Bertie Kidd might look like a harmless old bloke but is one of Australia’s worst criminals
Bertie Kidd might look like a harmless old bloke who has lived a long, blameless life and is now well into peaceful retirement.
But this grandfather who enjoys a quiet beer with his mates and spending time with his dog is one of the most prolific major criminals Australia ever produced.
The 86-year-old was released from prison two and a half years ago amid warnings from those who knew his background and capabilities he was just as dangerous as ever.
For half a century Kidd has been among the most notorious identities within the local underworld, infamous to several generations of cops and crooks.
His own lawyer once suggested Kidd was ‘the most complete criminal’ in the nation’s history. Others have referred to him as ‘Australian criminal royalty.’
Kidd was a master safe-breaker, forger of currency and fixer of races. He made millions more staging gold bullion thefts, armed robberies and home invasions.
‘Even though I’ve been caught for some, I might have got away with others,’ Kidd told Daily Mail Australia. ‘But I’ve never hurt anyone in the course of my escapades.’
That last claim isn’t quite true. Kidd shot an undercover police officer in the wrist during a botched burglary and some of his crimes must have petrified his victims.
![Kidd, 86, was released from prison just two and a half years ago, amid warnings from those who know his background he was a still a danger to society. He is pictured at his book launch](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988552-7646213-image-m-42_1573709218403.jpg)
Kidd, 86, was released from prison just two and a half years ago, amid warnings from those who know his background he was a still a danger to society. He is pictured at his book launch
![For half a century Kidd, pictured with a lady friend, has been among the most notorious identities in the Australian underworld, his name infamous to generations of crooks and cops](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988750-7646213-image-a-58_1573709482344.jpg)
For half a century Kidd, pictured with a lady friend, has been among the most notorious identities in the Australian underworld, his name infamous to generations of crooks and cops
Kidd has also been a prime suspect in two underworld murders and was investigated over the near-fatal shooting of another gangster, all of which he denies doing.
While largely unknown outside criminal, correctional and policing circles, English-born Kidd hits the news every decade or so.
The last time was in 2015 when Immigration Minister Peter Dutton was determined he be deported the second he stepped foot outside jail.
Kidd arrived in this country in 1947 as a 14-year-old as a Ten Pound Pom and has since then considered himself Australian. His family has said any move to send him back to the country of his birth would be ‘inhumane’.
He started in Melbourne, took his trade up to Sydney, and spent 27 years in prison during three major stints – much of it in maximum security. Kidd got away clean with the vast majority of his crimes, which he likes to call ‘projects’.
For three years the federal government fought to have the frail felon deported, a battle he won due to his 1950s National Service.
He was born in London in 1933 and christened Bertram Douglas Kidd but changed his first name to Robert in the 1960s. He has remained known as Bert or Bertie.
![Kidd immigrated from England in 1947 aged 14. His father William and mother Annie are pictured](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988764-7646213-image-a-66_1573709566040.jpg)
![Kidd came to Australia with his brother after World War II. He is pictured with his 'Nanna Kidd'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988766-7646213-image-a-67_1573709590358.jpg)
Kidd and one of his brothers immigrated to Australia from England in 1947 when Bertie was 14. His father William and mother Annie are pictured left. He is pictured right with his ‘Nanna Kidd’
![Kidd, pictured with his dog Dino, was described by his lawyer as among the most complete criminals in Australia's history. He has been referred to as Australian criminal royalty by others](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988666-7646213-image-a-49_1573709361742.jpg)
Kidd, pictured with his dog Dino, was described by his lawyer as among the most complete criminals in Australia’s history. He has been referred to as Australian criminal royalty by others
Kidd’s criminal exploits are so extensive and his reputation so ruthless he has been likened to the mythical crime lord Keyser Soze in the 1995 film The Usual Suspects.
While his face and name have remained largely anonymous to the public since he began his criminal career seven decades ago he is now stepping into the open.
Kidd has co-operated with writer Simon Griffin for a trilogy of books about his colourful life. The story could not fit into one.
The first tome, The Audacious Kidd, has just been published and will be followed by another early next year.
Kidd decided to tell his story after watching from behind bars a television news report of his planned deportation which painted him as ‘a real villain’.
‘So much of it was wrong,’ he writes in the book’s prologue. ‘I was no choir boy, but then again who’d want to be?
‘It struck me then, with tremendous force, that virtually no one knew my real story.
