Son’s plea for a normal life with Brenden Abbott AKA the ‘postcard bandit’

THE son of the notorious “Postcard Bandit” has opened up about his father for the first time amid fears of never getting to know his dad outside of jail.

James Laycock, 25

THE son of the notorious “Postcard Bandit” has opened up about his father for the first time amid fears of never getting to know his dad outside of jail.

James Laycock, the son of bank robber and prison escapee Brenden Abbott, was born when Abbott was on the run from authorities for five-and-a-half years after breaking out of Fremantle jail in Western Australia in 1989.

As his father faces extradition back to WA to serve a further 16 years behind bars, the 25-year-old, who has only met his father face-to-face five times, has appealed for his release and said he wanted a proper relationship with him.

“I’d like to see him out of jail,” Mr Laycock, now 25, told The Courier-Mail.

“My whole life I’ve only known him behind bars.

“Before he passes away I’d like to spend some quality time with him,” he said, adding he hadn’t seen his dad for about two years.

Mr Laycock said his father regularly spoke about his regrets and would never try another jail break.

Abbott, 53, has spent the last 18 years behind bars in Queensland, where he has been classed as high-risk after breaking out of Queensland’s Sir David Longland Correctional Centre in 1997 before his recapture about six months later.

Mr Laycock, who lives in Sydney and works as a butcher, said he had never spent unmonitored time with his father.

Talking over the phone to his father a few times a week, Mr Laycock said he knew he had visited his dad in jail when he was a child but only remembered meeting him face-to-face a handful of times since becoming an adult.

Brenden James Abbott arrives at Woodford Correctional Centre in 1998. Picture: Anthony Weate

James Laycock: “Before he passes away I’d like to spend some quality time with him.”

His mother Louise was seeing Abbott while he was on the run after escaping from the WA jail in 1989. Mr Laycock was born in January 1991 and Abbott was arrested again in 1995 and jailed in Queensland.

Growing up as the son of the “Postcard Bandit”, he told The Courier-Mail of the challenges he faced with people knowing his dad was a controversial criminal.

“When I was younger it was a bit hard at some schools, some people’s parents wouldn’t let them speak to me, but people got over it,” he said.

Mr Laycock was dismissive of people who had in the past been impressed about his father’s exploits.

“I get a lot of people saying ‘oh your dad’s a legend’ but it’s not something to be proud of,” he said. “He’s well known for something that he has done wrong. He regrets it. He tells me all the time, ‘it was a silly thing to do’.”

Postcard never sent: Frustrated police came up with the moniker “Postcard Bandit” when they found this picture (and others) of Brenden Abbott and a tourist at Uluru when they raided a house he had lived at.

Mr Laycock said his dad would stop attempts from people trying to break him out of jail again.

“Dad wouldn’t let it happen anyway,” he said.

“If he gets out he wants to be out legally. He’s at the age now, he’s not going to go back to his old ways.”

Abbott’s lawyers will tomorrow try to stop his extradition to Western Australia through an application in the Supreme Court. A magistrate ordered his extradition earlier this week over Abbott’s Fremantle jail escape.

He received parole in Queensland before the court hearing.

“I didn’t get too excited about his release date because I didn’t want to be disappointed if something like this did happen,” Mr Laycock said.

“If they do say he’s going to be released, I’ll be waiting out of the front of the place for him to come out. I’ll make sure I’m there.”

How The Courier-Mail reported Abbott’s bid for freedom.

While he knew his dad had to pay for his crimes, Mr Laycock said he was hopeful of one day sharing his own life events with his father.

“I’m getting older now. I’m going to have kids soon. It would be good to have him around,” he said. “I’d like to take him shopping. I’d like to show him how different things are.

“I’d like to help him get started. Get his licence and get a car for him. I’m happy to help him do all that. But I just need him to be out.”

Mr Laycock also revealed Abbott had started speaking again to his mother, who recently had hip replacement operations and a mild heart attack.

But Mr Laycock said it had been difficult to get to know his father because of time constraints.

“We did have a lot in common at one stage when I was younger, when I was into computers. We used to discuss stuff with IT,” he said. “He built a computer, he did that as a hobby when he was inside. He got me a subscription to the PC User magazine for 12 months, which really helped me a lot.

“He has tried to have those bonds and help me do things while he is in there. But there is only so much he can do.”

Mr Laycock said he hadn’t been able to have a private conversation with his dad because people were “always listening or watching”.

“Phone calls are restricted to 10 minutes every time,” Mr Laycock said. “I get cut off in the middle of the ­conversation.

“I’ve never had anything where I haven’t had a time limit with him. As far as him being in jail for so long, there is a time limit on his life now.”