Angela Rose TAYLOR

Victoria Police Force

[blockquote]The FIRST female Police Officer, in Australia, to be killed ‘ On Duty ‘[/blockquote]

Regd. #  24274

Rank:  Constable

Stations:  ?, Melbourne City Watch-House

Service:  From  ?  to  20 April 1986

Awards:  National Police Service medal – granted 2016 & handed to her parents on the 30th anniversary of the Event date ( 27 March 2016 )

Born:  ? ? 1964

Died on:  20 April 1986

Cause:  Car bomb explosion – Murdered

Event date:  Thursday  27 March 1986

Event Location:  Outside of 336 Russell Street, Police Station, Melbourne.  Known as the

‘ Russell Street Bombing ‘

Age:  21

Funeral date:  ?

Funeral location:  Springvale Botanical Cemetery

Buried at:  Cremated

 Memorial at:  1/  Royal Melbourne Hospital – Angie Rose Taylor Ward – dedicated to Angie

2/   Angela Taylor Memorial Foundation – presented to the Dux of each Police Academy Squad

3/   Angela Taylor Fun Run

ANGELA IS mentioned on the National Police Wall of Remembrance

FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal

May you forever Rest In Peace.

On March 27 1986, shortly before midday, Constable Taylor left the Russell Street Police Complex to collect lunches for her colleagues. As she stepped on to Russell Street, she passed within 1 metre of a car packed with gelignite. At this time, the gelignite was detonated and the car exploded, showering the area with shrapnel. Angela suffered severe burns to 70% of her body and was hospitalised as a result. However, she died on 20 April 1986.

Stanley Taylor and Craig Minogue were convicted and imprisoned over the bombing which was motivated by an intense hatred of police.

Victoria Police Association Journal   March 2006  p 10 & 11

It is 20 years since a car bomb exploded outside the Russell Street Police Complex – two decades since Constable Angela Taylor was mortally wounded as she crossed over Russell Street from the City Watchhouse.  The Police Association Journal editor Shirley Hardy-Rix spoke to Angela’s parents, Marilyn and Arthur Taylor to mark the anniversary of Angela’s death.

“It can seem like yesterday or it can seem like 20 years. But missing Angie is still as strong today as it was then; it’s just not accompanied with the pain.”

These are the words of a mother talking about a loved daughter 20 years after the criminal act that shocked the country and changed the Taylor family forever. Marilyn and Arthur Taylor admit that not a day goes by when they don’t think of their only daughter “not in a morbid way but in a joyful way”.

“That made me very proud.  Her graduation day was the part in my life when I was at the pinnacle, the top of the mountain. I’ve never been right up there since. I was so proud that she had helped others in her squad get through. She didn’t just do it for herself,” says Marilyn. She and Arthur were the proud parents on graduation day and happy participants in the celebrations that marked the beginning of what should have been a long and successful career.

In March 1986, Angela Taylor had just finished her probation and was working at the City Watchhouse. On March 27 – Easter Thursday – just on one o’clock, an explosion rocked Russell Street. A car bomb was detonated by a team of criminals. Angela was walking across Russell Street at that instant. Her injuries were horrendous and she would never recover. On April 20, after a long and courageous battle, Angela Taylor died.

“It is almost like we lost Angie twice. From the time of the bombing she never spoke to us again. Each of those dates is intermixed,” says Marilyn.

That day Marilyn Taylor was working at a small shop in South Melbourne. She heard on the radio that a bomb had exploded and a woman had been injured.

“I thought, ‘thank God it’s not my Ange’. I didn’t think of her as a woman, just as my Ange, my girl.”

When Marilyn Taylor walked down to the bank she saw a police car and just knew. It might have been a mother’s intuition. Marilyn wasn’t surprised to see the two police who came to tell her the news.

Arthur was also working that day and was later than usual getting home because he’d stopped to get some hot cross buns on the way. He was listening to the radio and heard the news that a policewoman was injured. He thought his daughter was safe because she was in the watchhouse.

“There was a car in the driveway and a couple of senior police. The penny dropped. I’m not a talkative person but I couldn’t shut up. I didn’t want to hear what they had to say so I just kept on talking. My worst fear was that she was dead – that’s what I didn’t want to hear.”

