User:Bertie Kidd

Bertie Kidd (born 1933 age(87)), otherwise known as Robert Bertram Kidd, has been described as Australian criminal royalty due to his vast criminal repertoire. These exploits include being a safe cracker- Bertie learnt his trade of breaking into safes first by explosives then by counterfeit keys and then by oxyacetylene. He matured into one of Australia's best safe cutters and was renowned by criminals, police and law enforcement.

In 1966 he was instrumental in the ten dollar note forgeries, which ended up in an Australian wide alert on how to detect the forged currency. He was later charged after one of the jailed counterfeit team exposed his involvement to the police. He was subsequently found not guilty. He was jailed for four years in late 1971 for his involvement in a nursery safe break which netted less than 200 dollars and sent to the notorious Pentridge Prison. It was here he caused mayhem with jail authorities challenging their authority, this caused numerous lockdowns and had him transferred to the notorious H division, which housed some of Australia's most infamous criminals.

Early Life He had to endure a tough childhood, born after the great depression and between WWII he lost his mother to consumption at the age of 4.During WWII he was sent to Cambridge with his brother Peter to escape the bombing of London.

After the war he was sent to Australia with his brother Peter to live with his aunt, uncle and grandmother in Launceston Tasmania.

A trilogy of books has been written about Bertie's life. The Bertie Kidd Series starts with volume one named 'The Audacious Kidd' released By Fin Press in October 2019 and written by author Simon Griffin. The second book - The Notorious Kidd is due for release late November 2020, with the final book 'The Infamous Kidd,' due to be released late 2021.