Melbourne gangland figure deportation put on ice amid Parole Board fears he could reoffend in his native Scotland
PLANS to deport a Melbourne gangland figure back to Scotland have been put on ice after a decision by the Adult Parole Board who feared he could reoffend in his home country.
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PLANS to deport a Melbourne gangland figure have been put on ice after a decision by the Adult Parole Board.
Big-time drug dealer David McCulloch was expected to be shipped back to his native Scotland months ago when he became eligible for early release.
But this has not happened and McCulloch, once one of the underworld’s best-connected figures, remains in custody and may stay there until his sentence is completed in about three years.
It is understood a factor in denying parole was that McCulloch would have no supervision or conditions if granted early release.
Parole authorities have the power to monitor prisoners set free but not in other jurisdictions.
McCulloch was a suspect in the notorious St Kilda Rd drug squad break-in of 1996 and once accused a senior police officer of being the crime’s mastermind.
McCulloch was mentioned extensively in a leaked police report based on information provided by drug dealer Terrence Hodson.
The 2002 report, which was later widely leaked, claimed McCulloch still had files from the St Kilda Rd break-in.
It said McCulloch wanted to kill another underworld figure who had tried to steal drugs from him.
Hodson stated McCulloch was trying to recruit other criminals to come forward and make allegations of corruption against police.
Hodson and his wife Christine were later murdered at their home in May, 2004.
Top-secret files stolen in the 1996 St Kilda Rd drug squad burglary allegedly unmasked the identity of a major police informer and forced him to go underground, amid fears the documents had ended up in the hands of a powerful drug lord.
McCulloch has been in jail since 2005 when he was imprisoned for trafficking amphetamines and hashish to an undercover detective..
At his prime, McCulloch was an associate of other high-level drug traffickers like Carl Williams, John Higgs, Lewis Moran and Tony Mokbel.
McCulloch, now aged in his 60s, is believed to have had a trouble-free stint in jail.
It was his second long stint behind bars.
In 1987, he was jailed for 11 years for trafficking heroin.
A statement from the Adult Parole Board said it could not comment on specific cases because of “legislative constraints”.