Australia is the largest prison on earth. Australia, interesting facts - the highest mountains, the largest river and the most dangerous animals in Australia. The only things higher than mountains are mountains

Correctional center in the Australian city of Goulburn local residents called simply "Sphere". It enjoys the reputation of the most terrible prison in the country. It is here that the most hardened criminals - rapists, murderers, sadists - serve their sentences. British journalists were able to see the gloomy institution from the inside.

The correctional center in the Australian city of Goulburn, 90 kilometers from Canberra and 195 kilometers from Sydney, is simply called “the Sphere” by locals. And also a “human zoo”. Australia's most dangerous criminals - mostly murderers and rapists - are kept in these cage cells.
The prison building in Goulburn was built in the 19th century. The establishment will soon celebrate its 150th anniversary.
Each wing of the prison houses about 30 prisoners. The criminals are divided by nationality: natives of Asia, the Middle East and Australian aborigines live separately from each other. Murderers and rapists are kept together in a separate wing.
Inmate Matthew De Grucci is serving a 28-year sentence in the Sphere for the murder of his mother, brother and sister. He recently took part in an attack on two prisoners, which resulted in the victims being sent to the prison hospital with broken bones and brain damage.
Serial killer Ivan Milat, sentenced to six life sentences in 1996, tried unsuccessfully to escape from the Sphere.
Thomas Hudson Wilson was Milat's partner in the failed escape. He ended up in the Sphere for brutally beating a woman with an iron crowbar. Wilson smashed the victim's face and broke his arms and legs. As the judge said at the trial, she will never be able to fully recover from her injuries. It didn’t take long to catch the criminal: due to the complete lack of hair on Wilson’s head and body, the victim easily identified the criminal.
Bassam Hamzi is perhaps Australia's most protected criminal, an Islamist and leader of the organized crime group Assassins. After several years of his stay in prison, it turned out that Hamzi successfully persuades other prisoners to convert to Islam and successfully manages the affairs of a criminal group while behind bars.
Hamzi kept a poster with the emblem of his group "Assassins" - "Killers" - in his cell.
Gate to Hell is the main entrance to Goulburn Correctional Centre. Behind these gates is both the main prison building and the special Supermax building for the most dangerous prisoners. This is where Bassam Hamzi is serving his sentence.
Mohammed Skaf was just 17 years old when he followed his older brother Bilal into a youth gang that committed a series of brutal rapes of young Sydney women.
Bilal Skaf is now 31 years old. he is serving a 33-year sentence in the Sphere on charges of several rapes.
Tension between prisoners in prison always exists; joint walks in the caged courtyards often end in fights and violence. The photo shows homemade weapons taken from prisoners by guards. Knives and sharpeners are made from any available items - combs, brushes, any metal objects found in prison.
The murderer Leith Marchant, serving time in the "Sphere" under the influence of Bassam Hamzi converted to Islam. Now he sleeps on the bare floor of his cell and, as the guards say, he is constantly hatching plans to escape.
Mark van Crevel killed three men, disemboweling and decapitating his first victim.
Vestor Fernando went to prison for the murder of nurse Sandra Khor. Already behind bars, he killed his own cousin, who also ended up in the “Sphere”.
Serial killer Lindsay Rose was caught making duplicate prison door keys. as it turned out, he was preparing to kill the guards.
The main building of the Goulburn Correctional Center was built in 1884.
Australian beauty queen Anita Cobby was kidnapped by five criminals after her shift at the hospital where she worked as a nurse. Anita was taken to a vacant lot in northern Sydney, brutally raped and killed, almost completely cutting off the girl's head. This crime was committed in 1986. Three accomplices to the murder, brothers Michael, Harry and Leslie Murphy, are still serving time for the murder of Anita Cobby at Goulburn Correctional Centre.
20-year-old Janine Balding was raped and killed on one of the railway stations Sydney in 1988. her killer, former drifter Stephen Jamieson, now has a permanent residence in the "Sphere".
Victims of serial killer Ivan Milat. Basically, they were young tourists traveling around Australia. Milat is very sensitive to the conditions of his detention: for example, when the sandwich maker was taken away from him, he created a huge scandal and even went on a hunger strike, which, however, lasted less than two days.
Killer Janine Balding Stephen Jamieson, nicknamed "Shorty": the height of the killer and rapist is only 147 centimeters. He is in
Anita Cobby's killers, the Murphy brothers: Leslie...
...Harry...
... and Michael. The brothers, sentenced to life imprisonment, will not leave the Sphere for the rest of their lives.
Goulburn is located in the south of Australia, in New South Wales, 90 kilometers from the country's capital, Canberra, and 195 kilometers from Sydney.
Farhad Qaumi has repeatedly tried to cause unrest in prison. So, he planned to flood the cell, calling on his fellow prisoners to join him, break out from behind bars and start killing the guards. He had already prepared a homemade knife to kill the guards when he was caught.
And these weapons were taken away from visitors who tried to smuggle them to prisoners during visits. Of course, bringing weapons into the prison is strictly prohibited. If a visitor is found to have any weapons, they are confiscated and the offender is immediately arrested.
Murderer Guy Staines converted to Islam in prison.
Mentally disabled killer Craig Richardson, having made a sharpening from parts from prison simulators, tried to start a fire in his cell in order to lure the guards into it and attack them. As a violent prisoner, Richardson was transferred to the Supermax building for special treatment. dangerous criminals.
Guards at the Goulburn Correctional Center seize drugs, bladed weapons, Cell phones and SIM cards for them.
serial rapist Bilal Skaf in the visiting room with his parents - father Mustafou and mother Baria. Later, Baria was caught trying to carry out of prison in her socks the notes that Bilal had sent with her to freedom, bypassing prison censorship. After this, Baria was prohibited from seeing her son.
Ronald Priestley, a murderer serving time in the Sphere, has already taken part in several riots and attacks on prison guards.
The picture shows police removing the bodies of serial killer Ivan Milat's victims from Belanglo Forest in New South Wales. Milat himself will never leave the walls of the Sphere.