‘The truth had been obscured; the legends had outgrown and overshadowed the facts. So many people who knew me were gone.’
![Kidd did not spend 27 years in prison for picking pockets and got away with the vast majority of his crimes, which he likes to call 'projects'. He is circled carrying a milk crate in Goulburn jail](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988918-7646213-image-m-82_1573709927394.jpg)
Kidd did not spend 27 years in prison for picking pockets and got away with the vast majority of his crimes, which he likes to call ‘projects’. He is circled carrying a milk crate in Goulburn jail
![Kidd has spent almost 30 of his 86 years behind bars, often in maximum security. He is pictured in custody](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988832-7646213-image-m-73_1573709730611.jpg)
![Bertie Kidd has been likened to the crime lord Keyser Soze played by Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988834-7646213-image-a-74_1573709735284.jpg)
Kidd, pictured left in custody, has spent almost 30 of his 86 years behind bars, often in maximum security prisons. He has been likened to the crime lord Keyser Soze played by Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects (right)
Kidd told Daily Mail Australia he objected to many of the stories that had been told about him in the past.
‘Jobs that I never did, you know – things like that,’ he said. ‘Still to this day they say I killed X, Y, Z. You get police saying, “Kidd killed so-and-so” and I’ve got no redress.
‘They’ll have a hell of a say once I’m gone – I’m not there to answer. So I thought I’m gonna put a few things right.’
The Audacious Kidd covers Kidd’s childhood in war-torn England, immigration and criminal exploits up to the early 1970s.
‘It’s just straight from the shoulder,’ Kidd said. ‘I’m fortunate I’ve got a brilliant memory. I can recall anything.’
Kidd said he would not be profiting from telling his story. ‘It’s not for money I can assure you because I’ve signed legal documents that I don’t want a cent.’
One ‘myth’ Kidd denied was that he hired Melbourne gangster Brian Kane to kill former detective Brian ‘The Skull’ Murphy, who has been described as Australia’s toughest cop.
![Retired armed robber John Killick, best known for escaping from Silverwater prison by helicopter in 1999, met Kidd in the late 1960s when his reputation was already well-known](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/05/20562520-7646213-Retired_armed_robber_John_Killick_best_known_for_escaping_from_S-m-29_1573795898496.jpg)
Retired armed robber John Killick, best known for escaping from Silverwater prison by helicopter in 1999, met Kidd in the late 1960s when his reputation was already well-known
![Melbourne identity Mick Gatto met Kidd in the mid 1990s when an associate was facing a problem](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/04/02/20562260-0-image-a-35_1572836337308.jpg)
![Notorious British criminal Freddie Foreman first heard about Kidd in the late 1960s](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/04/02/20562410-0-image-m-34_1572836332513.jpg)
Melbourne identity Mick Gatto (left) met Kidd in the mid 1990s when an associate was facing a problem. British criminal Freddie Foreman (right) first heard of Kidd in the late 1960s
‘I’m in about 18 books,’ Kidd said. ‘And some of them have really gone over the edge. For instance me offering to pay $30,000 to kill Murphy the copper.
‘No one’s ever asked me the question: why would I pay $30,000 for Brian Kane to do the job when I could do it myself for nothing?
‘So I thought I’m gonna put a few things right.’
Author Griffin writes in the book’s preface: ‘This story is not about grandstanding or advocating crime, and should not be interpreted as such.’
‘As these volumes demonstrate clearly, most gangsters start by being drawn into petty crimes, then find themselves carried along by events.
‘Before they know it, they’re too far in to get out. And as Kidd acknowledges, crime seldom pays, more often leading to many lost years of life.’
During an hour-long interview it was not clear Kidd entirely agreed with the writer.
‘I took up being a crook and I paid the penalty,’ he said at one point. ‘Life’s been very good to me,’ he said at another.
‘I’ve had a lot of fun and a lot of enjoyment.’
![Kidd (pictured) has decided to tell his story after watching from behind bars a television news report of his planned deportation which painted him as 'a real villain'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/06/20988838-7646213-Kidd_pictured_has_decided_to_tell_his_story_after_watching_from_-m-32_1573797686502.jpg)
Kidd (pictured) has decided to tell his story after watching from behind bars a television news report of his planned deportation which painted him as ‘a real villain’
Kidd could not say exactly how much money he made pulling off hundreds of crimes but the figure was well into the millions of dollars.
‘Oh, yeah. In actual take of money, God almighty… ‘
Kidd is not a physically big man, standing 170cm (5’7”) tall in his prime. But he kept himself fit and well into his 60s there were people who found him terrifying.
