‘Psychopath, apex predator’: Australia’s most fearless crim finally unmasked

First accused of murder at just 12, Sydney’s most fearless crim went on to committed some of the most notorious crimes in NSW history. Now he’s finally been unmasked.

Reynold Glover’s identity has finally been revealed.

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Reynold Glover held a metal pole above his balaclava clad head and screamed “get back” in the most ferocious tone he could muster as a 12-year-old.

The fully grown man running towards him, 56-year-old Ralph Terence Mason, didn’t listen and continued charging at Glover. Minutes later, Mason was dead. He was stabbed and beaten to death inside his Berkeley home, south of Wollongong.

It was just after midnight on January 11, 1999, and Glover — who had gone to the house with three other youths, aged 12 to 17, to rob it — was later charged with murder over Mason’s death.

That charge was dropped due to lack of evidence and he pleaded guilty to robbery in company.

With his name no longer suppressed, The Telegraph can finally reveal the extensive criminal life of Sydney gangland figure Reynold Glover.

At that point, Glover — who spent 176 days in custody awaiting trial — was the youngest recorded person in NSW to have been charged with murder, according to statistics kept by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics that go back to 1995.

Now 37 years old, Glover has transformed from the skinny poor kid from Sydney’s inner west charged with murder into the apex predator of the Sydney underworld. But, chances are, you’ve never heard of him.

He is responsible for some of the most infamous crimes committed in NSW, which began when he was a teenager and peaked during a four-year crime spree when he declared war on a feared Sydney crime lord.

His crimes have embroiled some of Sydney’s biggest names in the world of celebrity, drug-dealing, restaurants and organised crime.

From using a sledgehammer to smash into a bank at the age of 19, Glover went on to declare war on crime boss Bassam Hamzy.

He shot Hamzy’s aunt before tensions between the pair eventually boiled over in a jailhouse brawl.

Glover played the role of armed robbery coach for other criminals, threatened multiple witnesses and plotted to murder a Crown Prosecutor, which he never carried out.

He was accused of masterminding a $6 million stick up spree that terrorised Sydney for months, only to be found not guilty of all charges.

In a twist, he was jailed for committing perjury in the trial after being caught on a secret police recording.

The crime spree ended with Glover being sentenced to almost 30 years in jail, where he is now classified as an extreme high-risk prisoner thanks to a series of incidents, including stabbing an inmate and setting his cell on fire.

Ralph Mason was bashed to death in his home in 1999.

Glover was charged with Ralph Mason’s murder in 1999. He pleaded guilty to robbery in company.

But you wouldn’t know it.

That’s because Glover’s identity has been suppressed by multiple court orders for the better part of a decade. They were put in place because Glover reached a point where he had multiple overlapping court cases that were yet to go to trial.

Readers would be aware of the crimes Glover committed — or was linked to (including ones he was charged with, but not found guilty of) — as they all received major news coverage.

But thanks to the suppression orders, he has never been revealed as being at the centre of the web of crimes — until today.

Glover’s lawyer Simon Joyner. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Reynold Glover’s police mug shot.

“You ask anyone in the Sydney underworld if they have heard of Reynold Glover and the answer inevitably comes back: ‘Yes, the guy is unstoppable. He’s the baddest’,” a source who is aware of Glover’s criminal exploits said.

Glover’s story can finally be told after his lawyer, Simon Joyner, entered a guilty plea for his client in his final case — a 2013 armed robbery — at the Sydney District Court on July 28.

APEX PREDATOR

The fearless, high-adrenaline nature of the crimes Glover committed has left even the most seasoned criminals wondering what makes him tick and how he is still alive.

“He simply does not have that part of the brain that registers fear or consequences,” said one person who has had dealings with Glover.

“But if anyone crosses him, he is an apex predator.

“He will never take a backward step and will commit acts of extreme violence without hesitation.”

Solicitor Ben Jamieson, who previously represented Glover, reflected differently on his former client.

“Strangely, I’ve always found him to be polite and intelligent,” Mr Jamieson said.

Reynold Glover waged a one man war against Bassam Hamzy.

Bassam Hamzy is one of Australia’s most feared criminals.

Glover’s skill set is based around having an unflinching ability to deal with the high adrenaline that comes from committing armed robberies.

In 2013, Glover was late to one of his court hearings because he was across town with a crew armed with assault rifles holding up a cash-in-transit van in front of one of Sydney’s busiest shopping centres.

One underworld source said criminals who have success in the high-adrenaline stakes of hold-ups often graduate to applying those skills in other high level crimes.

“Good armed robbers are the smart ones,” the source said.

“They graduate to murders and hits. Very few others have the mental capacity.”

Fellow members of Glover’s gang attempted to emulate his fearless style and stole almost $200,000 in a series of pub robberies.

Glover mocked them and said they should have gone after robberies that guaranteed a bigger payday.

Another of Glover’s cases saw a high-level drug dealer admit to laundering drug money through the owner of cafe empire, The Grounds of Alexandria.

The owner was never accused of any wrongdoing.

Reynold Glover was across town committing an armed stick-up on the day he should have been in court.

When one of Sydney’s most feared gangsters — who can’t be named for legal reasons — wanted to warn a witness not to give evidence in a murder trial via a threatening letter, Glover picked up a pen and did that too.

The prospect of spending time in Australia’s most secure prison, Goulburn’s Supermax, terrifies even the most hardened of crims. Glover actually enjoyed it.

After burning down his cell at the prison — not for the first time — Glover told police there was no room for weakness in his world.

“That’s who I am,” Glover told the officers.

