NSWPF - RIP CREST
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Geoff SHATTLES

Geoff  V. SHATTLES

AKA  Shitty Shattles, Shakey 

Late of Central Coast, NSW ( Aged Care facility )

 

NSW Police College – Penrith  –  Class #  029 

 

New South Wales Police Force

Regd. #  7398

 

Rank:  Commenced Training at Redfern Academy on Monday  30 June 1952 ( aged 27 years, 4 days )

Probationary Constable- appointed 11 August 1952 ( aged 27 years, 1 month, 16 days )

Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Constable 1st Class – appointed ? ? ? 

Detective – appointed ? ? ?

Senior Constable – appointed ? ? ? 

Leading Senior Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Sergeant 3rd Class – appointed 8 March 1968

Sergeant 2nd Class – appointed ? ? ?

Sergeant 1st Class – appointed ? ? ? 

Inspector – appointed ? ? ? ( YES )

Chief Inspector – appointed ? ? ? 

Superintendent – appointed ? ? ? 

Chief Superintendent – appointed ? ? ?

Final Rank?

 

Stations?, North Sydney – Stn Sgt ( 1978 ), Manly, Forestville, Frenchs Forest, Mona Vale ( 29 Division )( Inspector )( 1984 ), ?

Service:  From 30 June 1952   to   ? ? ? ? years Service

 

Awards:  No Find on Australian Honours system

 

Born:  Friday  26 June 1925

Died on:  Monday  10 November 2020

Age:  95 years, 4 months, 15 days

Cause?

Event location:   ?

Event date ?

 

Funeral date? ? ? TBA

Funeral location? TBA

( click here to see Cornona19 Virus Pandemic rules – this will be a limited numbers Funeral )

any Future Wake location??? TBA 

any Future Wake date??? TBA

( Due to current Govt. restrictions on ‘Gatherings’ due to Corona19 Virus Pandemic, some families may wish to have a Memorial Service / Wake with friends and family at a later date )

Funeral Parlour: ? TBA

Buried at: ?

Memorial / Plaque / Monument located at: ?

Dedication date of Memorial / Plaque / Monument: Nil – at this time ( November 2020 )

 

 

SHAKEY is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance  *NEED MORE INFO


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

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal


May they forever Rest In Peace

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AustralianPolice.com.au/ 

https://www.facebook.com/NSWFallenPolice/ 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/NSWFallenPolice/ 

Australian Police YouTube Channel 


 

It is with much sadness that we advise that our Veteran Member, Geoff Shattles, passed away last Monday 10th November 2020.
Geoff was 95 years old and was living in an Aged Care facility on the Central Coast after the passing of his wife Beryl a couple of years ago.
We will advise funeral arrangements when known.
Rest in Peace Geoff.

 

So very sad. Although a good innings. A mighty man and great Station Sergeant. Rest in Peace Geoff. It’s been a pleasure.

 

A wonderful man . Had so much respect for him when stationed at Manly.
Thank you Sergeant Geoff Shattles for your fine and dedicated Service to your Community and the New South Wales Police Force.
You really did make a difference, with your knowledge, patience, and understanding, in particular to the lives and service of numerous young Constables at your station.
Rest in Peace our brother in Blue.

 

Great fellow worker when I was at Manly
RIP

 

I am very sorry to hear of Geoffs passing a great copper and a wonderful man . My sincere condolences to his family and friends

 

His nick name at Manly was Shitty Shattles when I was a pro at Manly.Never blow the horn when you picked him up on morning shift Good copper
rest in peace

 

December 13 1971… First day as Pros Ventry Lewis, John Williamson, Terry Cobby and I waltzed into Manly PS and, seeing a couple of blokes we knew, headed for the Muster Room where Bumper Farrell, Col Fitzroy and others were getting ready for the shift. Suddenly a voice roared behind us… “Are you the 3 new Pros?” Yes Sergeant we stammered. “Well when you come into MY station you will report ‘All Correct Sergeant!’ Nobody told us about that at the Academy. Over the years we came to respect and learn from Geoff.
R.I.P. and All Correct Sarge…
Worked with Geoff as a young con stable at Manly and later when I was stationed at Forestville and Frenchs Forest. Was not afraid to leave Manly Station and come out to give help and advice one the more serious jobs. New his stuff and always prepared to impart it to the young bloke.
RIP Geoff.
Dave Ramsland

 

Very sorry to learn of the demise of Geoff Shattles as a probationary Constance at Manly I spent time as the PD driver with Geoff as the observer. He was an excellent officer for young officers to work with. He was an ethical/knowledgeable officer. I learned so much from him which stood me on good stead in the development of my career. He most probably did not realise the impact he had on my career, but I in no way diminished that impact. RIP Geoff thank you.

 


Teacher’s Pet podcast: from the archives, friend’s cry for justice for Lyn Dawson

 

A formal complaint from a friend of Lyn Dawson that NSW police were failing to investigate her suspicious disappearance from Sydney’s northern beaches has been discovered decades later in a sealed file in state archives.

Susan Strath was so disturbed by the inaction of police that she wrote to the NSW Ombudsman’s office and begged the independent government watch­dog to intervene.

Ms Strath’s complaint of 1985, three years after Lyn went missing, documented her alarm that a woman could vanish without officers interviewing work colleagues or friends, or conducting any serious investigation.

She pointed out that shortly before Lyn went missing her husband Chris — a teacher and former star footballer — was widely known to be in an intense affair with a teenage schoolgirl who had been one of his students.

