The First Kidnapping for Ransom in Australia
“If you don’t get the money, I’ll feed the boy to the sharks.”
On 1st June, 1960, the lives of Bazil and Freda Thorne were changed drastically following a £100,000 win on the Opera House Lottery — today worth approximately $3 million. However, Australian lottery winners at the time could not opt for privacy, meaning their details were publicised on the front pages of national newspapers [2]. Because of this, the Thorne family’s excitement was quickly shattered, and their lives changed again for the worst.
Just one month later, on 7th July, their 8-year-old son Graeme Thorne set off for school on his usual route. As expected, he was to walk to the end of the street, where family friend Phyllis Smith would pick him up and drive him the rest of the journey to the school gates. However, on that day, somebody else was parked in Phyllis’ spot — a 34-year-old man named Stephen Leslie Bradley. He convinced Graeme that Phyllis was unwell that day, and therefore he would be taking him to school instead [5]. The little boy obligingly got into the car.
Shortly afterwards, Phyllis arrived to collect Graeme and found he was not waiting in his usual spot. When he failed to turn up after some time, she assumed he may have been running late, so drove to the Thorne family home to collect him from there [3]. When Mr and Mrs Thorne informed Phyllis that Graeme had already set off, they called the school to check if he had arrived. Panic began to set in when a teacher confirmed that Graeme had never turned up, prompting his worried parents to alert the authorities.
Just over an hour after Graeme was reported missing, an unknown male rang the Thorne household and demanded £25,000 from their lottery winnings in exchange for the safe return of their son. If they failed to deliver, the caller claimed Graeme would be fed “to the sharks” [1]. Now facing the reality of a kidnap for ransom, a huge manhunt ensued on a scale Australia had never seen before. Houses, apartments, hotels and other shelters were searched within hours, and Graeme’s parents appeared on television to plead for the safe return of their little boy.
On 8th July, just over 24 hours after Graeme was abducted, his school case was located near a busy highway on the outskirts of Sydney. The relentless search continued; hundreds of police officers and army units were involved in the hunt, and helicopters and tracker dogs were also deployed to comb other areas. Just three days later, Graeme’s school cap, school book, lunch box and raincoat were found one mile away from where his school case was found [1].
While the search for Graeme continued, police asked Freda and Bazil Thorne if they had noticed any strange activity in the days or weeks preceding their son’s abduction. Mrs Thorne recalled that a man with a European accent had knocked on their door a few days after their lottery win and asked if a “Mr Bognor” was home. Confused, Freda had informed the man that no such person lived at the address. Appearing puzzled, the man drew a piece of paper from his pocket and read aloud the street address and telephone number of the Thorne household, claiming that he believed these were personal details for a ‘Mr Bognor’. Mrs Thorne confirmed the details were hers, and the man simply apologised and left [3]. This now seemed extremely suspicious, and police suggested this may have been a ploy created by the man to confirm he had correctly found the wealthy Thorne residence.
Five weeks after Graeme’s abduction, the search came to a tragic end on 16th August, 1960. Sadly, his body was found dumped on an unoccupied plot of land in Seaforth, New South Wales. He had been gagged and bound in twine so tightly that it had cut into his ankles [1]. He had also been wrapped in a tartan blanket and was still fully dressed in his school uniform. It was determined that he had likely died within 24 hours of his disappearance. Fortunately for investigators, the disposal of Graeme’s body had been a very sloppy job and enough evidence to provide new leads had been left behind, including:
- Hairs from a Pekinese dog found on Graeme’s uniform.
- Traces of pink lime mortar used in construction found on his body.
- Leaves from two unique Cypress trees found close to where his body lay.
Equipped with this new information, and also Freda Thorne’s account of a man speaking in a heavy European accent, police were able to hone their search [5]. As the leaves were perhaps the most distinct piece of evidence, they began scouting for homes which had Cypress trees growing in the garden and also appealed to the public for help.
By early October of 1960, investigators were able to locate the house they were looking for: the Bradley residence in Clontarf, Queensland. It was over a 10-hour drive from where Graeme’s body was found, but it featured two different Cypress trees growing on either side of a garage, and a closer inspection of the home identified that pink mortar was present in its foundations. It also came to light that the Bradley family had recently owned a Pekinese dog [1].
Unfortunately, the home had already been deserted. Not-so-coincidentally, Stephen Bradley had sold his house and moved out of the country in the days following Graeme’s abduction. However, the abandonment of the property gave police more time to further solidify their case, as a search of his home turned up incriminating evidence. In a photograph found at the property, one of Bradley’s children sat on the same blanket which Graeme’s body had been swathed in [5]. Police were also able to show pictures of Stephen Bradley to Mrs Thorne, who confirmed it was the same man who had knocked on her door. Mr Bradley was a Hungarian immigrant who had moved to Australia 10 years previously, which also explained the European accent Freda Thorne had heard [2].
Bradley had attempted to flee to England with his unsuspecting family, but the police were able to intercept their flight during a stop-off in Sri Lanka and he was arrested on 10th October, 1960 [3]. During the flight back to Sydney, Mr Bradley confessed to abducting Graeme but maintained his death was accidental. He claimed to have hidden Graeme in his car boot in order to conceal the abduction from his family, but when he later went back to check on him, the boy had stopped breathing. However, the autopsy report refuted this, as there was evidence to show that Graeme had been hit on the back of the head with a blunt instrument, causing a skull fracture and significant bruising which likely resulted in his death [5].
After arriving back in Australia, Bradley signed a written confession which hastened his conviction. At his trial in March, 1961, he was found guilty of Graeme’s abduction and murder, which saw him sentenced to life imprisonment. However, Stephen Bradley would only serve 7 years — he died of a heart attack on 6th October, 1968, while playing tennis in prison [4].
After the Thorne case was closed, future lottery winners were able to opt out of having their personal details published in the newspaper.
Sources:
[1] Australian Police Journal (APJ), Scientific Aspects of the Graeme Thorne Kidnapping and Murder, https://apjl.com.au/scientific-aspects-of-the-graeme-thorne-kidnapping-and-murder-in-july-1960/
[2] PIERCE, Peter (1999), The Country of Lost Children: An Australian Anxiety, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[3] Herald Sun (2012), Graeme Thorne’s abduction after father’s huge lottery win shocked Australia in 1960s Trials of the Century, https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/graeme-thornes-abduction-after-fathers-huge-lottery-win-shocked-australia-in-1960s-trials-of-the-century-/news-story/bedcbd0b1304c4f47bbf5dedd7e8d2fb?sv=4948f50dc19c6146a9c477a810a5d9aa
[4] CROUCHER, John S. (2020), A Concise History of New South Wales, Warriewood: Woodslane Press.
[5] WRITER, Larry (2008), The Australian Book of True Crime, Millers Point: Murdoch Books.
