New book reveals identity of man who really cut off ‘Chopper’ Read’s ears in prison

A book on ‘Australia’s most infamous jail’ has revealed the true identity of the man who cut off Mark ‘Chopper’ Read’s ears.

The true identity of the man who cut off Mark “Chopper” Read’s ears can finally be revealed.

Former H Division guards and prisoners at Pentridge Prison – considered one of the toughest jails in Australia – have disclosed it was in fact Read’s rival James ‘Jimmy’ Loughnan who hacked at his lobes and not the man Read had previously named.

“It was Jimmy Loughnan who cut off his ears,” Pentridge Superintendent Mick Ryan tells author James Phelps in his soon-to-be-released book Australia’s Most Infamous Jail – Inside the Walls of Pentridge Prison,

“I know what he said and what others have said, but it was Jimmy,” Ryan said.

“People also say that it was a razor blade. Well, that is untrue too. Jimmy used the edge of a metal jam tin to do the job.

“I remember saying to him [Chopper] that it must have been painful. He said: ‘Yes,

Mr Ryan, and it made a terrible f**king noise’.”

James “Jimmy” Loughnan. Picture: Supplied

Australia's Most Infamous Jail by James Phelps.

Loughnan, according to previous accounts, was out to kill Read at the time of the ear-cutting incident, which would turn the little-known street thug into a household name who would go on to rival Ned Kelly as Australia’s most notorious outlaw.

In his book, Phelps challenges Read’s claim that Kevin James Taylor cut off his ears by presenting a series of never-before-told accounts, including a version from Victoria’s worst serial killer, Paul Stephen Haigh.

Watch James Phelps discuss his new book below.

Until now, Taylor, a Painter and Docker who was serving a sentence in Pentridge for murdering former state secretary of the union Patrick Shannon, was believed to be the man that lopped off Chopper’s ears following an account given by Read in his best-selling book Chopper – From the Inside.

A former H Division guard, who was on duty on the day of the incident, said Read had named Kevin Taylor in a bid to have him charged.

“It wasn’t Kevin Taylor,” the former guard said. “Taylor was Chopper’s enemy. I don’t care what he wrote in his book, it was Jimmy who cut his ears off. Taylor would have chopped off more than his ears. Taylor hated him.”

Mark “Chopper” Read went on to rival Ned Kelly as Australia’s most notorious outlaw.

A former H Division billet supports the claim that Loughnan sliced off Read’s ears.

“Yeah, it was Jimmy,” Glenn Broome tells Phelps. “Jimmy Loughnan. 100 per cent”.

The revelation might come as a shock to anyone who has seen the hit movie Chopper, given the version of events in the film.

In the blockbuster hit, which never professed to be a true and correct account, Read got another inmate to cut off his ears in a bid to get out of H Division after Loughnan tried to kill him.

“They did have a falling out, but that came later,” Broome said.

“And even then, they were still mates. It was a love-hate relationship with them. They were blueing all the time”.

Mark “Chopper” Read in 1979 with sunglasses resting on his mutilated ear. Picture: Craig Borrow

Another former Pentridge guard, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also said it was Loughnan and not Taylor.

“It blew up on the radios and everyone in the prison knew about it as soon as it happened,” the officer told Phelps.

“We had to get him out quick smart. The blood from the ears, as you can imagine, was quite terrible,” he said.

“And due to the nature of his record, we had to get the security squad to take him to the hospital. So it was a big deal. Everyone knew what was going on. Jimmy did the cutting and he didn’t muck around.

“Jimmy was as mad as a cut snake. When he chopped into the ears, he didn’t do it nice and easy. It wasn’t like the stories Chopper told,” he said.

‘He wouldn’t have trusted anyone else.

“They were so close for a long time. You have to remember that Chopper tried to spring him from jail with a shotgun in court.

“I think he said it was Taylor because he hated him. You can believe whatever you like but I was there, and it was Jimmy,” the guard said.

Pentridge Prison at Coburg.

Pentridge Prison’s infamous H Division. Picture: Supplied

Prison Officer Ian Tucker was one of the guards on the scene.

“He [Read] was very upset about what had happened,” Tucker said.

“And I’d say he was probably having second thoughts about what he had done”.

Another guard was tasked with picking up what was left of Read’s ears before taking them to the H Division kitchen

“Put these in the fridge,” he said to H Division billet Billy ‘The Texan’

Longley.

“What the hell is it?,” Longley asked. “Chopper’s ears,” the guard replied.

“The mad bugger cut them off”.

What is not disputed is that Longley put the ears in an apricot jar.

Read lost a litre of blood. He was close to death by the time he arrived at St Vincent’s Hospital, and they spent nine hours operating on him. The ears had been chilled and taken out of the apricot jar; the surgeons reattached what they had.

“It was a startling revelation considering that Jimmy was widely believed to be his sworn enemy at the time of the incident,” Phelps said.

Reformed criminal Mark “Chopper” Read played up to camera during a 2002 visit to Pentridge Prison.

“Most think that Jimmy stabbed Chopper in the lead up to the ear chopping incident, but that stabbing actually came a long time after the ear episode, and the man that stabbed him was Greg Brazel, aka Bluey, who I also interviewed for the book.

“I didn’t think I would unearth anything new about Read, given he is the second most written-about Australian criminal after Ned Kelly, let alone the truth about the biggest Read incident of them all.

“Turns out most of the history about Read was invented by himself, and the revelation about his ears is just one of many you will find in the book,” Phelps said.

Australia’s Most Infamous Jail: Inside the walls of Pentridge Prison by James Phelps, will be published by HarperCollins on October 4 and is available to pre-order now.

Originally published as New book reveals identity of man who really cut off ‘Chopper’ Read’s ears in prison