Author Griffin accepts the Keyser Soze analogy. ‘You know what, that’s exactly right,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard that a few times.’
‘Some of the stories I’ve heard… There are some things I want to hear and some things I don’t.’
Kidd is a complex character. A bit of a loner, he was popular with women. He enjoyed gardening and has always loved animals.
Griffin said of Kidd in his heyday: ‘He scrubbed up very well and I’m telling you now he had plenty of lady friends.’
Kidd’s barrister and friend, the late and legendary Brian Bourke, described his client as ‘one of the most complete criminals I ever knew’ and ‘a very tough bloke’.
Retired armed robber John Killick, best known for escaping from Silverwater prison by helicopter in 1999, met Kidd in the late 1960s when his reputation was already well-known.
![For three years the federal government fought to have frail fellon Bertie Kidd (pictured) deported, a battle he won due to his 1950s National Sservice](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/03/20988620-7646213-For_three_years_the_federal_government_fought_to_have_ageing_vil-a-26_1573789450886.jpg)
For three years the federal government fought to have frail fellon Bertie Kidd (pictured) deported, a battle he won due to his 1950s National Service
‘As far as crooks go, he’s one of the best, and his involvement in some of Australia’s most audacious crimes is a testament to his formidable character,’ Killick writes in a publicity blurb for the book.
Kidd broke into countless bank safes, staged major robberies and was one of the instigators of the race-fixing disaster that became known as the Fine Cotton affair.
In the late 1960s, shortly after the introduction of deciminal currency, he financed the forgery of millions of dollars worth of $10 notes which circulated for years.
Kidd’s most audacious – and ultimately unsuccessful – known crime has become known as the ‘great plane robbery’.
In 1982 he and several associates hid inside large wooden crates on a flight carrying $1million in Reserve Bank cash to regional Queensland bank branches.
The scheme, which Kidd calls ‘the box trick’, came unstuck when the hand of one of his accomplices was spotted poking outside a crate in Rockhampton.
Kidd’s deeds long ago reached the ears of hoodlums in his homeland, including Freddie Foreman, who is sometimes called the godfather of British crime.
![Bertie Kidd was a gambler who fixed races and was an instigator of the 1984 Fine Cotton ring-in. An animal lover who has owned dogs most of his life, he is pictured with his horse Why So](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/02/21033174-7646213-_As_far_as_crooks_go_he_s_one_of_the_best_and_his_involvement_in-a-10_1573785441966.jpg)
Bertie Kidd was a gambler who fixed races and was an instigator of the 1984 Fine Cotton ring-in. An animal lover who has owned dogs most of his life, he is pictured with his horse Why So
‘I’ve known of Bertie Kidd since the late 60s and have followed his career with interest,’ Foreman has said for the book.
‘A master in his field, he’s written up as criminal royalty in Australia – a deserved title due to his audacious exploits.’
Kidd’s last stint in jail began in 1997 when he was sent away for 11 years after a bungled attempt to steal pseudoephedrine from a Brisbane chemical company.
None of the precursor drug for amphetamines was even there; that fateful flight up to Queensland was the most costly he ever took.
Kidd came under heavy gunfire from police and shot a plainclothes officer he thought was a bikie out to kill him, in a job he described as a ‘debacle’.
‘I was lucky,’ Kidd said. ‘They were all firing at me. I could feel the bullets as they whistled around me but not one of them got me.
‘You’ve got to be lucky sometimes.’
Kidd was convicted in 2004 of armed robberies on wealthy Sydney home owners in Burraneer Bay and Manly committed a decade earlier when he was in his mid 60s.
!['The truth had been obscured; the legends had outgrown and overshadowed the facts,' Kidd writes in The Audacious Kidd. He is pictured with son Stephen](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988692-7646213-image-m-52_1573709391826.jpg)
‘The truth had been obscured; the legends had outgrown and overshadowed the facts,’ Kidd writes in The Audacious Kidd. He is pictured with son Stephen
Melbourne identity Mick Gatto met Kidd about that time when an associate was facing a problem and Kidd ‘negotiated a successful resolution’ for him.
‘The fact that he was involved in criminal activities over such a long period without public knowledge is evidence of the respect he has in the underworld,’ Gatto writes in the book.
Kidd was happy to return the compliment. ‘Mick’s an energetic worker for charities,’ he said. ‘He’s the most generous bloke out. What a f***in’ gentleman he is.’
