Manslaughter: nightclub incident mid 1980s

The jolimont seige was a beaut. I worked in the Melbourne Building, just across the road. Roads in were blocked, but I got into the alley somehow (had my own parking spot behind what is now Mezzelira), and then got down to the CES which faced the Jolimont from across the road.

Cops were flat-out sprinting around the place, trying to get a better spot. They were not happy.

Turned out some angry man had rammed his car in there and was roaming around with a gun. The radio station people upstairs had to get out of their studio by climbing out of a window. Everyone skulked around (with us watching through the windows!), until it emerged he’d set fire to the place and shot himself.

Image is different to the one first viewed. Looks cropped. The one I viewed some months ago had officer in the photo, hence my comments about the uniforms and weapons looking older.

Okay, the photo info has been updated since I last viewed it. It was in January 1985, a siege at East Row.

Link to image: http://www.basis.act.gov.au/duslibrary/imagesact.nsf/view/4348C2032C5B16114A256D8D001C0FEE/$File/000855.JPG

Thanks TAD. Didn’t know about one in 93.
The incident in the photo I viewed was much earlier than 93. The vehicles and dinky uniforms were give aways. Also, the photo was very grainy and B&W. And they were using shot guns from WWII. The photo on the website you provide depicted a much more modern looking officer.
So that’s two sieges around Civic in Canberra’s short history. Can’t believe I’m only finding out now.

There was a very memorable seige at the Jolimont Centre in 93 which may be getting mixed up with the 85 one (which I know nothing about).A little piece on it is at http://www.inthelineofduty.com.au/timeline.asp?iID=360

Bente Mosessen’s death was no manslaughter. She was brutally murdered and her body dumped in the bush at Pierces Creek. The (alleged) murder Peter Richard Dowling was acquitted in the ACT Supreme Court. A story told to me by old timer detectives was that Dowling was immediately arrested outside the court for a similar interstate murder where he was convicted. (I’m sure this would be mostly correct).

The only online docs I can find are a criminal compensaion application for Bente’s daughter and a tiny bit in an AFP Association article about police search and rescue.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/act/ACTSC/1992/70.html?query=peter%20richard%20dowling

http://www.afpa.org.au/get/537.pdf

The Civic gunshop seige took place on Australia Day 1985, I know because my mother and Aunt were caught up in it while taking the bus to the Australia Day celebrations. As for the murder involving JD’s nightclub it took place in early 1988 and the woman murdered was Bente Mossessen. She was involved with bikies who used JD’s as a meeting place.

“Back when we had gunshops”
Still do, there in Fyshwick. Which is a good thing.

When I was in Launceston, stayed at the top hotel in town near the Town park. It was about 500m from a school and nursing home and there was a really pro gun shop. I swear, judging by the guns and ammo in the barred windows, thank christ Martin Bryant didn’t shop there.

ah ha! it was a men’s barber/gunshop (memory banks are releasing information back to the mainframe). Back when we had gunshops. I can’t recall what his problem was, but he shot up a few things from his spot up there and was seiged for quite a while. It’s such a long time ago, but I think they got him out.

as for the nightclub thing, if it was in the early 80s, I’m pretty sure it was JDs, which was rougher. The Bin wasn’t too bad in those days. I first began going in 1980? or 81, and it was only upstairs, and was VERY civilised. No bogans or cordies got in. You had to be dressed and stylin. it was a cocktail bar adn disco, with a small dance floor with gold bars. by the mid 80s, it had got a lot bigger, and I dunno when they opened the downstairs bit but that was when the rot set in.

Thanks Ant. Finally someone knows. Talked to people who have lived here for decades and they didn’t know.

The seige in Civic was when a guy went upstairs in the bus interchange… above what is Macchiato now, and held the cops at bay for quite a while. Early 80s, from memory. I think there was a men’s barber up there then.

Talk it up asp; next you’ll be telling us that Osama Bin Laden’s camped out on Black Mountain.

It’s tough finding out about crimes pre 1990 in the ACT. In the late 70s-early 80s, there was an armed siege in Civic. I could find only one photo with a short description showing a 1980’s model Holden Commodore police car with the window shot out and Police with rifles on Northbourne Avenue. Seige involved a mentally unstable guy in the Bus interchange. Haven’t being able to find anything more on microfilm, Austlii or from my normally very reliable source, grandparents.

Somewhat unrelated. The following is an extract from the ACT Legeslative Assembly Hansard – November 1992:

“As I indicated, constituents have expressed a number of concerns to us. One person rang my office
in the last few days and talked about an incident last Saturday night in Northbourne Avenue near
the Private Bin in which his 17-year-old son was assaulted by a kickboxing gang. It was alleged
that a crowd of about 200 people actually gathered and stood around watching this incident; but, of
course, there were no police there. Eventually one of the son’s friends called some other friends
who belonged to a soccer club and they came and assisted. A melee broke out. There was fighting
going on. His son ended up with a chipped tooth and another boy had his nose broken.
This constituent approached the police on Sunday morning about safety in Civic and was told, to his
surprise, “There were only three patrol cars in the Civic area on Saturday night. There is not
enough money in the budget to do what is needed. We have lost control of the situation in Civic.
The streets around Civic are unsafe and there is an incident in Civic almost every night of the
week”. It is not unusual, apparently, for crowds of 50 or 60 youths to surround a police car and
rock the car and spit on it while the police are inside it.”

Civic dangerous. Lack of Police. Youth gone wild. Lack of funding. Assaults. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Thanks for the quick responses. Yes, have searched austlii, but records don’t go that far back. When I spoke to a librarian at the NLA, they didn’t mention CaseBase, but I will investigate that further – thanks fot the tip. Hhm, I was leaning towards the incident occuring in the Private Bin, but JD’s is a possibility. Many thanks – if anyone has further information or recollections, no matter how trivial it may seem to you, please let me know. Thank you.

Don’t forget: you can’t have SLAUGHTER without LAUGHTER.

Try a focused searched on http://www.austlii.edu.au – you might be able to find the case that was heard by the Supreme Court. I’m not sure if their records go back that far, otherwise you might be able to try one of the subscription based services like CaseBase, they usually have more extensive electronic records, these might be available on site at the National Library.

I don’t know much about it…but I’m sure it was at JD’s.