Getting screwed at the school for crime

At Tamworth, the young absconder rebelled against the harsh and brutal discipline. He was repeatedly bashed and thrown into solitary where he was given an iron bar called a “dolly” that had to be dragged across the bars without pause. If the noise could not be heard by the screws they would respond with another beating. The institutionalised brutality and mind-numbing, nonsensical rules carved a lasting impression into the young mind of Keith Higgins.

“They called us brothel-bred bastards.” Keith Higgins said. His voice faltered. “That’s all you were to them. A brothel-bred bastard.”

“You had to stand six feet from a screw or another inmate. If you came anywhere within that no-go zone you were bashed.” Keith recalled. “You had to snap to attention and yell out; ‘REPORT TO YOU SIR!’ for everything you wanted. If you wanted to blow your nose or scratch your head you still had to ask for permission. If you didn’t, they bashed you.”

“They had toilet parades. Stand ups and sit downs. There were no doors on the toilets. No privacy. The screws watched you the whole time.” Keith said. “They rationed out three squares of toilet paper for a sit down. If you ran over the quota and asked for more, you got bashed for being wasteful.

“We weren’t allowed to talk to each other at Tamworth. That was a privilege.” Keith told me. “They had a 15-minute talk parade every day for those kids who earned good conduct points. If you were caught talking outside that daily talk parade you were bashed senseless.”

Keith Higgins remembers the intense psychological pressure each boy was forced to endure inside Tamworth.

“We were only kids for Christ sake, but we lived on our nerves the whole time we were there.” He said, “One day I’d decided to stab another kid in the throat with a fork. I figured it would get me out of Tamworth and back to another boy’s home or a mental institution. I was so desperate to get away from the place. I was hungry and scared. There was violence all around me. The place was getting to me but luckily I snapped out of it.”

Keith Higgins was eventually transferred back to Gosford boy’s home in November 1961. It was there he noticed the changes in all the boys that had been through Tamworth with him.

“I knew Jimmy Finch and Neddy Smith before they went to Tamworth. They were normal kids. Easygoing kids. They weren’t violent or anything like that.” Keith explained, “When they came back they were different. We were all different. Tamworth changed us forever.”

Keith Higgins made his last bid to run away when he joined Harry Swanson and James Finch in an attempted escape from the Metropolitan Boy’s Shelter in Albion Street, Surrey Hills, on June 5, 1962. Finch made it over the wall but Swanson and Higgins were caught.

The following day Magistrate McCredie ordered both boys transferred to Long Bay Jail claiming they were too unruly to remain in a juvenile facility. Keith Higgins had finally escaped from the NSW child incarceration process. It was an escape accompanied with memories of a childhood past and a place called Tamworth Institution for Boys. They are memories that continue to haunt him today.

 “I remember tallying up all the kids I knew who were sent to Tamworth. Out of all of us, over 20 received life sentences for murder when they became adults.” Keith Higgins paused thoughtfully. “I was one of the lucky ones. I eventually got married and settled down. I never went back. But I’ve still got the memories. They never go away.”