Not everyone speaks as highly of Kidd.
When Kidd was pleading to be allowed to stay in Australia four years ago former NSW police assistant commissioner Clive Small made his opinion clear.
‘Bertie Kidd has for the whole of his life been a nasty, vicious, violent criminal,’ Small told the ABC.
‘He’s in his early 80s now, I understand that, but I don’t think he’s held an honest job for one day.’
Small pointed to Kidd’s appalling rap sheet, which does not include many of his most lucrative crimes.
‘He’s also suspected of having been involved in a couple of murders, never charged, and he’s also been shot a couple of times,’ Small said.
![Crime boss Lennie McPherson (left) takes Chicago mafia identities Nick Giordano and Joseph Testa kangaroo shooting near Bourke in western NSW int the late 1960s. McPherson was a criminal contemporary of Kidd's](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/03/21036252-7646213-image-a-12_1573786983725.jpg)
Crime boss Lennie McPherson (left) takes Chicago mafia identities Nick Giordano and Joseph Testa kangaroo shooting near Bourke in western NSW int the late 1960s. McPherson was a criminal contemporary of Kidd’s
![Bold Personality, racing as Fine Cotton, wins at Brisbane's Eagle Farm racecourse in 1984. Kidd was one of the instigators of the bungled betting sting but pulled out before it fell apart](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/02/21036138-7646213-image-a-11_1573786536139.jpg)
Bold Personality, racing as Fine Cotton, wins at Brisbane’s Eagle Farm racecourse in 1984. Kidd was one of the instigators of the bungled betting sting but pulled out before it fell apart
Kidd objected to suggestions he had not worked a day in his life, insisting he ran several legitimate business and that safe-breaking was no easy job.
‘It’s completely wrong,’ he said. ‘I’ve had five businesses. Made money out of every venture I went in for but it wasn’t exciting enough.
‘It’s simple. Some people are addicted to a needle. I suppose I’m addicted to a safe.’
Kidd said his reputation for wielding an oxy acetylene torch, cutting equipment or a drill was once well-deserved. He also used a key when he could.
‘Oh, definitely, because I’ve got away with so much, you know. I admit that.’
Was he the country’s ‘most complete criminal’?
‘I suppose by that they mean I haven’t missed many projects put up to me, you know,’ he said. ‘I’ve done everything – fixing racing, forging money, hiding in boxes in planes.
‘If you set out on a project you hope to do it correctly, you know, and everything goes to plan.’
When those projects went wrong, like the attempted plane heist and the Queensland chemical burglary disaster, Kidd had only himself to blame.
‘You fall in a hole, you’ve got no complaints,’ he said. ‘I was gone before I left Sydney for the last one in Queensland.
‘I didn’t know one of me soldiers had discussed everything on the phone and in his utility. That’s the luck of the draw.’
Kidd claimed his crimes were never really about the money. It was ‘the challenge’ instead. ‘To have ’em arc up after you’ve cleaned ’em out,’ he said.
![Kidd (pictured) had some simple philosophies he applied to crime. 'I'm a mad believer in mind your own business and worry about yourself,' he said](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988742-7646213-image-a-56_1573709452946.jpg)
Kidd (pictured) had some simple philosophies he applied to crime. ‘I’m a mad believer in mind your own business and worry about yourself,’ he said
![Bertie Kidd says the late earless criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read was a liar. He could laugh just by looking at him](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988468-7646213-image-a-34_1573709065212.jpg)
![Kidd reckons Graham 'The Munster' Kinniburgh was probably a better safe-breaker than him](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988466-7646213-image-m-33_1573709054394.jpg)
Bertie Kidd says the late earless criminal Mark ‘Chopper’ Read (left) was a liar. He could laugh just by looking at him. He reckons Graham ‘The Munster’ Kinniburgh (right) is the best safe-breaker Australia has produced
Kidd’s lawyer Brian Bourke once said: ‘Bertie would have thought that he was the best safe cutter and safe blower in the country.’ Kidd did not quite agree.
He reckoned Melbourne’s Graham ‘The Munster’ Kinniburgh was better, closely followed by Raymond ‘Chuck’ Bennett.
‘The Munster, he had the edge on me,’ Kidd said. ‘Not to a vast extent.’
‘I’m not big-noting or anything. Chuck was a good operator. I don’t really know anyone else had them skills.’
