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John Silvester

John Silvester

Brisbane Times

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Finger-pointing and blame: The ugly attempts to gain votes from a terror event

15.12.2024 30

The Age

John Silvester

Pass the pita: Where does the Mokbel fiasco go from here?

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

28.11.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

It’s a cliche that prisons are ruled by the laws of the jungle, but also true

Some crooks see jail as an occupational hazard and accept it as a cost of doing business. For others, it is their natural domain where they become...

22.11.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Bodyguards for billionaires: Inside the secret world

There is a select group of products, such as executive jets, super yachts and Renaissance paintings, that are so expensive that if you need to ask the...

08.11.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Attention Australian criminals: You need to learn from this bloke

The scoop was surprisingly easy to get because the international drug dealer thought I was someone else. That was his mistake. But I pressed the wrong...

01.11.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

Tales of the sting: The traps cops set to nab their targets

To be a good detective you need to be smart, dedicated and have a large slice of empathy. But the great ones have something else – the ability to...

18.10.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Greg Lynn is about to face the music, and he won’t like the tune

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

17.10.2024 40

The Age

John Silvester

Scot free: How Scotland emptied its jails of youths

The young gang member is in hospital waiting to be treated for a knife wound. Even though he is still bleeding, he is on his phone to mates. “He is...

04.10.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

The crucial DNA questions that remain over Easey Street cold case

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

03.10.2024 5

The Age

John Silvester

Easey Street’s sliding doors moment, and the scoop I never thought I’d write

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

26.09.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

How police tracked the Easey Street suspect

The Easey Street suspect was identified through a DNA test when police undertook to check the 131 people listed in the original police file in the...

21.09.2024 30

The Age

John Silvester

From Pell to Gobbo, Kerri Judd faced ‘the familiar drumbeat of difficult decisions’

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

19.09.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

The predators that locked doors can’t stop

Warning: distressing content It was a race against time. In a deep dive into a child abuse offender’s computer, they find a hidden file of a young...

13.09.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

From bungled drug drops to deep-sea mysteries, water policing is getting busier

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. No one knows why the technician on the rebooted TV series Flipper chose to take his...

06.09.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

How the tide turned on Phillip Island killer

The man in the northern suburbs’ police station seemed to have all the answers, which was hardly surprising. After all, he had been through this...

30.08.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

Life as a country cop: When the road death isn’t a statistic, it’s a neighbour

In the middle of the night, in the middle of the forest facing loggers armed with chainsaws and protesters armed with lentils, the lone cop knows...

02.08.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

The French are protecting the Games with fearsome firepower. Australia had two pranksters

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

26.07.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

Unions, bikies, the IRA and turning a blind eye

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. I have an idea for the government to raise money to help pay off the state debt. All...

18.07.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Sly’s seven-point plan to break the youth crime cycle

We love making simple stuff complex and ignoring the obvious. If we see something deeper, then we must be really clever. Right? Take the justice...

09.07.2024 30

The Age

John Silvester

A new profile of Mr Cruel, who may have been a burglar before he was a killer

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Melbourne’s notorious Mr Cruel, the man who abducted young girls from their homes...

04.07.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Crime scene to court: Why the jury didn’t buy Greg Lynn’s story

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. A trial is always about what happens in the court, not what happened at the crime...

27.06.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

He was a rising star in the police force, then it all came tumbling down

The experienced investigator was trapped in his crashed, unmarked police car, which had flipped on its side. Drunk and shaken, he still had the...

20.06.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Where there are smokes there are fires: Inside Victoria’s tobacco war

The world wide web has changed the way we do business. In days long forgotten Zoom was what you did when you were driving to a meeting, Marketplace...

13.06.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

The dreams and nightmares of a homicide cop

The recurring nightmare was the sign that 25 years of homicide investigations had taken a toll. Night after night he was a killer who meticulously...

06.06.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

The judge, the reptile and the crocodile tears

Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth didn’t need to make a legal ruling or deliver a solemn lecture to shut down the sham unfolding before her in the...

10.05.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

A ‘disgusting, reprehensible’ case is shrouded in secrecy. And that’s not uncommon

Warning: Distressing content Australian Football Hall of Famer Carl Ditterich played 285 games of AFL for two clubs in a career that stretched over...

19.04.2024 30

The Age

John Silvester

How dodgy autographs forged a sports-mad cop’s unlikely meeting with The Don

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

12.04.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

In the game of defamation poker, Lehrmann has gone all in – and we’ve already seen his hand

A defamation case is like a giant poker game where you spend a fortune to see the other guy’s cards. The trouble is, the deck is stacked with Jokers...

11.04.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

‘When we make a mistake someone can die’: Inside the world of police crisis negotiators

Most cops love the thrill of the chase that ends with a suspect in the back of a divvy van. Sergeant Victor Yanes is a bit different as he admits he...

28.03.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Sam Kerr is no crook, so why is she being treated as one?

There is little doubt Matildas captain Sam Kerr made a goose of herself when she argued the toss with a London cop after throwing up in a cab during a...

22.03.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

Why the Walsh Street probe was doomed from the start

The case was doomed from the start. What should have been the high watermark of investigations ended in recriminations, acquittals and no justice for...

08.03.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

When bars are no barrier: Beware a hard crook with good software

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

09.02.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

On the run, always in danger: Life with a whistleblower

Many people think their life has been so unique, it would make a great book. Most are kidding themselves. Then there is “Cate”, a retired...

08.02.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

Tony Mokbel was a major drug trafficker. But was it a fair cop?

Six prime ministers and 4235 days ago, Tony Mokbel stood in the dock of the Supreme Court to be sentenced after pleading guilty to drug trafficking in...

06.02.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Crime, capture, release. What we’re doing isn’t working

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

02.02.2024 8

The Age

John Silvester

Roger Rogerson – the crooked cop who could have been a great detective

Roger Rogerson, who has died aged 83, was a corrupt old dinosaur who didn’t see the ice age coming. Brave, tough, stubborn and bent as a boomerang,...

22.01.2024 20

The Age

John Silvester

I’ve written more than 5 million words on crime. But one story taught me good can trump evil

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. At a rough estimate, I have written more than 5 million words on crime in the past 45...

26.12.2023 20

The Age

John Silvester

Hands up if you know which is the state’s most powerful union?

The most powerful union in the state doesn’t fly flags from cranes, donate to political parties or make statements on climate change. The most...

08.12.2023 8

The Age

John Silvester

Onions or bust: The day I was Sly, but not sly enough

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday....

08.12.2023 20

The Age

John Silvester

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