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John Silvester

John Silvester

Brisbane Times

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Mokbel: The last chapter is yet to be written

Mokbel: The last chapter is yet to be written

The judicial process around Tony Mokbel makes the Suburban Rail Loop look like a frugal investment and the CFMEU a benevolent organisation.

previous day 6

The Age

John Silvester

Position vacant: A crushing police chief job with 18-hour days, a crime crisis and not enough police

Position vacant: A crushing police chief job with 18-hour days, a crime crisis and not enough police

The front-runner for the new chief commissioner role is a late scratching after he drew up a list of pros and cons for the job then walked out the...

02.04.2025 10

The Age

John Silvester

As Tony Mokbel fights for freedom, the court has three options

As Tony Mokbel fights for freedom, the court has three options

There is this sense that the courts may be tempted to acquit the drug kingpin, to punish police for sneakily using barrister turned informer Nicola...

02.04.2025 10

The Age

John Silvester

The bikies’ deadly code of silence

The bikies’ deadly code of silence

This wasn’t about snitching to police but telling the truth about the death of an innocent man, so the victim’s family could have some answers.

28.03.2025 10

The Age

John Silvester

Shedding light on sport’s deadly secret

Shedding light on sport’s deadly secret

Craig made a fortune and then lost it. He was then sucked into investing hundreds of thousands with the wrong crowd. For a smart guy, he made a series...

21.03.2025 10

The Age

John Silvester

Hard lessons from the Cronulla riot

Opinions matter. When critics demonise Palestine protesters or jump to the conclusion that a cache of explosives is proof of a terror plot or scream...

14.03.2025 10

The Age

John Silvester

It seemed like a good idea at the time: The top 10 worst ideas in law enforcement

While Premier Jacinta Allan admitted to making a mistake with the bail laws, no one ever took responsibility for these questionable decisions.

13.03.2025 20

The Age

John Silvester

Having driven into a dead end on bail, the government is now desperately in reverse

Make no mistake, the Allan government’s bail reforms are a political solution to a justice problem because the party knows it’s haemorrhaging...

12.03.2025 20

The Age

John Silvester

The unsolved murder that started an underworld war

An execution on May 16, 2000, wasn’t exactly headline news – but it was the first murder that began the Underbelly crime war, which would result...

07.03.2025 8

The Age

John Silvester

The DNA detectives taking on the grim reality of Ukraine’s war

Their code is “everyone has the right to a dignified life, everyone has the right to a dignified death”. And they are using ingenious ways to...

28.02.2025 10

The Age

John Silvester

Week of the long knives. What Neil Paterson’s farewell letter really tells us

The state government is conducting an apparent purge of the top ranks of Victoria Police, and it’s exposing the advice the government has long...

21.02.2025 20

The Age

John Silvester

Poms, put aside your Ouija boards – Australians do have common sense about Sam Kerr

Short of words and desperate for a donut, a mother country scribe has decided to attack this columnist for his piece on Kerr.

21.02.2025 20

The Age

John Silvester

Policing is not a popularity contest – being a politician is

If the karma bus hits the Allan government at the next state election, don’t be surprised if Shane Patton is behind the wheel.

17.02.2025 10

The Age

John Silvester

Shane Patton was never the problem – refusal to take his advice was

The decision to remove Victoria’s police chief commissioner smacks of panic, scapegoating and a government in a death spiral.

15.02.2025 40

The Age

John Silvester

Ten underworld hits that shook Melbourne

The slaying of Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim is the latest in a long list of killings that are as Melbourne as laneway graffiti.

07.02.2025 50

The Age

John Silvester

Dead man walking: Why ‘The Punisher’ refused to go into hiding

Sam Abdulrahim remained an eternal optimist despite his demise being in no doubt. It was only the location and timing that would need to be filled in...

28.01.2025 6

The Age

John Silvester

Finger-pointing and blame: The ugly attempts to gain votes from a terror event

If the aim of terrorism is to use violence to change the political narrative, then the three offenders who set fire to a Ripponlea synagogue on a...

15.12.2024 30

The Age

John Silvester

Pass the pita: Where does the Mokbel fiasco go from here?

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday. You’re...

28.11.2024 5

The Age

John Silvester

It’s a cliche that prisons are ruled by the laws of the jungle, but also true

Some crooks see jail as an occupational hazard and accept it as a cost of doing business. For others, it is their natural domain where they become...

22.11.2024 6

The Age

John Silvester

Bodyguards for billionaires: Inside the secret world

There is a select group of products, such as executive jets, super yachts and Renaissance paintings, that are so expensive that if you need to ask...

08.11.2024 3

The Age

John Silvester

Attention Australian criminals: You need to learn from this bloke

The scoop was surprisingly easy to get because the international drug dealer thought I was someone else. That was his mistake. But I pressed the...

01.11.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Tales of the sting: The traps cops set to nab their targets

To be a good detective you need to be smart, dedicated and have a large slice of empathy. But the great ones have something else – the ability to...

18.10.2024 3

The Age

John Silvester

Greg Lynn is about to face the music, and he won’t like the tune

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday. You’re...

17.10.2024 40

The Age

John Silvester

Scot free: How Scotland emptied its jails of youths

The young gang member is in hospital waiting to be treated for a knife wound. Even though he is still bleeding, he is on his phone to mates. “He is...

04.10.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

The crucial DNA questions that remain over Easey Street cold case

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday. You’re...

03.10.2024 4

The Age

John Silvester

Easey Street’s sliding doors moment, and the scoop I never thought I’d write

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday. You’re...

26.09.2024 5

The Age

John Silvester

How police tracked the Easey Street suspect

The Easey Street suspect was identified through a DNA test when police undertook to check the 131 people listed in the original police file in the...

21.09.2024 6

The Age

John Silvester

From Pell to Gobbo, Kerri Judd faced ‘the familiar drumbeat of difficult decisions’

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday. You’re...

19.09.2024 4

The Age

John Silvester

The predators that locked doors can’t stop

Warning: distressing content It was a race against time. In a deep dive into a child abuse offender’s computer, they find a hidden file of a young...

13.09.2024 4

The Age

John Silvester

From bungled drug drops to deep-sea mysteries, water policing is getting busier

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. No one knows why the technician on the rebooted TV series Flipper chose to take his...

06.09.2024 4

The Age

John Silvester

How the tide turned on Phillip Island killer

The man in the northern suburbs’ police station seemed to have all the answers, which was hardly surprising. After all, he had been through this...

30.08.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

Life as a country cop: When the road death isn’t a statistic, it’s a neighbour

In the middle of the night, in the middle of the forest facing loggers armed with chainsaws and protesters armed with lentils, the lone cop knows...

02.08.2024 10

The Age

John Silvester

The French are protecting the Games with fearsome firepower. Australia had two pranksters

John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld in Naked City , an exclusive newsletter for subscribers sent every Thursday. You’re...

26.07.2024 2

The Age

John Silvester

Unions, bikies, the IRA and turning a blind eye

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. I have an idea for the government to raise money to help pay off the state debt....

18.07.2024 2

The Age

John Silvester