What followed was a rollercoaster. Marilyn and Arthur say they were carried on by events. They had no control. Their whole motivation was to be at the hospital. Each day they would get up and drive to the hospital. At the end of the day they would drive home and collapse into bed.

In 1986 Marilyn and Arthur weren’t offered any counselling to help cope with their grief.  “I thought if I saw a counsellor they would make it better – make me better but that is not what it does.”

Since Angela’s death many of those who knew their daughter have drifted out of their lives. “It is such a painful thing for so many people. Even the ones who loved Angie sometimes find it difficult to talk to Arthur and me.  And it is not that they don’t care about us, it is just too painful.”

The Police family haven’t forgotten Angela Taylor and this is a great comfort to her family. The Angela Taylor Memorial Foundation was established and the dux of every graduating squad receives the Angela Taylor Award.

These initiatives have all been part of the healing process.

Every year there is the Angela Taylor Fun Run. Marilyn and Arthur are always there to welcome the winners over the finish line and present trophies. It is an important day for them.  Marilyn admits in the early years she only went along because she had to but now she wouldn’t miss it.

“At first I did it because I had to – now I do it because I want to and I don’t know when that page turned.  Everyone who comes along – they are all special.  It gives us a lot of pleasure.”

Marilyn and Arthur receive great comfort out of the services held on National Police Remembrance Day. It is a special day in their calendar. In recent years they have become close to the Senior Police Chaplain, Jim Pilmer.

“We love Jim. He’s a special man. He is one of God’s chosen. He is a genuine man who gives great comfort to those people in the greatest pain. I love his services and we love going along to the Remembrance Day evening service. I like to hear the list of names read out and pray with the families and then go to the little chapel for private prayer. It is a closure for the day.”

Today Marilyn and Arthur are doting grandparents and spend time with their five grand-daughters. Four of these girls bear Angela’s name – Brooke Angela, Laura Angela, Alyssa Rose and Alex Jasmine Rose.

“They give another dimension, but nothing fills the hole of Angie,” says Marilyn.

In their garden are three Angela Taylor roses. They would love to see the rose named in honour of their daughter at the Police Academy and in each police station garden across the state.

The men responsible for the Russell Street Bombing were brought to justice. Marilyn and Arthur did attend the final day of the committal hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court across the road from the scene of the bombing.

Marilyn refused to look at the faces of the men who killed her daughter. Arthur attended the sentencing at the conclusion of the Supreme Court trial. Marilyn couldn’t face it.

“That’s how we keep a positive attitude. We don’t want these people to have any other part of my life. They’ve taken away more than is almost possible to cope with. They are not going to get in because I am not going to hate them because that would be soul destroying for me and those I love,” says Marilyn.

“We’ve avoided getting angry. Sometimes it is very hard to avoid getting angry and hating. It is such a negative emotion it would take over our lives and that wasn’t going to happen,” adds Arthur.

Marilyn and Arthur Taylor are wonderful people. They are filled with love when they could be torn apart by hate. They look at all that has been done in their daughter’s memory and are filled with pride.

“We are very proud and very humbled by the legacy of having the unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital dedicated to Angie and all the other memorials they have put up in her name. I know there are a lot of people who do a lot of work and put in a lot of time and effort into not letting Victorians forget these wonderful people who get up in the morning and put on the blue uniform because they love to do it.”

http://www.tpav.org.au/_documents/Journals/2006/March/2811e12e-ba48-45cd-b211-65339f4f374b/Jnl_2006_Mar_P10_11.pdf

The Angela Taylor rose

Release date: Fri 31 March 2006

http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=4619

Shortly after 1.00 pm Thursday, 27 March 1986, a massive explosion occurred near the southern entrance to the Russell Street Police Complex when a car bomb was detonated. As a result of this act three people were injured, damage was caused to the façade of the police building and the central business district was thrown into confusion for hours as emergency workers struggled to cope with the disaster. Later Forensic tests showed the bomb had consisted of 50 sticks of gelignite packed into a motor car and surrounded by small pieces of metal which were meant to act as “shrapnel”. The investigation into the setting of the bomb began at once and continued for months. During that time two of the injured – Magistrate Ian West and Constable Carl Donadio recovered from their wounds. However Constable Angela Taylor who had suffered extensive burns to her body died at the Royal Melbourne Hospital 20 April 1986.