The new Hunter maximum security prison in Sydney's north looks little like a prison at all. There are no cells or doors, and prisoners can make calls late into the night or watch touch-screen TV. At the same time, they are under the watchful eye of 600 video cameras 24 hours a day, and in case of incidents, an elite rapid response team is always ready.

The prison authorities believe that this is the future of the rehabilitation system for criminals such as murderers, rapists and repeat offenders.

What may surprise those who smiled skeptically when reading this: in the first six months of operation of the Hunter Correctional Center, there was not a single attack on guards or a single skirmish between prisoners. Not a single death, escape, and only one prisoner harmed himself. And this is an excellent result compared to other maximum security institutions.

The prison's goal is to "achieve a 100 percent success rate in inmates' employment, life skills, education, and programs to correct their offending behavior."

Prisoners work five hours a day and are paid $65 a week. They also have three hours of leisure time, which includes a treadmill and other exercise equipment, a library and a multi-faith chapel.

Hunter Prison was built in just a year and opened on January 30th. The building has four wings, each with four shared bedrooms, or “blocks.” Each block accommodates 25 prisoners, who live in open, single rooms, more like an office. The rooms have a table, chair, mattress and interactive TV.

Although Hunter Correctional Center operates differently, it is still a prison.

The rapid response team is always ready.

Senior prison officer Melanie Campton watches one of the dormitories through the window before lunch.

Prisoners may store food and personal hygiene items in their room.

The 60cm interactive TV has access to free TV channels, radio and some films.

Unlike traditional prisons, inmates at Hunter Correctional Center are not behind bars.

Through these windows, guards watch the dormitories.

Prisoners are provided with toilet paper, plastic kitchen utensils and a safety razor. They can store all this in their room.

A wall of posters in the room of one of the prisoners.

The criminals lined up for roll call. Each of them, upon hearing his last name, must answer “Yes, miss” or “Yes, sir.”

Rapid response team officers will be in any part of the prison within two minutes to prevent a dangerous situation.

The guards have pepper spray and stun grenades in their arsenal. However, since the opening of the prison they have never been needed.

Personal hygiene items - baby powder, shampoo and deodorant.

Every prisoner is required to work. They can learn, for example, how to work with metal, which will be useful to them in life outside the prison walls.

Prisoners can also learn the craft of drapery. The furniture they make is used in other NSW prisons.

Hunter Correctional Facility warden Richard Haycock wants to see inmates rehabilitated and returned to society.