Bennett was the architect of the 1976 Great Bookie Robbery in which a gang of six gunman robbed millions of dollars from Melbourne bookmakers at the Victoria Club.
Kinniburgh, like Kidd, was linked to some of the best-planned robberies in Australian history including an unsolved 1978 raid on a Bank of NSW branch in the state’s north.
![Former police assistant commissioner Clive Small says Bertie Kidd is a vicious criminal who has never worked a day in his life](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20989138-7646213-image-a-97_1573710580458.jpg)
![Peter Dutton tried to have Bertie Kidd deported when he was Immigration Minister](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20989170-7646213-image-m-96_1573710574149.jpg)
Former assistant commissioner Clive Small (left) says Bertie Kidd is a vicious criminal who has never worked a day in his life. Peter Dutton (right) tried to have Bertie Kidd deported when he was Immigration Minister
‘They reckon Graham done the Murwillumbah bank, 1.750 million dollars,’ Kidd said.
‘He was so angry that he had an offer to be in it but he rejected it. He didn’t think it could be done.’
Kinniburgh was shot dead outside his Melbourne home in 2003. Bennett was shot dead in 1979 in a Melbourne courthouse.
Cutting or blowing up safes was for decades considered the height of criminal accomplishment but is no longer a feasible crime.
‘The type of safes that you can open my ways, they’ve disappeared, and you’ve got TV cameras everywhere and phones,’ Kidd said. ‘It’s much harder now you know.
‘You’ve got to look to be a computer genius, I think. It’s a bit late for me to worry about that.’
Like most old crooks Kidd answered immediately when asked how the criminal landscape had changed most over the decades.
![Kidd (pictured) says his reputation for wielding an oxy acetylene torch, cutting equipment or a drill was once well-deserved. He also used a key when he could](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/06/20988840-7646213-Kidd_pictured_says_his_reputation_for_wielding_an_oxy_acetylene_-m-33_1573797717288.jpg)
Kidd (pictured) says his reputation for wielding an oxy acetylene torch, cutting equipment or a drill was once well-deserved. He also used a key when he could
‘Drugs have plainly stuffed it all up,’ he said. ‘I don’t think there’s any honour there among the drug operators.
‘They’re not even crooks. They’re getting jail sentences and they roll over straight away.
‘I got some blokes I can trust explicitly but you know it’s very hard now to trust.’
Kidd managed to stay out of custody until his first serious sentence when he was 38. He explained how he got away with so much without being locked up for so long.
‘Well, I had all the coppers on the pay roll in Victoria. They were fighting over it.’
Kidd claimed he won 19 acquittals in Victoria and could not have done so without paying police.
There was no more or less police corruption in Sydney and little difference between the two capital cities’ criminals.
‘I’ve heard Melbourne coppers say be careful going to Sydney and Sydney blokes’ll roll over on you quick. Then I’ve heard that about Melbourne.’
Kidd had some simple philosophies he applied to crime. ‘I’m a mad believer in mind your own business and worry about yourself,’ he said.
He often operated alone so that no one else could ruin the job. Planning and control were the keys. ‘Make sure that you can accomplish what you’re going to do.’
Other rules including never speaking to police without a solicitor and not taking a gun to break open a safe.
‘I believe stealing from a safe is by stealth so why take a gun on it?’ Kidd said.
‘But I’m quick to admit that I’ve done vans and sticking up armed guards. I haven’t been charged with them. You win some you lose some.’
![Ray 'Chuck' Bennett was among the most skillful criminals in Australia according to Bertie Kidd](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988522-7646213-image-m-39_1573709151013.jpg)
![Kidd says Jimmy 'Jockey' Smith was a big-noter whose exploits were exaggerated by the media](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988530-7646213-image-m-88_1573710136457.jpg)
Ray ‘Chuck’ Bennett (left) was among the most skillful criminals in Australia according to Kidd. He says ‘Jockey’ Smith (right) was a big-noter whose exploits were exaggerated by the media
Kidd had no trouble spending money he made from crime but lending it out got him into trouble. ‘I’m a very generous bloke,’ he said.
He once lent an acquaintance $60,000 only to be told by police that the borrower had paid a hitman $20,000 of that sum to have Kidd murdered.
‘So I don’t lend large sums of money anymore,’ he said.
Kidd revealed another supposed attempt on his life in the 1960s was actually a case of him shooting himself in the stomach. He had hoped to get a court date changed so he could get a softer sentencing judge.
