Faraday School kidnapping
Encyclopedia
The Faraday School kidnapping occurred on 6 October 1972 at a one-teacher school in the village of Faraday
in Victoria, Australia
.
That evening, the Premier of Victoria, Dick Hamer, announced that the State Government
was prepared to pay the ransom. The Victorian Education Minister and future Premier, Lindsay Thompson
, arrived at the scene and waited alone to personally deliver the ransom but it was never collected. In the early hours of the next morning, the kidnappers told Gibbs they were going to collect the ransom and left her and the pupils.
When they were gone, Gibbs managed to kick the door panel out with her heavy, platform-heeled
leather boots and escape with the children in the dark, finding help a few kilometres away. Eastwood and Boland were captured by heavily armed Victoria Police
officers after an extensive manhunt.
Boland was convicted by a jury in March 1974 after three trials and was sentenced to seventeen years' imprisonment with a minimum term of twelve years, although Eastwood has maintained that Boland was innocent and that the real co-kidnapper was an ex-convict that Thomson spoke to at Woodend and arrested at the scene by police.
Mary Gibbs was awarded a George Medal
for her bravery on 22 January 1973.
.
On 15 February 1977, he kidnapped a teacher and nine pupils from the Wooreen State School in Gippsland, Victoria. While driving off, he collided with a truck and held the driver and his partner hostage. Twenty minutes later another log truck came along and he waved them to a stop and also took them hostage. He then commandeered a campervan with two female occupants and took them hostage.
Finally, with sixteen hostages, he demanded a ransom of US$7 million, guns, 100 kilograms of heroin and cocaine, and the release of seventeen inmates from Pentridge Prison. However, one of the hostages escaped and notified police, and Eastwood fled with the remaining hostages. After the campervan was disabled by police gunfire at Woodside, Eastwood was shot below the right knee and captured by police. (Eastwood claimed that he was shot after surrendering to police whilst unarmed.)
Eastwood pleaded guilty to 25 charges, including 15 counts of kidnapping, three counts of car theft, three counts of using a firearm with intent to avoid apprehension, two counts of conduct endangering life, one count of escaping lawful custody and one count of being a prohibited person in possession of an unregistered firearm and theft of a crate of cartoned milk. He was sentenced to a 21 years' imprisonment with a minimum of 18 years, with the judge ordering that the sentence to be served cumulatively with the 11 years remaining on the sentence from the Faraday kidnapping when he escaped from prison; thus, the total effective sentence was 32 years' imprisonment with a minimum of 24 years.
On 30 April 1981 Eastwood killed convicted rapist Glen Davies while serving his sentence. Charged with murder he was subsequently acquitted on the grounds of self defense — Eastwood had been stabbed 10 times during the incident. Davies was strangled to death.
Eastwood was released in 1993 after having served 20 years behind bars, choosing to decline parole offered 2 years prior to release, serving the sentence in full. He now works as a truck driver.
was loosely based on the crime. Using dramatic license, Lord added many fictional elements. The novel was adapted as 1986 film Fortress
.
Faraday, Victoria
Faraday is a locality situated on the Calder Highway, north west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia.-History:The Post Office opened on 1 April 1867, but was closed in 1880, postal services being provided from nearby Harcourt....
in Victoria, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Incident
Edwin John Eastwood and Robert Clyde Boland entered the school armed with a sawn-off shotgun at about 3:00pm, and forced the teacher, 20-year-old Mary Gibbs, and her six pupils (girls aged between 5 and 10) into a red delivery van. They were driven off into a remote area in the bush. The kidnappers left a note at the school threatening to kill all of the hostages unless a $1,000,000 cash ransom was paid.That evening, the Premier of Victoria, Dick Hamer, announced that the State Government
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
was prepared to pay the ransom. The Victorian Education Minister and future Premier, Lindsay Thompson
Lindsay Thompson
Lindsay Hamilton Simpson Thompson AO, CMG , Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 40th Premier of Victoria from June 1981 to April 1982...
, arrived at the scene and waited alone to personally deliver the ransom but it was never collected. In the early hours of the next morning, the kidnappers told Gibbs they were going to collect the ransom and left her and the pupils.
