


 As Australia, (and Sydney in particular ) is declared the 2nd most desirable place in the world to live according to a UN study, the Emerald City has always had an underbelly that rivals Chicago in the heyday of Al Capone.

Beginning from it's early days as a convict settlement and the infamous Rum Corp Rebellion in 1808 when a military junta overthrew the oppressive Governor Bligh (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame), most Australians seem to have an inbuilt mis-trust of authority. In what other country would a criminal bush-ranger like Ned Kelly be a national hero or the national song ,Waltzing Matilda-a tale of an sheep stealing itinerant, be so celebrated ?.

News reaches us that the auto-biography of corrupt ex-cop Roger Rogerson is to be launched by the country's top radio host Alan Jones. Can it be true ?. We'll know by next Wednesday when the tome is released.

Cast one's mind back to the late 90's when a Royal Commission found police corruption so entrenched in NSW that a complete outsider was commissioned to clean-up the state police. Commander Peter Ryan was imported from Britain. Ryan was boss at the Hendon Police College in the UK and was the sort of copper one wishes to see walk the streets.

Honest, intelligent and with complete integrity in the process of law. Ryan succeeded and NSW is far the better because of his efforts with a young, energized, intelligent and largely efficient police force.

But Ryan was driven from office by fierce media critics by 2002. He now heads security for the IOC. You can be sure you will always be safe at the Olympic Games with Peter Ryan at the helm.

One of Peter Ryan's fiercest critics was broadcaster Alan Jones. Ryan's wife Adrienne went public with the puzzled question..just why was Jones such a fierce critic ?. She never got an answer.

The Shuttle met and formed a brief friendship with Adrienne. We all had something in common. Peter Ryan and his future wife Adrienne had met as young Met officers when they were called to the horrendous Harrods IRA bombing in 1983. We all reminisced over the incident at the Police Museum at the launch of a book by best-selling author Tara Moss.

The Shuttle was walking across Hyde Park at the time to meet a journalist friend who was killed in the bombing. His body blasted from the street to the roof of Harrods.

One of the guests supposedly lined up for the Rogerson book launch is the ex-criminal-now 'media personality' Mark 'Chopper 'Reid who has claimed to have been involved in around 17 murders , amongst other crimes, and whose life was featured in the film Chopper which launched actor Eric Bana into international stardom.

Chopper Reid and Roger Rogerson have toured a stage show and Reid has become a successful author.

But again, cast your minds back to the 1990's Mid-Day TV show fronted by the perennial Kerri-Anne Kennerley, still the current reigning chat-show host. Chopper Reid was a guest along with Alan Jones who castigated the promotion of guests like Reid. Chopper  retorted "well at least I've never been arrested in a toilet "!.

It was a reference to Jones' arrest in a gentlemen's convenience in 1988 in London's Piccadilly Circus when Jones was initially charged with two counts of outraging public decency over a  misunderstanding between he and a policeman. Jones, staying at the nearby Ritz Hotel said an urgent 'call of nature' had led him to the toilet. Friends like the then respectable Lord Jeffrey Archer rallied around and the charges were dropped. It was all a terrible misunderstanding.

Readers may recall the best selling biography about Jones-'Jonestown' by the award winning journalist Chris Masters , claimed Alan had shielded his homosexuality throughout his career and pondered on the amazing skill of Jones to wield such extraordinary power for decades where politicians and others would be crucified if they refused to appear on his radio show. Although the book damaged Jones' reputation for awhile, and Jones has recently recovered from unfortunate bouts of cancer, he still rules the airwaves as the premier broadcaster. and part-owner of the 2GB network.

Will some of Jones' fiercest critics, the openly gay writer David Marr and recent addition to the Sydney Morning Herald, journalist Mike Carlton  turn up to the Rogerson launch ?. We shall see.

Now the Shuttle has uncovered another brewing scandal that seems to be overwhelming the NSW police as they struggle with organized crime which has reached epidemic proportions in the state.

As politicians bring in unworkable laws in an attempt to nip in the bud the thugish groups generally referred to as 'bikie gangs' which in reality are highly organized Mafia style associations that reap millions of dollars a year in criminal enterprises, yet fail to empower police with necessary funds for crime prevention, the Shuttle has uncovered at least 2 illegal operations underway in inner city suburbs where social clubs-a bridge club and another, have been infiltrated by gangsters intent upon driving out innocent club members by all means fair and foul in order to set up seemingly innocuous meeting grounds for gang members ahead of laws that will outlaw gang headquarters.

 Talk about the Bada Bing and the Sopranos !

Shute the messenger

A date for the diary-14th October at the Iron Duke Hotel in Alexandria where ex-detective,some say "disgraced"-Roger Rogerson will launch his autobiography The Dark Side.

For those who have led a sheltered life the Iron Duke is the former favoured drinking den and gathering spot of hard men who robbed banks, hit men who would knock off a rival for a few grand and the odd policemen who were there "seeking out informants" as they put it. (that's cop speak for picking up brown paper bags ).

Look it up in your street directory-it's not too far from the Chippendale lane where Rogerson shot dead drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi.
Rogerson isn't too keen on the media. He reckons they exagerate to the point where "all the public knows about me, I think, was that I was a corrupt cop, shot three men and was a drinking mate of Neddy Smith,''.

As seen in the dramatized ABC series of his life Blue Murder (which couldn't be screened in NSW because of legal technicalities) Rogerson, errr..shot 3 men, was convicted of corruption and was a drinking buddy of Neddy "Stan The Man" Smith. Smith is currently serving a few life terms for murdering a hapless motorist in a rage road incident and the murder of Lanfranchi's girlfriend Sally Ann Huckstep whose lifeless body was found floating in a lake in Centennial Park. Rogerson spent 5 years in jail in a special wing reserved for bent cops.

Rogerson wasn't too happy either with actor Richard Roxburgh's ( with 2 films soon to be released -Ice and Matching Jack) portrayal of him in Blue Murder. "He made out I was a chain-smoking cold blooded killer" complains Roger, "I'm warm hearted and I don't smoke much".                                     Roxburgh in Blue Murder
                                                  

We'll be there with bells on. 
Oh, and Shute the Messenger ?. That's the name of Rogerson's PR company. Most amusing .