Kidd’s reputation as one of the country’s most feared criminals flourished after the 1990s murders of standover man Roy Thurgar and onetime boxer Desmond Lewis.
Kidd has long been suspected of the murders of Thurgar, who was shot dead outside his Randwick laundromat in 1991, and Lewis, who was shot dead at Bondi Junction the following year.
Thurgar was believed to be among those responsible for the 1985 murder of gambler and drug Mick Sayers at Bronte. Sayers was Kidd’s best friend.
![Bertie Kidd's best friend Mick Sayers was shot dead outside his Bronte home in 1985](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20988992-7646213-image-a-87_1573710034620.jpg)
![Roy Thurgar bragged about being one of the men who murdered Mick Sayers. He was shot dead in 1991](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/14/05/20989042-7646213-image-m-86_1573709994843.jpg)
Bertie Kidd’s best friend Mick Sayers (left) was shot dead outside his Bronte home in 1985. Roy Thurgar (right) bragged of being one of the men who killed Sayers. He was shot dead in 1991
Asked if he killed Thurgar, Kidd replied: ‘Who me? I haven’t killed anyone. I’ll defend myself but I don’t go out to attack someone.’
Kidd accepted he was also a suspect in the murder of Lewis, a crime he vehemently denied.
‘Of course they put the drama on me,’ he said. ‘I was just lucky that I had perfect alibis.’
Kidd speaks more fondly of a few other criminals. Stan ‘The Man’ Smith – a sometime executioner associated with crime bosses George Freeman and Lennie McPherson – was actually a ‘lovely bloke’.
‘He was a very kind fella – but don’t cross him,’ he said.
‘People write him up as a monster. If he did do something to someone all I’d say is they would have f***in’ needed straightening out.’
Kidd was less keen on armed robber Jimmy ‘Jockey’ Smith, who was living with Kidd’s ex-wife when he survived being shot at Bondi in 1992 just days after he got out of jail.
![George Freeman relied on Bertie Kidd for his illegal gambling business](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/05/21033116-7646213-George_Freeman_relied_on_Bertie_Kidd_for_his_illegal_gambling_bu-m-30_1573797190905.jpg)
![Lennie McPherson was one of Australia's biggest crime bosses](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/05/21033114-7646213-Lennie_McPherson_was_one_of_Australia_s_biggest_crime_bosses-a-31_1573797203667.jpg)
George Freeman (left) relied on Bertie Kidd for his illegal gambling business. Lennie McPherson (right) was an associate of Freeman’s and one of Australia’s biggest crime bosses
‘Jockey, the media created him,’ Kid said.’ He talked big – “the best armed robber in Australia… “. He was over-rated. He gets no rap off me.’
Kidd had even less time for earless enforcer turned author Mark ‘Chopper’ Read.
‘He made a lot of money out of tellin’ lies,’ Kidd said. ‘He could make me laugh just lookin’ at him.’
Kidd did time behind bars in some of the country’s toughest prisons. In Victoria he was locked up in Pentridge’s H Division and he was segregated in Brisbane’s Boggo Road jail.
![The Audacious Kidd is available now online for $34.95 and from selected book stores](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/11/15/00/20988720-7646213-image-a-1_1573778528373.jpg)
The Audacious Kidd is available now online for $34.95 and from selected book stores
He was once extradited from Queensland to NSW on a private plane in the middle of the night and taken straight to Goulburn’s Supermax, he said, ‘because I’m colourful’.
Kidd claimed former NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham did not like him and sent regular reminders that his days as a big-time crook were over.
‘He used to send the governor down to give me a message. This was his message: “They’re all dead, you’re the last one standing”.
‘What he meant by that I’m f***ed if I know.’
Kidd does not object to the ‘last man standing’ tag and accepts there is no one left in the criminal milieu with his set of skills.
‘I’m 86 – there’s a few around me’s fallen down.’
These days Kidd lives a quiet life in Sydney. He is only a moderate drinker – VB or Crown Lager – and is not interested in gambling the way he once was. He can’t stand crowds and prefers to get out of town to be among wildlife.
Life had not just been good but ‘excellent’ and he was happy how it all panned out. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Everyone around me’s ended up with money.’
He has only one regret about his lawless years: ‘Yeah, that I took that last plane trip up to Queensland.’
The Audacious Kidd: Volume 1 of the Kidd Trilogy by Simon Griffin, published by Fin Press is available now for $34.95 at theaudaciouskidd.com or from Amazon.