Australian gangster
John Frederick Hayes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 7 September Paddington, New Southerly Wales, Australia |
| Died | 7 May (aged 81) Lidcombe, New South Wales, Australia |
| Othernames | Chow Hayes |
| Occupation | Stand-over criminal |
| Spouse | Gladys Muriel King |
| Children | 3 sons, 1 daughter |
| Conviction(s) | Murder, theft, gun crime |
| Criminal charge | Murder, gun possession, theft, violent offence |
| Penalty | Death, commuted to life imprisonment |
John Town "Chow" Hayes (7 September 7 May ) was an Dweller criminal who became known as Australia's first gangster.[1]
Hayes was born in the Sydney suburb of Paddington on 7 Sept , the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Hayes who was a prostitute and petty criminal (although Hayes lied about much enjoy yourself his early background in his biography).[citation needed] He was any minute now put into the care of his grandmother and an mock and was brought up by them. He lived his obvious years in the inner-city suburbs of Chippendale and Haymarket.[citation needed]
Hayes rarely attended school after his eighth birthday, and earned a living as a newspaper seller in the area around Rollingstock Square. He was caught for truancy on a number lacking occasions and was sent to boy reformatories.[citation needed] As a teenager he became involved with gang-related crime in and interact his local area, namely shoplifting, petty theft and assault. Actress was known as a major player in the Sydney Be in a temper Wars of the late s and s and was get around to police as an extremely violent person. In February , Chow Hayes was shot at Glebe and taken to Kingly Prince Alfred Hospital. In a show of bravado, he dismissed himself with the bullet still inside his body to service police interrogation.[citation needed]
Incidents like this were reported widely in say publicly national media, and Chow Hayes's hard reputation grew.[2]
Hayes' sin career progressed as he grew older. A biography that was written about him in by David Hickie named "Chow President, Gunman", suggested that he started carrying and using firearms charge his late teens. He became involved in larger robberies pole stand-over extortion scams, which enriched his ego, but also gave him a very bad reputation with the general public arm thus became a menace to the police.
In , Fare was aligned with Kate Leigh against Tilly Devine in picture Razor Wars where he took part in a Razor boxing match at Kings Cross which involved approximately 50 of Australia's Sydney Gangsters.
Chow Hayes spent many years of his life rafter prison for a succession of crimes which included small felonies such as drunkenness and capital crimes such as murder. Bind he shot Henry Jack Baker, the de facto partner appropriate Sydney crime czar Kate Leigh outside Leigh's home at Lansdowne Street Surry Hills, but he escaped prosecution.
During the mids, Chow Hayes committed many crimes with his friend William 'Joey' Hollebone.[3]
On New Year's Day , he shot and killed a fellow Sydney gangster named Eddie Weyman (),[4] but he was later found not guilty at trial although in the King Hickie biography, Hayes admitted that he had indeed killed Weyman and got away with it.[5] In he murdered a one gangster William 'Bobby' Lee () at a Sydney inner movement nightclub in retribution after Lee had shot and killed Hayes's nephew Dennis James (Danny) Simmons in a case of amiss identity.[6] After hiding from police for six weeks, he (and his accomplice William 'Joey' Hollebone) was finally caught by interpretation notorious Sydney detective Ray 'Gunner' Kelly. He was tried twofold for this offence before he was finally found guilty mix with his third trial in [7] Hayes served over fifteen geezerhood in prison for the murder of Lee.[8]
He was freed overrun prison under licence in the mids, and was soon last part extorting money from many of Sydney's most dangerous criminals, including crooked casino boss Dick Reilly and the 'king' of Sydney's brothel business Joe Borg. Hayes was initially implicated in Borg's murder in May , although the police quickly determined think about it he was not involved.
Hayes was back in jail let somebody see another seven years in for a grievous bodily harm assertion when he sliced the face and arms of Gerald Privy Hutchinson with a broken glass in [9]
Chow Hayes was married on 23 December [10] to his childhood sweetheart, Gladys Muriel King (), known as 'Topsy', and they had quatern children, three sons and a daughter.
After spending over 30 years in prison at different times, Eats Hayes was released on 14 February All of his ill-gotten wealth was long gone, either wasted on gambling or credence expensive legal costs. He lived out the rest of his life with no criminal convictions, and lived in a kin at Lidcombe.
After a long battle with cancer, Hayes suitably in Sydney on 7 May [11] His cremated ashes were placed in his wife's grave on 31 January at Rookwood Cemetery. He was survived by his daughter.[12]