Prisoners have greater access to recreational facilities than other Australian maximum security prisons.

Dormitories have high ceilings and partitions that absorb sound. Surprisingly, the premises are usually very quiet, even if all the prisoners are present.

There are a total of 400 inmates at Hunter Prison. Most of their day is filled with work, school, and other programs.

The correctional facility has a multi-faith chapel.

There is even a room for washing feet.

The menu for the week hangs in the kitchen, and prisoners can choose their own dishes.

Touchball is a popular game at Hunter Prison.

The prisoners are preparing lunch. On Thursdays they have chicken tacos and salad.

Sue Paull photographed inmates at Australia's most notorious prisons for 15 years while teaching them art. Her stunning photographs reveal the world of murderers and rapists hidden behind bars.

Before becoming a prison art teacher and photographer, Poll worked in a school system whose rules she didn't like. When she came to classes with especially dangerous prisoners, she felt quite at ease.

Under her leadership, hundreds of prisoners painted paintings, made pottery and sculptures, which were later exhibited at the Long Bay prison entrance and in many galleries overseas.

While working in the penitentiary system, Poll began photographing prisoners, first only in the art studio, and then outside it. Her stunning black and white photographs provide a glimpse into the hidden world of Australian prisons between 1993 and the late 2000s.

Using a documentary style in many of his photographs, Poll nevertheless draws attention to beautiful images, such as the prisoners' tattoos and their physical strength, which is essential to survive behind bars.

Prisoner Terry stands in front of one of his paintings entitled "Long Bay Hilton Foyer."

A prisoner on the exercise floor at Long Bay Correctional Complex in 1993 during the daily exercise routine that many prisoners do to keep fit in the rather dangerous prison environment.

Officer Jane in full gear at Goulburn Correctional Centre, where a female officer saved male officers during a prisoner uprising in 2002, suffering stab wounds and severe head injuries.

Prisoner Tom Foster shows off his powerful physique and tattoos while working in a garden statue workshop at Silverwater General Security Prison, where he was transferred from Long Bay Prison.

A guard on duty in 1996 on the top tier of Parramatta Correctional Centre, which opened in 1798 and closed in 2011, an old crumbling sandstone prison infested with rats.

Amanda and Michael in 1993 at Long Bay Prison, one of 34 correctional centers in New South Wales where transgender relationships are part of prison life.

Convicted murderer Geoffrey Websdale, described by Sue Poll as a "superb specialist", next to one of his works at Long Bay prison in 2004. In 1989, while a combine trainee, he shot and wounded two people at a combine camp, earning a maximum 25-year sentence.

Prisoner Wayne Brown, wearing prison green sweatpants, poses for prison art teacher and photographer Sue Poll inside the Long Bay Correctional Complex in 1997. Poll was intrigued by his tattoos, which included the word “Mum” on his right arm.

Barbed wire and steel bars lined the gates of the old Long Bay Correctional Complex in 1997, which then housed high-risk prisoners, including murderers and rapists. Later, the prison began to accept less dangerous criminals.

Prisoner Andrew in the statue workshop at Silverwater Prison in 1997, during one of the final stages before release.

A shirtless prisoner sunbathing at Long Bay Prison in 1994

An armed guard at Tower 8 of the Long Bay Correctional Complex in 1997. Only the guards in the tower can carry weapons and, if necessary, shoot fugitives or rioters.

An inmate at Long Bay Prison exercises in the yard in 1993.

A female jailer at the gate of the Long Bay Correctional Complex in 2007, through which all guards must pass to enter the working part of the prison.

Prisoners make a variety of sharpening points from any found pieces of metal and even from toothbrushes.

Prisoner Steve shows off his tattoos at Long Bay Correctional Center in Sydney in 1994.

Segregated courtyards at Parklea Correctional Center in 1996 for violent and violent prisoners.

A prisoner on the training ground at Long Bay Prison in 1994.

Sue Paull worked with prisoners as an art teacher. She found creative talents in hundreds of especially dangerous criminals.

Sue Poll photographed some of the prisoners' tattoos.

A wedding between a woman and an inmate at Long Bay Correctional Complex in 1996, before authorities banned weddings in maximum security prisons. The few that take place behind bars must now be resolved by a commissioner.

Some of the tattoos are quite difficult to decipher.

