Ray "Gunner" Kelly

Ray Kelly, MBE, (1906 in Broken Hill, New South Wales – 11 August 1977 in Sydney) was an Australian police officer who became famous during his career owing to his high-profile cases and results, but who was later alleged to have been deeply involved in corruption and organised crime.

Variously nicknamed "Machine Gun" "Gunner" or "Verbal", Kelly gained national fame as the head of the investigation into the notorious kidnapping and murder of Sydney schoolboy Graeme Thorne in 1960. Earlier he claimed responsibility for the capture of the notorious Sydney gangster and murderer John 'Chow' Hayes.

Kelly gained further renown in 1966 thanks to his highly publicised capture of prison escapees Ronald Ryan and Peter John Walker in 1966. However, according to writer Tony Reeves (the biographer of Sydney crime boss Lenny McPherson), Kelly was able to capture the pair easily because they had been betrayed by McPherson. They had come to McPherson seeking his help to leave the country, but McPherson then set up a bogus meeting with Ryan and Walker at Concord Hospital in Sydney and tipped off Kelly.

Kelly often leaked stories to journalist Bill Jenkings of the now-defunct Sydney newspaper The Daily Mirror. He retired in 1966 as the best-known and best-regarded police officer in Sydney. In March 1966, soon after his retirement, Kelly was hired for a private investigation into the disappearance of the Beaumont children by a Sydney newspaper; he flew to Adelaide, where the South Australian Police welcomed him politely, but he left after only one day.

By the time he died in 1977, however, his reputation had been tarnished by serious corruption allegations, many of which were canvassed in David Hickie's 1985 book The Prince and The Premier. Hickie and others have alleged that Kelly and Detective Fred Krahe were involved in the protection rackets that fed on Sydney's notorious illegal abortion industry. Kelly also made "no secret" of his association with figures such as notorious abortionist Dr Reginald Stuart-Jones, illegal gaming czars Perc Galea and Joe Taylor and leading Sydney gangsters Charles "Paddles" Anderson and Lenny McPherson.

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