When they were gone, Gibbs managed to kick the door panel out with her heavy, platform-heeled
Platform shoe
Platform shoes are shoes, boots, or sandals with thick soles at least four inches in height, often made of cork, plastic, rubber, or wood...
leather boots and escape with the children in the dark, finding help a few kilometres away. Eastwood and Boland were captured by heavily armed Victoria Police
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...
officers after an extensive manhunt.
Aftermath
Eastwood pleaded guilty to the kidnapping in December 1972 and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison with a minimum of ten years; three armed robbery charges against him were dropped in exchange for evidence against Boland.Boland was convicted by a jury in March 1974 after three trials and was sentenced to seventeen years' imprisonment with a minimum term of twelve years, although Eastwood has maintained that Boland was innocent and that the real co-kidnapper was an ex-convict that Thomson spoke to at Woodend and arrested at the scene by police.
Mary Gibbs was awarded a George Medal
George Medal
The George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
for her bravery on 22 January 1973.
Eastwood's escape and second kidnapping
On 16 December 1976, Edwin Eastwood escaped from Geelong PrisonHM Prison Geelong
HM Prison Geelong was a maximum security Australia prison located on the corner of Myers Street and Swanston Street in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The prison was built in stages from 1849 to 1864. Its panopticon design is based on Pentonville Prison in England...
.
On 15 February 1977, he kidnapped a teacher and nine pupils from the Wooreen State School in Gippsland, Victoria. While driving off, he collided with a truck and held the driver and his partner hostage. Twenty minutes later another log truck came along and he waved them to a stop and also took them hostage. He then commandeered a campervan with two female occupants and took them hostage.
Finally, with sixteen hostages, he demanded a ransom of US$7 million, guns, 100 kilograms of heroin and cocaine, and the release of seventeen inmates from Pentridge Prison. However, one of the hostages escaped and notified police, and Eastwood fled with the remaining hostages. After the campervan was disabled by police gunfire at Woodside, Eastwood was shot below the right knee and captured by police. (Eastwood claimed that he was shot after surrendering to police whilst unarmed.)
Eastwood pleaded guilty to 25 charges, including 15 counts of kidnapping, three counts of car theft, three counts of using a firearm with intent to avoid apprehension, two counts of conduct endangering life, one count of escaping lawful custody and one count of being a prohibited person in possession of an unregistered firearm and theft of a crate of cartoned milk. He was sentenced to a 21 years' imprisonment with a minimum of 18 years, with the judge ordering that the sentence to be served cumulatively with the 11 years remaining on the sentence from the Faraday kidnapping when he escaped from prison; thus, the total effective sentence was 32 years' imprisonment with a minimum of 24 years.
On 30 April 1981 Eastwood killed convicted rapist Glen Davies while serving his sentence. Charged with murder he was subsequently acquitted on the grounds of self defense — Eastwood had been stabbed 10 times during the incident. Davies was strangled to death.
Eastwood was released in 1993 after having served 20 years behind bars, choosing to decline parole offered 2 years prior to release, serving the sentence in full. He now works as a truck driver.
Adaptations
The novel Fortress (1980) by Gabrielle LordGabrielle Lord
Gabrielle Craig Lord is an Australian writer who has been described as Australia's first lady of crime. She has published a wide range of writing including reviews, articles, short stories and non-fiction, but she is best known for her psychological thrillers.-Life:Lord was born in Sydney...
was loosely based on the crime. Using dramatic license, Lord added many fictional elements. The novel was adapted as 1986 film Fortress
Fortress (1986 film)
Fortress is a 1986 film directed by Arch Nicholson and written by Everett De Roche. It is based on Gabrielle Lord's novel of the same name, which was loosely based on the 1972 Faraday School Kidnapping....
.
See Also
- Chowchilla kidnapping of 1976, in which 26 children and one adult were kidnapped from their school busSchool busA school bus is a type of bus designed and manufactured for student transport: carrying children and teenagers to and from school and school events...
in CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and held for ransom