All it took was six minutes for $174,000 in cash to disappear from Premier Speedway 20 years ago as all eyes were on the track for the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic. The daring heist has never been solved, but it has not been forgotten. KATRINA LOVELL talks to those who still feel the pain of the events that night.
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It was the biggest cash robbery in the region’s history and one of our greatest whodunnits.
There were about 10,000 potential witnesses but not one person saw who took $174,410 from Premier Speedway during the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic feature race 20 years ago.
At 1.30am on Monday, January 26, 1998, all eyes were on the racetrack – except for at least one set.
It was during a six-minute window where the money was left unsupervised in a locked office in the pit area that the thief struck.
The pit area was empty as everyone gathered to watch the one race they’d all come to see, and even those assigned to look after the large sum of money were allowed to go and watch.
As soon as the race was over, Phyllis McLeish – along with others who were in charge of the money – raced back to the office knowing the drivers would soon be lining up for the prizemoney that many relied on to pay for fuel to drive home.
“I opened up the door and opened up the next door, looked down and the money was gone,” Mrs McLeish said.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was terrible.”
Graeme Hose, who was club president at the time, remembers walking into the room and seeing Mrs McLeish who was clearly in shock. “I’ve never seen anyone shake so much,” he said. “She took it really hard.”
Mrs McLeish admitted the robbery traumatised her at the time.
When her washing machine broke down just a day or two after the robbery, she ended up washing by hand for a while instead of getting a new machine.
“I wasn’t even game to go out and buy a washing machine in case they thought I had the money,” Mrs McLeish said.
“I look back now and think how stupid.”
The police investigation meant she didn’t get home until 4.30am that morning. When the two friends staying at her house came to pick her up she asked them: “If I was in the office would they have taken the money?”
“They said: ‘Yes. They would have bashed you over the head, knocked you out’. They reckon they would have definitely injured or killed me without a doubt if I had been in there by myself, and quite often I was.
“It’s never been solved. I hope in my lifetime they find it so then I know where it went.”
I hope in my lifetime they find it so then I know where it went
- Phyllis McLeish
Mr Hose remembers being hit with with shocking news after being urgently summoned that night. “It didn’t go very well I can tell you,” he said.
“They caught us with our pants down. The biggest robbery in the district. It’s not a statistic we’re happy with.
“The next few days, for all of us, it was rather difficult. In yourself you thought you’d let people down by losing that money.
“I guess we all eventually got over it, but you still think about it. Just not something that will ever disappear.
“Unfortunately we had to grin and bear it, and that was most difficult. It was just absolutely horrendous to us and the club members with all the hard work and everything that was put into it and some other smartie got the results.”
Retired police officer Fred Hughson said it was impossible to contain the scene that night. “By the time we got out there half of them had gone. You can imagine a huge crowd piling out and gone,” he said.
Mr Hose said that although there were some vehicle checks on the night, it was clear the money was already gone.
About 1500 people had signed into the pits that night, a list that was handed to the police. “They went through them all and the only comment one of them (police) made was that ‘you people just have not got a clue of the criminals you’ve got in your pits on race night. Some of the most hardened criminals in Australia are in your pits’,” Mr Hose said.
“That blew our light out a bit when we heard that.”
The stolen money was made up mostly of $50 and $20 notes and when bundled up, those in the know say it could easily fit in a small bag or up someone’s jumper.
“In bigger notes it doesn’t take much to make up $174,000,” Mr Hose said. “If anybody saw it nobody came forward. They took an opportunity and got away with it.
“It’s part of Warrnambool’s history now … it will be talked about in different circles I suppose for many more years too as that is the biggest robbery in the district. Unfortunately we were at the centre of it and we didn’t like it.”
The robbery of prizemoney and two nights of gatetakings had a major impact on the whole speedway club.
“It was a real kick in the guts that that sort of thing can happen to us here,” he said. “It was just one of those weekends that didn’t pan out like a weekend should do, because of circumstances there was probably surplus money that should not have been here.”
Mr Hose said initially there were accusations flying, fingers pointed in so many different directions and there was a “feeling” that hung over the town and speedway community. Over time, things settled down and talk of the robbery started to fade.
“It would be nice to jolt somebody’s memory and maybe they can come and say they saw something,” Mr Hose said.
But he’s resigned himself to the fact that the money is probably “long gone”.
In the wake of the robbery, security measures were beefed up and the scene of the crime, the secretary’s building, was demolished before the start of the next season. Advances in technology and pre-sold tickets mean there is definitely not the cash on the premises that was there that night.
To help cover the club’s commitments from that weekend, money that had been saved up over a number of years by those who operated the canteens and souvenir shops got Premier Speedway “out of a hole”.
“We were very fortunate the ladies had money which probably, in a lot of respects, kept this club alive,” he said. “Any other club would have folded. This club is one of the most unique clubs in Australia because it is run by volunteers, apart from two or three people.” On a race night there could be between 90 and 100 volunteers working.
Mr Hose, who now volunteers his time to mow the lawns at Premier Speedway, said the club had gone from strength to strength since the shocking events of that weekend 20 years ago. “I still think, and it might sound strange, but I think it was a catalyst where this place really got going,” he said.
He said current manager David Mills had been able to “put this place on the map” and Premier Speedway’s signature event – the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic – was “close to being the biggest race in the world”.
Jamie Nicolson, who was racing director in 1998 and in the centre of the track when the robbery happened, said he was surprised by the emotions that were stirred up when contacted by The Standard this week to talk about the events of that night.
“I thought I was fairly well over it and I’m obviously not. I’ve never forgotten it,” he said. “At the time when it happened it’s fairly gut-wrenching the fact that something so major has happened at work where you’re employed, to the club you’re a part of. The fact that it’s not resolved is obviously unfinished business that sits with you.”
When it happened it’s fairly gut-wrenching the fact that something so major has happened at work where you’re employed, to the club you’re a part of
- Jamie Nicolson
Mr Nicolson said the biggest impact on him was when his daughter was picked on at school because of the robbery.
“That was very irritating. The other irritating thing was all the innuendo going around in the background,” he said. “Everyone’s got a theory who got the money.”
Was it a professional job or, as police thought, just an opportunist who hit the jackpot? Club officials at the time and the investigating police officers will tell you there were plenty of rumours and untruths that spread through the community like wildfire.
Retired detective Colin Ryan said police followed a number of avenues of enquiry as far as they could go, but there was nothing conclusive. “In the end there was no where else to go with the investigation,” he said.
It was a big job for investigators and most of the station worked on it full-time for some time, Mr Ryan said. “It was one that was talked about for some time afterwards, the fact that we didn’t solve it,” he said. “There were lots of small-town rumours, armchair detectives.
“Whoever did it didn’t tell anyone and kept it quiet. Having said that, should anyone be reading this and want to give us a quiet phone call I’m quite sure the current detectives would welcome it.”
Mr Hughson said detectives continued to follow up leads in the months and years after the robbery. “It was always a big mystery who got that money,” he said. “Unless someone comes forward with some more information, it’s probably unlikely we’re going to find out what happened.”