Overview
Julian Knight surrendered to Victoria Police in North Fitzroy near to the Hoddle Street Shooting crime scene on the same night of 9th August 1987. It was within an hour of Knight commencing his shooting spree at random Hoddle Street traffic.
Knight was immediately arrested by police and transported under armed escort to Victoria Police’s St Kilda Road Police [Headquarters] Complex [at 412 St Kilda Road] and questioned by Homicide Squad detectives for around 14 hours. Knight was solemn, frank and fully co-operative with the questioning detectives as the initial police video on the night shows, as publicised by the television media at the time.
[In Julian Knight’s own words]:
“At this time Detective Senior Constable (now Superintendent) Graham Kent sent a memorandum (dated 10th August 1987) to the Officer-In-Charge of the [Melbourne] City Watch House and to the prison authorities, informing them that it was quite apparent that I was suicidal [he had packed a suicide round in his jeans pocket but had lost it during the shootings] and that, due to the nature of the offences that I had committed, it was highly likely that I would be at risk [of physical assault or murder] from other prisoners.”
Knight was still intoxicated at the time of his arrest by police and was immediately incarcerated. It would be the start of his minimum long prison term.
Following the police investigation into the shooting spree, and Knight’s confession and full co-operation with Victoria Police including him leading a walk-around re-enactment with police of his exact movements on the night. From the Sunday 10th August 1987 as the judicial hearings for the Supreme Court of Victoria were being prepared and up until his sentencing on 10th November 1988, Knight was held on remand in H.M. Pentridge Prison’s maximum security H Division. During this time, Knight was transferred between Pentridge and the old Melbourne City Watch House situated adjacent to the old Magistrates Court.
The court case of R v Knight [1988] was not a trial, but rather a formal legal court process comprising a series of hearings and concluding with his sentencing. This is because Julian Knight had immediately upon capture and arrest from the outset, fully and candidly co-operated with investigating police, confessed to the shootings and then pleaded guilty at the subsequent Plea Hearing.
From Knight’s handed-down sentence at the Supreme Court of Victoria over a year later on 10th November 1988, Julian Knight was immediately transferred to a remand holding cell in the then adjacent Melbourne City Watch-House via the underground prisoner tunnel. Then that same day he was then transported by secure police prisoner truck to the Victorian permanent prison system to serve out his prison time for a minimum non-parole 27 year sentence.
In H.M. Pentridge Prison, Coburg [1988-1994]
From his sentencing on 10th November 1988, Knight was immediately transferred to H.M. Pentridge Prison, situated 8 km north of the Melboure City Watch-House at 1 Champ Street in Melbourne’s working class suburb of Coburg. The police investigation and charge cases followed by the judicial hearing and sentencing process had taken 13 months. It was 13 months since his arrest on the night of 9th August 1987. That period would factor into being part of Knight’s overall incarceration term.
In H.M. Prison Barwon, Anakie [1994-2005]
Most prisoners held in Pentridge were relocated to H.M. Prison Barwon over a period of time between January 1990 and early 1997, following the decison to shut down H.M. Pentridge Prison permanently from 1st May 1997. H.M. Prison Barwon is a male only rural prison situated at 1140 Bacchus Marsh Rd, Anakie, about 10km north of Geelong in southern Victoria on flat desolate disused sheep country.
Julian Knight was tranferred from H.M. Pentridge Prison to H.M. Barwon Prison in 1994. He continued his Bachelor of Arts studies, graduating in May 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Strategic and Defence Studies from Deakin University.
In Port Phillip Prison, Truganina [2005-current]
Originally called Port Phillip Correctional Centre, Port Phillip Prison is a maximum security prison located at Truganina on the western outskirts of Melbourne. It received its first prisoners on 10th September 1997 and is able to accommodate up to 1117 prisoners. It is privately operated on behalf of the Government of Victoria by G4S Australia Pty Ltd.
Julian Knight was transferred from Barwon Prison to Port Phillip Prison in 2005, where he has remained to date. Ironically, Port Phillip Prison is situated less than 5km from Westbourne Grammar School where Julian Knight atended and volunteered as an Army school cadet.
In 2010, Knight transferred to the Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice degree course part-time and off-campus via Griffith University. He would use the knowledge of the law to challenge the prison authorities for his ongoing poor treatment in prison and denial of his human rights.
Knight’s Imprisonment Details:
[Click internal link below to the relevant webpage on this website]:
Overview of Knight’s Imprisonment