The Russell Street Bombing refers to the 27 March 1986 bombing of the Russell Street Police Headquarters complex in Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The explosion was caused by a car bomb hidden in a stolen 1979 Holden Commodore.

The blast seriously injured 21-year-old Constable Angela Taylor, who died on 20 April, becoming the first Australian policewoman to be killed in the line of duty. A further 22 people were injured. The explosion caused massive amounts of damage to the police HQ and surrounding buildings, estimated at more than A$1 million.

The Age newspaper reported that the blast had such an impact because of the open-floor design of the offices acted like a claymore mine, sending more shrapnel as the blast ripped through the floors, seemingly adding more pressure to the blast as it followed its path. The station has closed down and been converted into apartments.

In the course of the investigation, a group of people including Stan Taylor, Peter Reed, Craig Minogue and Rodney Minogue were apprehended. The motive for the bombing seems to have been revenge against the police, as the bombers had previously been arrested and still resented their jail terms. In court, Taylor, Reed and Craig Minogue were convicted; Rodney Minogue was eventually acquitted on appeal.

On 7 October 1985, gelignite and detonators were stolen from the Tryconnel Mine at Blackwood. On 25 March 1986, a Holden Commodore was stolen. Both crimes were later found to provide equipment needed for the construction of the bomb.

On 25 April 1986, ten Victoria Police officers raided the Kallista home of Peter Michael Reed at 5.45 am. It was alleged that upon attempting to enforce the arrest by forcing entry to the premises, Reed produced a .455 Smith and Wesson revolver and fired at police, seriously injuring Det Sgt Wylie. Reed was then fired upon by Det Sgt Quinsee and arrested. Reed was charged with attempted murder, recklessly causing serious injury, using a firearm to prevent apprehension and possessing explosives in suspicious circumstances in addition to charges related to the Russell Street bombing. Reed later stated at his trial in unsworn evidence that:

“the police started the shooting and I only used his firearm in self defence.”

On 30 May 1986, police arrested Stanley Brian Taylor during a 2 am raid on his Birchip home. Brothers Craig and Rodney Minogue were arrested in a Swan Hill motel at 5.15 am later that day.

The crown did not allege that any person played any particular role in the bombing, but that each of them were members of a team which planned the bombing and caused the bomb to explode. Evidence against the accused was as follows:

Gelignite and detonators used in the construction of the bomb were of the same type as those stolen from Tryconnel Mine.

Gelignite was found at Reed’s house wrapped in newspaper containing fingerprints belonging to Rodney Minogue.

Craig Minogue owned a pair of side cutters which produced cuts similar to those found on detonator wires.

A file with traces of brass deposits matched with brass deposits found at the bomb site.
a block of wood from which a wooden part of the bomb had been sawn was found at Craig Minogue’s premises.
tinned copper wire, similar to that used with detonators found at the bomb site, was found at Craig Minogue’s premises.
residue of gelignite matched residue found at a previous address of Craig Minogue in Lower Templestowe.
evidence from a witness that Craig Minogue called around Easter 1986, to ask about the use of detonators.
a witness testified that Craig Minogue was seen driving a 1979 Holden Commodore around the CBD prior to the explosion.

– wiki

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=92297987

Young police constable, 21, killed in the Russell Street car bombing is awarded with a service medal 30 years after the tragedy

• Constable Angela Rose Taylor, 21, was killed when car bomb exploded
• She died of her injuries 24 days after Russell Street police station bombing
• Young policewoman has been remembered 30 years after the tragedy
• She was posthumously awarded the National Police Service Medal 

By Jenny Awford For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 18:10 EST, 24 March 2016 | Updated: 19:26 EST, 24 March 2016

The young policewoman killed after a car bomb exploded in front of the force headquarters in Melbourne has been remembered 30 years after the tragedy – and awarded a service medal.

Constable Angela Rose Taylor, 21, died from her injuries 24 days after the bombing of Russell Street police headquarters on Easter Thursday, 27 March 1986.

She was the first policewoman to be murdered in the line of duty in Australia.

