Gambling for Love Australia's First Decimal Currency Bank Robber

Gambling for Love : Australia's First Decimal Currency Bank Robber
ISBN: 9781925138603
Publication Date: 1 July 2015

John Killick made Australian headlines in February 1966 when he became Australia's first Decimal currency bankrobber. In March 1999 he made world headlines when he became Australia's first prisoner to escape in a helicopter. Gambling For Love is a warts and all account of how a law abiding youth became a gambler, then a petty criminal and eventually a prolific bankrobber who was on top of Australia's Most Wanted list as well as being wanted by Interpol and Chicago police.

It also describes the brutality of a prison system more intent on retribution than rehabilitation in an era where capital punishment and corporal punishment were still meted out. Killick's description of his encounters with some of the worst and most notorious criminals in Australian history is compelling. But this is also a love story that began with a 'love at first sight' meeting and ended near a decade later in extraordinary fashion. In the words of renowned author and playwright, Bob Ellis, "This book is destined to become a classic".

About the Author

Blaming his often drunken, violent father, John Killick left home the day his mother suicided. Months later, aged only 17, he was in gaol mixing with hardened criminals who taught him to abide by the criminal code. At 23 he was a compulsive gambler and began robbing banks. Consequently, he spent 4 years in the notorious H Division at Pentridge, the same time as the violent riots and the execution of Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged in Australia.

Against all these odds, a remarkable, decade long love story survived. Now notorious after another lover rescued him from Silverwater prison in a hijacked helicopter in 1999, John wants to get the message across to young people that there is nothing glamorou...