“Her husband was so sure she would not return, his girlfriend was moved in the following week,” she wrote.

“He has now married his schoolgirl lover, has a beautiful home and established family.

“Everything seems too easy. He got exactly what he wanted and his wife, who wasn’t up to standard, has vanished from the face of the earth, having no further contact with family or friends.

“It doesn’t seem possible that a person can be swept under the rug and forgotten.”

The ombudsman’s file on the complaint was discovered by The Australian in storage with NSW State Archives and Records after lengthy investigations for podcast series The Teacher’s Pet and is detailed in a new episode, ­released today.

The ombudsman’s office had said no trace of the complaint could be found and that records would have been ­destroyed.

But after archives staff located the file for The Australian, the ­ombudsman’s office agreed to waive restrictions that would have prevented the documents being released for 90 years from when they were created.

Among the documents was Mr Dawson’s long-lost handwritten statement to police of August 1982, in which he blamed his marital problems on his wife’s ­credit card spending but did not mention his teenage lover.

Mr Dawson’s statement had disappeared along with the rest of the separate police file in the 1990s and was not available to the former investigating officer, Damian Loone, or to two coroners who examined the case.

Despite Ms Strath’s complaint, neither police nor the ombudsman’s office interviewed Mr Dawson’s schoolgirl lover, Joanne Curtis, or numerous other witnesses including fellow teachers, neighbours, family members and friends at the time.

Senior police who were forwarded the complaint insisted there was a satisfactory investigation when Lyn disappeared and there was nothing to indicate foul play or suspicious circumstances.

It would be another five years before Sydney homicide detectives looked at the case, acting on information from Mr Dawson’s former teenage lover, Ms Curtis, after they split up.

The two coroners later found, in 2001 and 2003, that Mr Dawson murdered his wife. He has not been charged and maintains his innocence.

The sealed ombudsman’s file includes correspondence about Ms Strath’s 1985 complaint, showing Lyn’s disappearance was brought to the attention of the highest levels of the NSW police force.

Geoff SHATTLES

Sue Thompson, an ombudsman investigator, referred Ms Strath’s complaint directly to then-police commissioner John Avery. The commissioner was kept informed of the progress of inquiries.

“This is a bit of a sensitive complaint. It’s about the alleged disappearance of a woman some three years ago and allegation that the police may have failed to properly investigate,” Ms Thompson wrote in a file note.

Ms Strath noted in her complaint that she last spoke to Lyn on Friday, January 8, 1982, at the childcare centre where they both worked. Lyn and her husband had returned from marriage counselling that day, with Lyn expressing excitement that their marital difficulties would be resolved, she wrote. Lyn disappeared the next day, without another word being heard from her.

“The next day what happened????” Ms Strath wrote.

She noted Lyn’s inability to drive, her exceptional devotion to her two young daughters, then aged four and two, and her love of her Bayview home, which was worth more than $250,000 when she vanished.

Ms Strath also noted Lyn had no interest in religion and didn’t attend church — this was a ­response to her husband’s claims that she apparently went off with a religious group.

“I would like to know what the police have done in the matter? Why weren’t her workmates interviewed as to her last 24 hours?

“I’m concerned that I was one of the last to see her on the Friday but was never questioned by the police. Can a person just disappear and it be accepted?”

A senior officer, Inspector Geoff Shattles ( # 7398 ), noted in response that Lyn’s parents, Helena and Len Simms, had not “ever hinted” at concerns of foul play.

“Further to this, the brother of the missing person is a senior constable in the NSW police force and he at no time contacted police at this station in regard to any suspicions.”

A chief superintendent wrote that he was “satisfied all avenues of investigation were covered at the time”.

The file shows that as a result of Ms Strath’s complaint, she was visited in 1985 by a detective, who also contacted one of her colleagues at the childcare centre. Inspector Shattles also spoke to Lyn’s mother.

But there was still no questioning of the former schoolgirl lover or many other key witnesses. In the course of its preliminary investigation, the ombudsman’s ­office had Mr Dawson’s 1982 handwritten statement to police about his wife’s disappearance, in which he lied about going away “to be by myself” over Christmas 1981 when he had gone to Queensland with Ms Curtis.

Mr Dawson at the end of his statement made an unusual comment — that he was “being advised on procedure by Sergeant Brian Gardner ( #8841 ), Manly Detectives”.

Mr Gardner was an influential senior figure of the Belrose Rugby League Club, where Mr Dawson and his twin brother Paul were joint captains and coaches. Known to colleagues as “Smacka”, Brian has since died.

Ms Strath believed Mr Dawson’s celebrity status as a former Newtown Jets rugby league star protected him from scrutiny.

Ultimately the ombudsman’s office concluded “no further action is necessary” after informing Ms Strath of the police position.

NSW Ombudsman Michael Barnes yesterday said the office had limited jurisdiction and resources in 1985 and its response was “satisfactory”.

 

 

Teacher’s Pet podcast: from the archives, friend’s cry for justice for Lyn Dawson


 

 

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One Comment

  1. Worked at Manly as a Cadet and Constable between 65 and 69. Worked with Geoff many times and was one of the nicest blokes I had met. Helped me in any way possible. He seemed to have the unfortunate knack of being on duty many times when deaths had to be investigated. If he was not at the station he was probably out doing a death. I am saddened by his death as I can still see him standing behind the counter in the charge room. Thanks Geoff for being you. Rest in peace mate.

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