Her brother Michael Taylor paid tribute to the young officer at a memorial service on Thursday opposite the old Russell Street station, saying that she always had ‘a disdain for injustice’.

He recalled how as a three-year-old she fended off bullies by swinging a broom because they were teasing him over his leg calipers.

‘She had a strong belief we should all be treated equally,’ Mr Taylor said.

Constable Taylor was posthumously awarded the National Police Service Medal at the memorial which was attended by officers, family and friends wearing pink roses in her memory.

It was given to her parents Marilyn and Arthur by Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton on behalf of Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove.

Two men were convicted of the horrific crime which left Constable Taylor dead and 22 others injured.

One of the bombers, Craig Minogue, could soon apply for bail as his 28-year non-parole period comes to an end this year.

His co-accused, Stanley Brian Taylor, 59, was jailed for life with no minimum set.

Mr Ashton said while any parole decision is up to the parole board, he hoped Minogue ‘stays behind bars’.

Minogue, who was almost illiterate at the time of his arrest has gone on to complete a bachelor of arts degree, and has also obtained his Masters and PHD behind bars.

He also runs a website, on which he apologises for his behaviour in 1986.

‘I understand the pain and suffering that I have caused. I am very sorry for the crimes of my past, and I regret those actions very much and wish that I had not done them,’ he wrote on the site.

‘Thirty years is a very long time in prison, I was 23 when I came in and I will be 53 when I am eligible for release.

‘I hope to be able to somehow pass on to others the value that I have found in education and learning during that time.

‘That contribution I can make depends to a large extent upon others, and whether or not I am going to be given a chance to make a positive contribution,’ he said.

But Detective Inspector Bernie Rankin does not believe Minogue is reformed.

‘I am not convinced that he is the reformed Craig Minogue he is making himself out to be,’ he told 60 Minutes recently.

He went on to explain how Minogue murdered a man not long after being sent to prison for his part in the Russell Street bomb case.

‘Now if Craig Minogue is released tomorrow who’s to say it is not the old Craig Minogue who gets released.

‘What if you take his parking spot, you know, what if you bump into him in a bar?

‘He is trying to get parole and he is trying to demonstrate to a parole board he is no longer a risk,’ he said.

Mr Rankin held back tears when remembering the death of Ms Taylor three weeks after she was injured in the bomb blast.

He helped put out some of the fire on the 21-year-old officer’s clothes and hair.

‘She was thrown across street dreadfully burnt,’ he said.

‘She was a fine young woman that lost her life,’ he said choking back tears after remembering the day, April 20, he found out she had passed away in hospital.

The police officer remembers the bombers had ‘a strong desire to kill as many people and injure as many people as possible’ with their contraption.

In fact the blast could have been a lot worse, a police investigation at the time found not all of the explosives found set into the car went off as was planned because the detonator was used wrong.

‘He is trying to get parole and he is trying to demonstrate to a parole board he is no longer a risk,’ he said.
Mr Rankin held back tears when remembering the death of Ms Taylor three weeks after she was injured in the bomb blast.
He helped put out some of the fire on the 21-year-old officer’s clothes and hair.
‘She was thrown across street dreadfully burnt,’ he said.
‘She was a fine young woman that lost her life,’ he said choking back tears after remembering the day, April 20, he found out she had passed away in hospital.
The police officer remembers the bombers had ‘a strong desire to kill as many people and injure as many people as possible’ with their contraption.
In fact the blast could have been a lot worse, a police investigation at the time found not all of the explosives found set into the car went off as was planned because the detonator was used wrong.

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Man jailed thirty years ago for a Melbourne car bomb which killed a young policewoman is up for parole – but one officer who was there doesn’t think he’s reformed

• Convicted killer Craig Minogue may be eligible for parole this year 
• Minogue was jailed for his part in the Russell Street bombing in 1986
• A car bomb exploded near a police station killing a female officer
• He also killed a fellow inmate once he was put behind bars
• He has used his time behind bars to obtain a PHD 

By Belinda Cleary For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 02:09 +11:00, 21 March 2016 | Updated: 07:43 +11:00, 21 March 2016

A killer who has served thirty years behind bars for his part in the detonation of a bomb outside a metro police station may soon be eligible for parole.

