Curtain falls on life of Chopper

NOTORIOUS criminal Mark "Chopper" Read has died in hospital after a long battle with liver cancer.

NOTORIOUS criminal Mark "Chopper" Read has died in hospital after a long battle with liver cancer.

Read, who bragged about killing more than a dozen criminals, was diagnosed with cancer in April last year.

He was surrounded by family when he died at the Royal Melbourne Hospital yesterday.

Former homicide squad detective Charlie Bezzina said Read's life, which was immortalised in a film starring Eric Bana, should not be glorified.

"You can never lose sight of the fact that he was a criminal and spent 23 years behind bars," he said.

"He's been revered and people forget his violent past."

The 58-year old's death comes only two weeks after he performed a sold-out stand-up show at Melbourne's Athenaeum Theatre.

He was admitted to hospital days later, but went home last week to be with his family before returning to hospital yesterday.

Doctors had told the father of two that he would not live beyond Christmas.

In August, Read said he would prove them wrong.

"I took great offence at that. I told her: 'How dare you predict my death at Christmas! I'll tell you when I'm going to die, not you tell me'," he said.

Read said his illness stemmed from contracting hepatitis C while in prison.

He had also battled cirrhosis.

"My time has come," Read said. "They told me to go home and die."

Read had a strong connection to Tasmania.

Mark 'Chopper' Read

In 1992 he shot a man at Evandale and, after being found guilty of grievous bodily harm, was sentenced as a dangerous criminal to indefinite detention at Risdon Prison in Hobart.

Read fell in love and married Australian Taxation Office employee Mary-Ann Hodge, who started visiting him in jail after reading one of his books.

In 1998 he was released from prison and moved to Richmond to live on a farm with Mary-Ann.

They had a son, Charlie, but the marriage broke up in 2001 when Read said "life in Tasmania was just too slow".

"I couldn't handle watching chickens and sheep running around day after day - I left with just the clothes on my back and enough money to get out of Tasmania," he was reported as saying.

Read's manager, Andrew Parisi, said Chopper fought a long and courageous battle against cancer.

"Despite his failing health, he delighted the audience (in his last show) with his skills as a raconteur and storyteller. "This is how he would wish to be remembered, as someone who spun a great yarn and made many people laugh."

Mr Parisi said he hoped people would remember Read for the way he changed his life, rather than his criminal upbringing.

"We ask that people reflect on how Mark was able to overcome his past and, after more than 23 years in prison, find a way to re-enter 'normal' society ," he said.

Social worker Les Twentyman said he hoped the world would not see another Chopper Read.

"He had a troubled upbringing, but in the end could see the folly of his ways and was able to give some insight into how tough it is in the jail system," he said.

[e-mail]