Russell St Police Station bombing in the centre of Melbourne was an 'act of war' courts heard in 1980s trials
1980s trials: THE war-like images of the aftermath of the 1986 Russell St bombing remain etched in the public consciousness.
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THE war-like images of the aftermath of the 1986 Russell St bombing remain etched in the public consciousness.
The explosion outside the Russell St police station on March 27 constituted one of the most serious attacks on police and authority in the state's history.
Constable Angela Taylor, 21, died three weeks after the massive car bomb was detonated and two others, Magistrate Iain West and Constable Carl Donadio were seriously injured in the bombing.
It was around 1pm, as people from the surrounding buildings were heading off to lunch, when the bomb was set of.
The explosives had been placed in a stolen car that was parked at the kerb directly in front of the police complex, opposite the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Constable Taylor was walking across the road from the court on her break when the bomb exploded. Mr West and Constable Donadio were also on the street at that moment.
As the state reeled from the brazen attack, a $500,000 reward was offered as police launched one of the biggest investigations in Victorian history.
A series of raids and tip-offs led police to arrest Stanley Brian Taylor, Craig Minogue and several other men two months later.
Taylor and Minogue had been behind a string of violent armed robberies in the four years before the bombing, earning them more than half a million dollars.
The trial that followed lasted almost 100 days and involved 156 witnesses.
One of the most crucial was former Taylor associate Paul Hetzel, who gave evidence that those who plotted the bombing held a great hatred of police and spoke of their desire to see Russell St blown up.
Hetzel said that after the explosion Taylor told him "they were rapt about the explosion,but were disappointed they didn't get more of the bastards `but next time we will'.”:
Taylor had said they wanted "to injure and kill as many cops and law staff as possible”, according to Hetzel’s evidence.
In July 1988, Taylor, 50, of Birchip was found guilty along with accomplice Minogue, 25, also of Birchip.
Justice Frank Vincent handed down one of the toughest sentences since the abolition of capital punishment.
Taylor was hit with a life sentence with no minimum term, and Minogue was given life with a minimum of 28 years.
“In your hatred and contempt for this society and its institutions, you, Mr Minogue, and you, Mr Taylor, participated in behavior recognised in so many parts of the world as an act of war,'' Justice Vincent told them.
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“This event involved the commission of one of the most serious criminal actions ever to take place in this community.
He said Minogue, who may become eligible for parole after 2014, was “a willing pupil'' of Taylor's in a deadly hatred of police.
In 1989, Taylor and Minogue failed in Court of Appeal actions appealing against their convictions and life imprisonment.
(L-R) Craig Minogue's brother Rodney and Peter Reed, were both connected with the Russell St bomb plot. Picture: HWT library
An appeal by Peter Reed, then 31, of Kallista, who was acquitted of direct involvement in the bombing but sentenced to 13 years’ jail for attempted murder and other charges relating to a subsequent police raid on his home, also failed.
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In their ruling, Chief Justice Sir John Young and Justices Gray and McDonald said “the crime was a singular exercise in violence aimed at the police in general'' but noted the bombing was set in a public street with full knowledge and expectation there would be civilian victims.
“The crimes ... were as serious as any that have ever been committed in this state.
“The bomb was detonated in a major thoroughfare in the city of Melbourne close to its centre and at lunchtime on a working day.
“It was detonated in the close vicinity of not only a major police complex but also of a number of other places to which members of the public frequently resort.''