Prisoner Tom Foster had a flower depicted in his painting at Long Bay Correctional Complex in 1997.

The interior of Wing 9 of Long Bat Prison in 1997 shows cell doors during the reconstruction period when inmates were moved to other prisons.

A civil servant who kept a payroll, smoking a cigarette, poses for Sue Poll at Long Bay Prison in 1993.

A female guard armed with a rifle at Goulburn Correctional Center in 2004, two years after a riot in which 30 prisoners with homemade weapons attacked staff, injuring seven guards and nearly killing one.

Aboriginal prisoner Doug Pearce with one of his paintings. His works are now in collections in Canada, the USA, France and the UK.

Inmate clothing hanging on railings at Bathurst Correctional Center in 2000.

Young prisoner Simon at Long Bay Prison in 1993.

Aboriginal Jason stands in the shadows barbed wire from his large-scale painting outside the art studio at Long Bay Prison in 1999.

Port Arthur is located on the Tasmanian peninsula in Australia. This small town is famous for the fact that until 1877 there was a convict prison here, which was considered one of the most terrible prisons in the world. It housed the most notorious criminals, including those who had already escaped from other prisons. The prison, built in 1933, housed approximately 13,000 inmates, 2,000 of whom died there.

The Port Arthur prison was a complex of 60 buildings. There were 80 solitary confinement cells, a hospital morgue, Catholic chapel, Cathedral, in which representatives of all faiths could pray, a psychiatric hospital, a bakery, a laundry, a kitchen, the commandant’s residence and much more. Most of the prison buildings were damaged during forest fires; the wooden buildings were destroyed, only the stone ones remained.

Now the Port Arthur prison is accessible to tourists. They can explore what remains of the prison buildings. Within the walls of the prison, actors act out scenes from the lives of prisoners. Excursions are also conducted around the Island of the Dead, where the prison cemetery is located, tourists are also shown former colony for Point Puer boys, where they were sent from the age of nine.

Coordinates: -43.14929800,147.85251300

This, at first glance, strange, but often mentioned prefix to the name of the country sounds like a “prison continent.” However, in reality, how many countries are there in the world whose eleven prisons were included in the list of the world historical heritage UNESCO? Or is there another state that has issued a collection of gold coins dedicated to the domestic penitentiary system, which was done by the Central Bank of the Commonwealth of Australia - that is the official name of the country, in 2012? And so we will take this series as a guide.

Prison numismatics

The history of prisons in Australia and Oceania began in the eighteenth century, when the first batch of convicts were landed on the shores of the continent in the Botany Bay area, who were forced to spend the rest of their lives away from their native Great Britain - laying roads in the bushes, building new berths in ports. Along with them came an army of officials, who were housed in a farm building that remains to this day under the name “Old Government House” and is minted on one of the coins.

So, the first prison camps appeared on south coast Australia, which later became known as the state of South Wales, and convict coal mines on the island of Tasmania, also immortalized on a coin. Three more coins are dedicated to the government institution "Hyde Park Barracks", a convict prison in and Casnade women's prison. The five-dollar series was completed by Fremantle Prison, one of the very first prisons built to house especially dangerous criminals. Its history began in 1850, when 75 convicts on the ship Scindian, which arrived on the shores of the fifth continent, began construction that lasted nine years. After some time, again with the help of prisoners, a unique kilometer-long hydraulic structure was built under the prison - a system of tunnels with drainage tanks. And at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the number of serious crimes sharply increased during the “gold rush,” a block was added to the main citadel in which death rows were located and sentences were carried out. The last person to be hanged here was serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke, in 1964.

Unfortunately, the inattention of prison authorities to the conditions of detention of prisoners led to tragic consequences. In January 1988, when a fifty-degree heat wave hit Australia, due to the lack of air conditioning, several inmates of the cells died of heatstroke, and the rest started a riot, during the suppression of which several more prisoners died. Among other things, due to the fire that broke out, a significant part of the premises received significant damage.

After this incident, the authorities decided to transfer prisoners to the renovated and expanded Perth prison, and turn Fremantle into a museum. Now visitors can get acquainted with the history of the prison and its inhabitants, but also get married in the Anglican Church. The building of the former hospital houses a Children's Literary Club, an art college and an art gallery of paintings created by prisoners during art therapy sessions.

