Writings and rants of notorious Victorian prisoners published from behind bars
Dozens of the state’s most notorious criminals including Badness Binse and Julian Knight are using a website to justify their crimes, brand their enemies informers and make false claims about sexual depravity — all from behind bars.
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A website used by jailed murderers, armed robbers and other high-level criminals is in the sights of the state government.
Hoddle Street gunman Julian Knight, hitman Gerald Preston, notorious bandit Chris ‘Badness’ Binse and murderer John Glascott are among dozens of inmates whose writings are featured on the iexpress site.
Atrocities are justified, foes fingered as informers and false claims of sexual depravity made on the site, which provides a platform for jailed criminals nationwide.
The writings are sent or dictated from the jail then prepared for internet publication by someone on the outside.
But the State Government says it will write to Justice Action, which publishes iExpress, to make it clear prisoners who send it material for uploading are breaching regulations.
“Victoria has introduced tough new regulations earlier this year to crack down on prisoners who use associates on the outside to post on websites or social media on their behalf,” Corrections Minister Ben Carroll said.
Knight has published everything from pages of writings from a dictionary of prison slang to his petition for mercy over his crimes.
In one letter, he blames his time in the Australian Army for his murder of seven people in the Hoddle St massacre of 1987.
“If there had been no bastardisation at Duntroon, there would have been no massacre at Hoddle St. It is as simple as that,” he said.
Binse uses the website to attack his many enemies and makes false claims against them, including allegations they have engaged in jailhouse sex with other men.
Binse attacks a former lawyer as a bumbling drunk and says a prominent bikie boss flourished because of his links to crooked police.
Contract killer Gerald Preston is doing time in Adelaide’s Yatala Prison for the 1998 murders of mechanic Les Knowles and his mate Tim Richards, murders suspected of being commissioned by the Hells Angels bikie gang.
A year later his wife Vicki Jacobs — a prosecution witness at his trial — was executed as she slept with their six-year-old son at their Bendigo home.
It is certain that the slaying was connected to Preston’s activities because of her giving evidence against him, something he later said made her a “dog”.
Preston now uses iexpress to bemoan his “Groundhog Day” existence in a cell he calls The Turdis.
“I have an adult son whom I’ve had no contact with throughout my sentence. I hope one day he finds his way to getting in touch with me,” Preston has written.
Glascott, jailed for the 2008 murder of Melbourne solicitor David Robinson, writes asking for help with typing up documents and perform photocopying, offering to pay an hourly rate.
Glascott, who has always proclaimed his innocence over the Robinson murder, says he spends most of his time working on legal matters.
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Mr Carroll said such websites were of concern and the State Government was working with Federal authorities to stop their use as a “matter of urgency”.
“Posts in prisoners’ names can also be distressing to victims of crime and can also threaten the security and good order of the prison system,” he said.
Mr Carroll last month lobbied his counterparts nationwide for a ban on third parties being used to publish material from prisoners online.
This followed widespread concern about jailed Russell St bomber Craig Minogue’s use of outsiders to upload his writings.