James Phelps - Australias Hardest Prison: Inside the Walls of Long Bay Jail

WELCOME TO LONG BAY, AUSTRALIAS HARDEST PRISON.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, GUARDS AND INMATES OF THE NOTORIOUS SOUTH SYDNEY FACILITY REVEAL WHAT REALLY GOES ON BEHIND ITS TOWERING CONCRETE WALLS.

Opened in 1909, Long Bay Jail, originally a womens reformatory, has a dark and extraordinary history.

From ghosts to legendary prisoners, there has been an infamous collection of Long Bay guests, including the formidable Neddy Smith, convicted rapists the Skaf brothers and shamed entrepreneur Rene Rivkin.

Former inmates Rodney Adler, Graham Abo Henry, Tom Domican, John Elias and others tell all about the brutal reality of life behind bars. And Mr Big Ian Hall Saxon finally comes clean about his prison escape, which baffled the nation.

Delve into the personal accounts of the prison guards, Long Bays unsung heroes, as they open up about their experiences dealing with some of the most dangerous men in the country.

Keep an Eye Out

You have to be violent.

Former Long Bay inmate Graham Abo Henry

Graham Abo Henry entered the shower block: eight separate cubicles behind a brick wall at the end of 13 Wing. First he heard the muffled screams and then he saw the blood.

Four Aboriginal blokes were at this guy in the shower, said Henry. And they were flogging the shit out of him. There were no knives, no weapons, but there were plenty of fists, elbows and knees.

Henry walked past the blood and the screams, and found an empty shower. He turned on the hot water and began to wash. He pretended not to hear the slapping, smacking and smashing; the bone breaking and the blood spilling. He whistled as he soaped his face. After all, it was just another day at Long Bay.

Mate, I have seen blokes in there get raped, murdered, bashed and burned, Henry continued. It all goes on. Long Bay is a place that should have been condemned. It was a fucking tough place when I was in there, and to survive you had to be tough too.

Seeing a bloke get bashed in the shower was nothing, as far as this career criminal was concerned.

Whos got soap? someone yelled amidst the action.

Right-o, Henry said. Coming at ya. He grabbed the hefty block of Sunlight, recently pulled from its wrapper, and tossed the soap over the tile wall that separated his shower from the next. The soap sailed off into the rising steam.

It was a shit throw, Henry recounted. And it hit one of the blokes who was throwing punches flush in the head.

Henry quickly grabbed his towel and walked out.

Next thing my mate is walking out with claret all over his face, Henry said. They accused him of throwing the soap and punched the shit out of him.

Abo Henry, an infamous armed robber and street thug, looked at his mate. Well get the cunts in the yard, he snapped. We aint nothing in here if we dont square it up.

So Henry found the bashers in the yard. There were four of them, and they were ready to fight.

I stepped into the first bloke, Henry said. And I pulled out his eye. I plucked it straight from his skull and left it dangling down his face.

The rest of the men backed away.

You are fucking mad, one said before walking off with the rest of the group, leaving their mate, now a bloodied half-blind mess, on the ground.

Thats the thing in jail, Henry said. You have to be violent. You have to do it because you have to stand out. If you dont stand out, then theyll step on you. You need to scare them so that they shit themselves.

Me and my mate used to electric-shock them in the balls. He had an electrical cord hed pulled out of a toaster and hed hold the end, while I grabbed the bloke we were after and throw him into the cell. Then wed jam the wires into the guys nuts and watch him scream.

There are only three ways to survive in Long Bay Jail:

1. Fight.
2. Ask for protection or pay for it.
3. Say nothing and do whatever they ask.

But as you will soon find out, nothing in this place is guaranteed

Ghosts and Gallows

Theres nothing freakier than being alone in those towers at night.

Former Long Bay prison officer (PO) Paul Rush

Click!

He unclenched his teeth as he pulled the gun away from his face. The barrel, which had been tightly pressed against his temple, left a rising red welt.

This place was driving him mad. He could no longer take the silence, the dark, and that constant feeling of being watched. There were no other guards, no inmates, no cameras. But he wasnt alone. He was never alone. Someone, or something, was watching. They were always watching.

The trigger smashed on an empty chamber. But there was no bullet exploding through brain and bone. This time it was just wind kissing his face. He lowered the gun, spun the chamber and pressed the steel back against his head. The solitary bullet waited patiently

Click!

What the fuck are you doing? screamed the guard as he burst through the door.

The guard with the gun shrugged. I dont know, he said, seemingly lost.

The ghostly game of Russian roulette was stopped just in time. After ten minutes of silence from his colleague up in 7 Tower, the guard knew something was wrong.

Many guys lose it up there, said former Long Bay PO Paul Rush. 7 Tower is supposed to be haunted. 9 Tower and 10 Tower, too. Guards have said theyve been tapped on the back, even though theyre on their own. And all of us have heard the noises. Theres nothing freakier than being alone in those towers at night; guards up there have called down and requested to be taken out. One night a guy lost it and ended up pointing the gun at his head and shooting. I didnt believe it until I saw the report. But I should have, because many who have worked there at night become unhinged.

This guard did not fire a bullet from his gun, but several have accidentally discharged their firearms while in the tower. One man recently shot himself in the thigh, while another sent a bullet ricocheting off a window and into a wall. Were they simply mishaps or something more?

Ghosts dont exist. Or do they?

The inmate confronted the guard at muster, when prisoners were asked to line up for roll call.

Theres something wrong with that cell, he said. I cant sleep in there. I keep hearing noises and its freezing all the time.

The guard glanced back. Bloody oath, there is something wrong with that cell, he remarked deadpan. Youre in what used to be death row. You live in a condemned cell, so have fun with the ghosts.

The inmate went white. Hed seen the welded iron outside his cell No. 47 in 4 Wing but never realised why it was there. Until now.

Thats the trapdoor, explained retired guard Dave Farrell, where the gallows used to be. You can still see the wooden beam above and the ion doors below.

Cells 47 and 48 were the final stop for the nine prisoners executed in Long Bay Jail. And according to both guards and prisoners, these cells are haunted by those who had their necks snapped by the hangmans noose.

Whack!

1917. The trapdoor snapped open, the steel swinging as the body dropped through the floor. Long Bay claimed her first kill eight years after she opened as a womens reformatory in 1909. NSW government architect Walter Liberty Vernon never imagined the prison he designed would become a place of death and horror. His Federation Gothic jail, complete with royal coat of arms and portcullis gate, was to be the most humane and comforting prison in history, as per the orders of Captain Frederick Neitenstein. Long Bay was to be Neitensteins legacy the NSW Inspector-General of Prisons was going to end brutal penal punishment and turn prisoners into model citizens, with this building to spark international reform. There would be larger cells and electric lighting, and hygienic measures to be taken. There would be work, and rehabilitation programs to help facilitate life after prison. The petty or young offenders who were sent to Australias first purpose-built dual institution for men and women would return to society and never offend again.