New law to stop any future Bayleys

John Silvester It started after a senior police officer asked: 'How many more Bayleys are there?'.

If parole had worked, Jill would still be alive

John Silvester Jill Meagher should have woken up that Saturday morning with a slight hangover and pleasant memories of a night on the town with her workmates.

Mokbel loses mum, loyal mate within hours

John Silvester Two of drug dealer Tony Mokbel's staunchest allies, his mother, Lora and syndicate lieutenant, Byron Pantazis, have died within a day of each other.

A peep behind the sporting curtain

John Silvester The man rifling through the rubbish bin at the bottom of the long driveway didn't look like a vagrant and wasn't at all startled when challenged over his suspicious behaviour.

Bayley 'set to plead guilty' to Jill Meagher murder

John Silvester The man charged with raping and murdering Jill Meagher in a Brunswick lane is expected to change his plea to guilty in the Supreme Court on Friday.

Naked City

Hang out with dogs, be hounded by fleas

John Silvester It was an office Christmas party like many others. Too much grog led a middle manager to try to prove he was still one of the boys, and so he led the charge to one of Melbourne's well-known strip...

EXCLUSIVE

How grandma stood up to 'Skitzo' over a shih-tzu

John Silvester and Dan Oakes A minor dispute over a runaway dog has resulted in the arrest of the Hells Angels serjeant at arms, the alleged assault of a grandmother and a major drug bust.

John Silvester

Top cop acts to redraw thin blue line

John Silvester Ken Lay is not the sort who likes to make a big noise. When he became chief commissioner in 2011 his aim was to go about his business as quietly as possible, avoiding the controversy that has dogged...

Blitz on rats in the ranks

John Silvester Chief Commissioner Ken Lay has launched an unprecedented blitz on rats in the ranks as outlaw motorcycle gangs cultivate close links with police, potentially compromising high-level investigations.

Ryan accomplice held over drugs lab

John Silvester The man who escaped from Pentridge Prison with Ronald Ryan - the last man hanged in Australia - has been arrested over a sophisticated clandestine drug lab discovered in a small Wimmera town.

Walker, one of the lost children of the Empire

John Silvester and Andrew Rule Peter John Walker was born just after the Blitz, near London, the middle child of a troubled and violent soldier, Robert Arthur Walker, of the Queen's Guards.

Fears bikie war may have started

John Silvester Police are investigating if a suspicious fire at a Bendigo motorcycle gang's clubhouse is the first strike in a feared bikie war.

Police braced for bloody bikie war

Nino Bucci, Dan Oakes and John Silvester Guns for hire are flooding into Victoria as a bloody feud between bikie gangs threatens to erupt.

Friends sabotaged siege: police

John Silvester Police say attempts to end a siege in Glenroy peacefully were sabotaged by friends of Antonio Loguancio - the gunman found dead at the end of the 44-hour stand-off.

Bandido boss lives to fight another day

John Silvester Bandidos heavy Toby Mitchell knew it was coming. It was only the time and the place that took him by surprise.

Playing the John Wayne card

John Silvester No politician ever won an election by being soft on crime.

Naked City

Bloody scars of punch-drunk love

John Silvester She didn't see it coming that Melbourne Cup Day. The vicious right hook that smashed into her face as she sat at a crowded table in the friendly bayside bar.

Going ballistic to outgun criminals

John Silvester It was a long climb to the attic of the peaceful country church but well worth the effort. Inside they found a Vickers machinegun, mortars, 15 loaded firearms and a cannon.

When a squeeze of ketchup says behold the sauce

John Silvester It is the chance of a lifetime - to explore the super secret security network inside the MCG on the biggest day of the Test calendar - Boxing Day.