Pioneers in shackles

Strangely enough, it was not the most hardened criminals who were sent here first. It’s just that the prisons of Foggy Albion turned out to be so overcrowded that it was decided to send all prisoners there indiscriminately - it doesn’t matter whether he was a murderer or a petty swindler. But the fate for both was the same - shackles, an iron collar with spikes, punishment in the form of flogging or being stripped naked and chained to a pole under the scorching rays of the sun. However, those who could pay the overseers not only did not spend the night in miserable shacks, but according to the “introduction” of the authorities, those who were not fit for physical labor could spend all their time in good-quality houses built at their expense.

Women convicts, who were sent to a nearby weaving factory, also enjoyed relative privileges. However, some of them, selling their bodies, successfully married their regular customers, often the same convicts.

How are we sitting?

The main prison in Australia today is rightly called the Parramatta prison in the state of New South Wales, where prisoners who have committed the most serious crimes serve their sentences. We will return to this list later, but for now it is worth noting that the inhabitants of this prison can afford things at public expense that are beyond the means of other ordinary taxpayers. For example, inserting an artificial jaw, having cosmetic surgery, or even changing your gender. The rules here were so liberal that the administration even allowed people to receive parcels with condoms for men and latex wipes for women, and even mobile phones. However, as it turned out in 2005, many prisoners, mainly from among the “godfathers,” tried to use mobile phones to lead their groups, even from behind bars. The police radio interception service identified 17 cases of such negotiations in just one month. After which the guards conducted wholesale searches, confiscating cell phones. The notified occupants of the cells tried to hide the tubes in different places. Men - by disguising them in pieces of bread, and women - by hiding them in... intimate places. It turned out to be difficult to combat the penetration of this infection into the cells, so the prison director ordered the installation of “jammers.” It is also curious that after the introduction of this ban in another prison, Rimutaka, the guards organized a business. Some sold the pipes to prisoners, while others confiscated them after a while and then sold them again.

It also turned out that during the Christmas period, numerous Santa Clauses brought various gifts to prisoners. During the operation carried out by the prison authorities, in just two weeks, dozens of bladed weapons were confiscated from the Father Frosts - knives, machetes, sharpeners and even (just in case) ladies' acrylic false nails.

Last year, it was proposed at government level to close this oldest penitentiary institution, founded in 1852, and turn it into hotel. But so far this year they decided to reconstruct it for residential and shopping malls another nineteenth-century prison is Pentbridge.

By Russian standards, the food of prisoners can be equated to that of a sanatorium. Moreover, the menu claims to be international. Breakfast is typical English: scrambled eggs, oatmeal, bacon, sausages, buns, coffee, tea or juices. But for lunch, prison chefs can offer dishes from Malay, Japanese or Chinese cuisine. The majority of the diet consists of vegetables grown in prison farms. Agricultural production is especially developed in the Banbury prison, from where vegetables are supplied to other prisons. For example, in 2008, a pumpkin weighing 135 kilograms was grown here, which not only won a prize at a food exhibition, but was also used as the main ingredient for soup served for lunch to the residents of this correctional facility.

Without the right to pardon

We will not dwell in detail on judicial system Australia for the reason that it can be described as “legal chaos”. Surprisingly, this civilized country still does not have a single criminal code. The only document that is valid in all states determines the degree of responsibility for committing state crimes. But at the county and district level, the main legal documents in accordance with which crimes are classified, be it murder or petty theft, are special acts. Yes, in addition, the legal proceedings themselves are extremely confusing: in the country there are county and district courts, magistrate (intermediate), small sessions courts, family courts - regarding divorces. In the state of Victoria there is even a special tribunal that deals with controversial issues arising during construction. Several states also have “industrial” tribunals that conduct arbitration in resolving conflicts between entrepreneurs. True, sentences for serious crimes come into force only after they are approved by the Supreme Court.

But the laws in the country are quite harsh. Russians today are waiting with interest to see what amendments deputies will make to laws that will tighten responsibility for automobile recklessness, including for driving vehicle drunk. This problem has already been solved in Australia. In October 2012, former kickboxing champion Gürkan Ozkon sped through a red traffic light in his Mazda racing car at 180 kilometers per hour in Melbourne. So, the district court did not accept as mitigating circumstances either the fact that the trip ended without serious consequences, or the fact that the Turk was an honored guest at the Australian Martial Arts Association. A traffic violator was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for dangerous driving. Moreover, parole can occur only after two years.

