Australia’s Dirtiest Cops: 3 Real-Life Stories of Corruption and Crime
In Mort’s world, you can’t swing a cat without hitting some bloke on the take — but that’s not just fiction, sweetheart. Real-life Aussie law enforcement has had its fair share of badges with their hands in the till and their morals in the gutter.
The difference between the real world and Mort’s? In the real world, the dirty cops don’t always get what’s coming. In Mort’s world — they don’t stand a chance.
So, straighten your tie, light up a smoke, and settle in — let’s take a stroll down Australia’s murky memory lane and meet three of the most infamous dirty coppers this side of the equator.
1. Terry Lewis — Queensland’s King of Crooked
If there’s a gold standard for corrupt cops, Terry Lewis is the bloke polishing the trophy. Rising to Queensland Police Commissioner in 1976, Lewis didn’t just dip his fingers in the till — he practically dived headfirst into it.
Bribes? Standard practice.
Protection rackets? Of course.
Turning a blind eye to illegal casinos and brothels? All part of the service.
Lewis was the shining star of Queensland’s Fitzgerald Inquiry (1987-1989), an investigation so explosive it made headlines from Brisbane to Bondi. Turns out, Lewis wasn’t just dirty — he was running a whole system of corruption, greasing palms, protecting vice, and ensuring everyone from the bikies to the bookies knew which pockets to line.
In the end, Lewis swapped his commissioner’s uniform for a prison jumpsuit, serving over a decade behind bars. But don’t think that wiped the grime clean — his legacy still stains Queensland’s history like a wine spill on a white carpet.
👉 Curious how deep that rot went? The official Fitzgerald Inquiry archives are a treasure trove of dirty secrets.
2. Roger Rogerson — The Dirty Harry of Darlinghurst
They say some men are born bad. Others put on a badge and work their way there. Roger Rogerson was the latter — a Sydney detective with a reputation so nasty it made the crooks look polite.
Rogerson wasn’t content with a bit of low-level graft. No, he went for the full criminal buffet:
Bribery? Naturally.
Drug deals? Absolutely.
Murder? More than once.
His most infamous act? The 1981 shooting of drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi — Rogerson gunned him down in a Sydney laneway, claiming self-defense. Turns out, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Rogerson’s career was a laundry list of frame-ups, pay-offs, and more dirty dealings than a poker game in a sewer.
Even after leaving the force, Rogerson couldn’t help himself. In 2014, well into his golden years, he was convicted of murdering a student in a drug deal gone wrong — proving old habits die hard, if they die at all.
👉 If you want the whole sordid tale, ABC News has a full dossier on Rogerson’s fall from grace.
3. Brian “Skull” Murphy — Melbourne’s Heavy-Handed Enforcer
If Rogerson was Sydney’s king of corruption, Brian Murphy was Melbourne’s meanest muscle with a badge. Known as “The Skull”, Murphy worked the rough end of Melbourne in the 1970s and 80s — where justice came with a punch to the gut and a pocket full of hush money.
Murphy’s brand of policing didn’t leave much room for the rule book. According to legend (and some very real witness accounts), he’d rough up suspects until they either confessed or couldn’t talk at all. Bribes flowed freely, and Murphy’s ability to “clean up” crime scenes usually involved making evidence — and inconvenient witnesses — disappear.
What makes Murphy different from the others? He never saw the inside of a cell for it. Despite endless allegations, investigations, and enough smoke to signal a five-alarm fire, Skull walked away from it all, retired, and wrote a book about his own exploits — spinning himself as a tough-but-honest cop doing what needed to be done.
The truth? That’s buried under a pile of missing evidence and a whole lot of bruised bodies.
Crooked Cops, Crooked System
These three are just the headliners — the poster boys for how bad the boys in blue can go when no one’s looking.
Mort’s world isn’t so far removed from reality, after all. Whether it’s Queensland’s pay-to-play police force, Sydney’s trigger-happy detectives, or Melbourne’s fists-first negotiators, Australia’s history is littered with cops who crossed the line, then set it on fire to cover their tracks.
The difference between real life and Mort’s world?
In Mort’s world, blokes like this get what’s coming — one way or another.
Want More Dirty Deeds and Crooked Stories?
They’re all baked into the Mortice series — where the line between good and bad is just a suggestion, and justice comes served cold, hard, and often with a side of retribution.
👉 Grab your copy here and see how Mort handles a dirty copper — spoiler: it’s not with a handshake.