Notorious Australian armed robber and suspected double murderer Bertie Kidd to be deported to UK almost 70 years after he left
Safe blower, armed robber and horse doper could be freed from jail tomorrow
ONE of Australia's most notorious criminals is set to be deported to Britain almost 70 years after he emigrated as a teenager.
Safe blower, armed robber and horse doper Bertie Kidd, 83, is due to be freed from his latest prison sentence in August but could be released early after a parole hearing tomorrow.
The crook — dubbed "criminal royalty" in Australia— has been told he will be sent back to the UK, the country he left as a "Ten Pound Pom" in 1948 when he was 14.
His family have called the decision "inhumane" as he is elderly and considers himself Australian.
In a criminal career spanning 60 years, Kidd has spent 20 years in jail and been shot twice.
One of his most audacious crimes was called the Great Plane Robbery after he stowed away on an aircraft hidden in a crate in a failed bid to steal a million Australian dollars in 1982.
And a forgery gang funded by Kidd in the 1960s prompted the country to switch to plastic banknotes.
He is suspected of two murders but was never charged.
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Clive Small, former New South Wales assistant police commissioner, said: "Bertie Kidd has for the whole of his life been a nasty, vicious, violent criminal.
"He's in his early 80s now, I understand that, but I don't think he's held an honest job for one day."
Kidd has spent the past 12 years in jail for a series of vicious home invasion burglaries and armed robberies in Sydney.
He planned the raids after serving less than half an 11-year stretch for shooting a policeman in a botched raid on a chemical plant in Brisbane in 1997.
His former barrister and friend, Brian Bourke, describes him as "one of the most complete criminals" Australia has ever produced.
He said: "Bertie would have thought that he was the best safe cutter and safe blower in the country.
"He was a very tough bloke, but I never had any problems with him. We were friends, he'd ring me from time to time, even when we weren't going to court."
Kidd's reputation as a criminal flourished after he was suspected of being involved in the underworld murders of Desmond Lewis and Roy Thurgar in the 1990s.
One former policeman warned Kidd is "still dangerous"; despite his age.
The officer today: “He’s a force to be reckoned with. His history is filled with crime, violent crime.
“Desmond Lewis was shot twice with a sawn-off shotgun. The DPP said it was insufficient evidence, but it was Kidd’s shotgun.”
Writing from prison in 2015, he told ABC-TV he belonged in Australia.
He said: “I arrived here as a Ten Pound Pom and I have thought since I arrived that at 14 years old I am Australian.
“No one has ever said to me, ‘Be careful they may send you back to London’, I would have laughed at that, as I am an Aussie.”
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