And there is a category of convicts who are not eligible for early release at all. These are, firstly, members of the Mark Hayden gang from the town of Snowtown, who are serving their sentences in a special unit of the Prarramatta prison. The leader and three of his accomplices were convicted of luring victims to a rented former bank building starting in the mid-1990s. After which representatives of the so-called sexual minorities were killed after torture, their bodies were dismembered, and the remains were preserved in barrels. So, according to the leader, they “cleansed the world of filth.” Hayden will spend the rest of his life behind bars; his friends received sentences ranging from 26 to 48 years in prison. Only with a note on the sentence “Without the right to pardon.”

Barra John Watts and his girlfriend Valli Fay Back are now in the same prison. These two slackers, who were engaged in fraud and theft, having smoked “weed”, decided to use seven-year-old Shiang King for their sexual pleasures. While they were traveling around Australia, small town Nuza they kidnapped the girl, and then, having abused her, Watts killed the baby.

Vincent Farrow also became a kind of prisoner of this prison. At the age of twenty, he organized a gang that was engaged in robberies and murders, but thanks to the efforts of lawyers, it was not possible to prove the young man’s guilt as the leader of a criminal group. But the judge still gave him a substantial sentence of 55 years in prison for... participation in a criminal act, which, through the efforts of the prosecution, was classified as gang rape. As the state's Attorney General Bob Dubus noted, this is the harshest sentence handed down in Australia for such an act.

But the most famous prisoner of the prison remains the great-grandson of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill - Nicholas Bartan, who, having settled in Australia, found nothing better than to start producing ecstasy drugs, supplying them not only to clubs and discos, but also to prisons. As a result of the police operation, his underground laboratory was liquidated. The extraction of 55 kilograms of raw materials for the production of the potion, stamping equipment and production manager, New Zealander Ross Woodrith. Both were sent to jail, and their former buyers were not depressed for long. After the supply channel for the potion was blocked, for example, in the same Parramatta prison where the accomplices ended up, prisoners began breeding poisonous black widow spiders, from the extract of which, diluted with water, they made a drug.

And in the Goulburn Prison prison, things got to the point where the prison administration, which was happy with the desire of its charges to work in greenhouses, was unpleasantly surprised to learn that the “agronomists” were growing hemp there, which was then processed into marijuana.

However, the prisoners did not grieve for long over the absence of “dope.” One of them came up with a brilliant plan. The fact is that one of Australia’s troubles is the rapidly expanding range of frogs, which devour beneficial insects, and which have been declared a total hunt. So, a smart prisoner suggested to the authorities that they start sewing leather shorts in the prison workshop. The go-ahead was received, the work began to boil, but the final product was in no hurry to appear. It turned out that from the skin of a poisonous amphibian, craftsmen brewed a drug that was in no way inferior in quality to the drug LSD.

Beware, Al-Qaeda!

The psychosis that gripped Europe and the United States in connection with the activities of terrorist organizations did not bypass Australia. The authorities even designated the Barwon prison near Melbourne to hold such terrorists. For example, Jack Roche, a British citizen, spent nine children there. An Englishman who converted to Islam was accused of trying to organize terrorist attack at the Israeli Embassy. During his arrest, he himself admitted that he had undergone training in one of the al-Qaeda camps in Pakistan and even met with bin Laden.

However, after serving his sentence, it was decided to release him early on the condition that Jack would regularly report to the police station to register, and that his telephone and Internet communications would be monitored by Australian counterintelligence. Another “Australian Islamist,” taxi driver Joseph Thomson, was much less fortunate. He was sentenced to 25 years for participation in preparing an explosion at a nuclear power plant. He was unable to serve his entire sentence because in April 2006 he was beaten to death by fellow inmates.

By the way, the most extravagant convict committed the crime from this prison. Robert Cole, in order to gain freedom, made a hole in the wall, but due to his fullness he could not squeeze through it. And then he went on a diet. After several months of fasting, he lost 14 kilograms, and then carried out his planned escape.

Sergey Uranov
Based on newspaper materials
"Behind Bars" (No. 5 2013)