“Say someone slaps ya. You’re not just gonna let them keep slapping you. You’re gonna do something, otherwise they’re gonna keep getting you. You’ve got to stop it.”

It was the same approach Glover took when he shot Hamzy’s aunt.

Glover went to war with Hamzy and his family in retaliation for $5000 being stolen from his mother.

Later in prison, Glover and Hamzy spotted each other and came to blows before guards separated them.

People aware of Hamzy’s influence still can’t believe Glover survived.

Reynold Glover said he enjoyed his time in Goulburn Supermax although he did burn his cell down. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Who does that?” one underworld source said.

“Who goes to war with the Hamzy’s with no backing? You’d say it’s a suicide mission, but he’s still alive. So that’s how heavy he is.”

The rest of Glover’s rap sheet is at a similar level.

In a rare period out of prison when he was 27 years old, Glover sold his services as a freelance armed robbery coach and trained a member of a Sydney crime family on how to hold up cash-in-transit vans.

At the same time, he made plans to break a notorious crime figure out of jail by ramming a prison truck.

In 2015, Australia’s busiest court complex was evacuated and locked down by heavily armed police when word got out that Glover was planning a break out.

‘I’VE GOT A LIST, I’M GOING TO GET THEM’

A judge who once sentenced Glover noted that he is an anomaly because he doesn’t take drugs or drink alcohol and is not motivated to commit crime to feed any sort of addiction.

Instead, Glover’s crimes and life’s creed are inspired by the title of US rapper 50 Cent’s 2003 album Get Rich or Die Trying, he told a criminal confidante in 2013.

He almost did it in 2009 when he moved into a waterfront apartment at Circular Quay. Residents on the five-star strip have included broadcaster Alan Jones and former Macquarie Bank executive Bill Moss.

Glover doesn’t take drugs or drink alcohol.

Glover’s dream came crashing down when he was arrested shortly after moving in.

Beyond money, a need for revenge and a willingness to inflict violence have greatly influenced Glover’s life journey.

Glover once admitted he experienced “revenge fantasies” and kept a list of enemies split into categories of who was going to kill and who he was going to injure.

“ … Every little thing that’s burnt me I’m getting revenge for, every single thing that’s burnt me,” Glover told a friend, while he was being secretly recorded by police in Lithgow jail.

“I’ve got a list of people. I’m gonna get them,” he said.

“Some people’s down the bottom of the list, some people’s up the top. Some people it’s only a kneecapping, some people it’s only in the stomach, some people it’s dead.”

How is he viewed among the rest of the criminal underworld?

“There is a lot of fear and respect for him based on all of the above,” a former associate said. “He is physically imposing.”

Glover’s physical appearance has changed in his adult years thanks to an obsessive regime that includes no less than 800 push-ups a day, plus shadow boxing.

Glover has kept the company of ex-Comanchero Mark Buddle.

Farhad Qaumi also accepted Glover into his inner circle.

The strength in numbers approach of modern crime families or gangs who exert their influence by running in packs is not a rule that Glover lives by.

“He never needed the protection of a gang or a crime family,” another former associate said.

“He’s very much a lone wolf operator but certainly had allies and could work with other people in a gang when it suited his interests.”

Glover’s reputation has resulted in him being accepted into the circles of some of Australia’s most notorious criminals.

They have included murdered hit man Hamad Assaad, Brothers for Life gang leader Farhad Qaumi and ex-Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle.

While Glover’s loyalty is hard earned, it is not guaranteed long term.

He was prepared to kill other associates that betrayed him, including one who was targeted for “talking shit” about Glover and his associates.

“He doesn’t know we were going to knock him … We went and waited at his house like three times for him but he was never there …,” Glover told an associate in 2013.

GLOVER’S CHILDHOOD

Before he was NSW’s youngest accused murderer, Glover grew up in a poor section of Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west.

Trouble came early and Glover spent time at Dulwich Hill’s Edgeware School for youths with emotional and behavioural problems.

Reynold Glover grew up in Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west. Picture: Craig Wilson

His father left the family when Glover was young and he only saw him sporadically until he was 18, according to reports tendered in his court cases.

His mother filled the void and provided a stable home environment during his formative years, according to a psychologist report tendered during one of Glover’s sentencing hearings.

“ … From a very young age the offender has been getting into trouble. He was in juvenile detention and has spent a great deal of his adult life in custody,” the report said.

Glover’s mother still supports him.

1999 MASON MURDER CASE RESULT

Back in 2000, prosecutors dropped the murder charge and a then 13-year-old Glover pleaded guilty to robbery in company when the evidence could not establish that he had inflicted any of the fatal blows on Mr Mason.

The court was told the four teens went to Mason’s house to rob him after hearing he was rich.

Their information was wrong and they only made off with Mason’s CD player and mobile phone.

Glover promised a judge as a 14-year-old that he would never break into someone’s home again. In fact, he was just getting started.

As a 14-year-old on October 27, 2000, Glover was sentenced to a two-year probation order and avoided incarceration.

In court, he told Justice John Dowd that he “would never break into someone’s home again”.

Instead of breaking into homes, as a 19-year-old in 2005, Glover smashed his way through the front of a Bendigo Bank in Randwick using a sledge hammer.

Six weeks later, Glover held up the Hunters Hill Hotel at gunpoint. He was jailed for both crimes.

After being released from jail in 2008, Glover linked up with a gang of similar young men from rough sections of Sydney, including Glebe, Leichhardt and Maroubra.

From that point, police alleged Glover tore a path through Sydney and the fallout tied up the city’s court system for more than a decade.