Faraday School kidnapping
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The Faraday School kidnapping occurred on 6 October 1972 at a one-teacher school in the village of Faraday in Victoria, Australia.
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[edit] The Kidnapping
Edwin John Eastwood and Robert Clyde Boland entered the school armed with a shotgun at about 3:00pm, and forced the teacher, 20-year-old Mary Gibbs, and her six pupils (girls aged between 5 and 10) into a red delivery van. They were driven off into a remote area in the bush. The kidnappers left a note at the school threatening to kill all of the hostages unless a $1,000,000 cash ransom was paid.
That evening, the Premier of Victoria, Dick Hamer, announced that the State Government was prepared to pay the ransom. The Victorian Education Minister and future Premier, Lindsay Thompson, arrived at the scene and waited alone to personally deliver the ransom but it was never collected. In the early hours of the next morning, the kidnappers told Gibbs they were going to collect the ransom and left her and the pupils locked in the van near a track in the bush.
When they were gone, Gibbs managed to kick the door panel out with her heavy leather boots and escape with the children in the dark, finding help a few kilometres away. Eastwood and Boland were later caught by Victoria Police after an extensive manhunt.
[edit] Aftermath
It is believed that Eastwood and Boland were influenced by a scene from the then recent movie Dirty Harry where a kidnapper takes a busload of school children hostage demanding a ransom. Eastwood pleaded guilty in 1972 and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, while Boland was convicted by a jury in 1974 after three trials and was sentenced to sixteen years behind bars.
Mary Gibbs was awarded a George Medal for her bravery on 22 January 1978.
[edit] Eastwood's escape and second kidnapping
In December 1976, Edwin Eastwood escaped from Geelong Prison, and on 15 February 1977, he kidnapped a teacher and nine pupils from the Wooreen State School in Victoria. While driving off, he collided with a truck and held the driver and his partner hostage. He then stole a campervan from three elderly women and also took them hostage.
Finally, with fifteen hostages, he demanded a $7,000,000 ransom with guns and drugs, but one of the hostages escaped, alerted police, and after a shootout on the highway, Eastwood was shot in the leg and captured by police.
He pleaded guilty to 25 charges including kidnapping, conduct endangering life, escaping lawful custody and car theft, and was sentenced to a further 21 years in prison to be served cumulatively with the 10 years outstanding on the original sentence from the Faraday kidnapping when he escaped.
[edit] Adaptations
Australian writer Gabrielle Lord published a novel Fortress in 1980 that was loosely based on the events of this crime, although dramatic license was taken and many fictional events were added for entertainment. In 1986 a TV movie titled Fortress, based on the novel, was released, starring Rachel Ward as the teacher. The film has attained a cult status and is now available on DVD.
[edit] References
- Holroyd, Jane: Emotions run high 30 years after 'crime of the century', The Age, 15 October 2004. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
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