Two men were convicted of the crime, Stan Taylor was sentenced to life without parole, and Craig Minogue was given 28 years without parole, which has now been served.

At 15 seconds past one on Easter Thursday afternoon in 1986 Russell Street, Melbourne best resembled a warzone.

 

A car bomb parked strategically outside the police complex exploded killing 21-year-old police woman Angela Taylor and 22 officers and civilians.

Minogue, who was almost illiterate at the time of his arrest has gone on to complete a bachelor of arts degree, and has also obtained his Masters and PHD behind bars.

He also runs a website, on which he apologises for his behaviour in 1986.

‘I understand the pain and suffering that I have caused. I am very sorry for the crimes of my past, and I regret those actions very much and wish that I had not done them,’ he wrote on the site.

‘Thirty years is a very long time in prison, I was 23 when I came in and I will be 53 when I am eligible for release.

‘I hope to be able to somehow pass on to others the value that I have found in education and learning during that time.

‘That contribution I can make depends to a large extent upon others, and whether or not I am going to be given a chance to make a positive contribution,’ he said.

But Detective Inspector Bernie Rankin does not believe Minogue is reformed.

‘I am not convinced that he is the reformed Craig Minogue he is making himself out to be,’ he told 60 Minutes recently.

He went on to explain how Minogue murdered a man not long after being sent to prison for his part in the Russell Street bomb case.

‘Now if Craig Minogue is released tomorrow who’s to say it is not the old Craig Minogue who gets released.

‘What if you take his parking spot, you know, what if you bump into him in a bar?

‘He is trying to get parole and he is trying to demonstrate to a parole board he is no longer a risk,’ he said.

 

Mr Rankin held back tears when remembering the death of Ms Taylor three weeks after she was injured in the bomb blast.

He helped put out some of the fire on the 21-year-old officer’s clothes and hair.

‘She was thrown across street dreadfully burnt,’ he said.

‘She was a fine young woman that lost her life,’ he said choking back tears after remembering the day, April 20, he found out she had passed away in hospital.

The police officer remembers the bombers had ‘a strong desire to kill as many people and injure as many people as possible’ with their contraption.

In fact the blast could have been a lot worse, a police investigation at the time found not all of the explosives found set into the car went off as was planned because the detonator was used wrong.

Paul Hetzel was a member of Taylor and Minogue’s gang, he helped police gain convictions, but in 1992 his partner’s granddaughter vanished.

Seventeen years later convicted child killer Leslie Camilleri came forward claiming to have killed Prue Bird of his own accord. Mr Hetzel believes she was taken from them in revenge.

‘I thought this is pay back just felt sick in the guts.’

Mr Hetzel said Minogue had threatened shortly after the explosion.

‘He was saying about that any bastard ever spoke about it and that, you know, they will be killed.

‘And that’s when he said wouldn’t it be a shame if anything happened to your little Prue.’

Minogue denies any involvement in the girl’s disappearance and murder. But police are not convinced.

‘There is no doubt in my mind Camilleri commit crime with others and that this crime is a payback for the Russell Street bombing,’ Detective Senior Sergeant Brent Fisher told 60 minutes.

Minogue has said he intends to repay the community for his crimes by accepting the sentence, admitting his guilt and apologising, by making an effort to rehabilitate himself and by not re-offending upon release.

Minogue was not handed down extra time for the murder of his fellow inmate Tsakmakis in prison.

He is currently being held in a medium-security prison in Victoria.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3501405/Craig-Minogue-parole-thirty-years-Russell-Street-bombing.html

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 http://www.remember.org.au/Memorials/Scholarships/Angela-Taylor-Memorial-Scholarships

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Remembering Constable Angela Taylor

https://youtu.be/ktopk7Ff_iQ

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Forensic Investigators – Russell Street Part 5 HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrrMjRWket8&ebc=ANyPxKpWxnwJ2vgDT9orrGP7USgrmeJaNlGt3itEYD1DAFWjNNpzIk2Q4Po-MFFFoC8ggwQR_ofM48DGgV6tKDNkD1G6Lm6GFw

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Russell Street bomber dies in custody

October 19, 201610:44pm

Helen Velissaris  Australian Associated Press