Darwin. - Donald Speed (37), manager of Autoterms Ltd., Melbourne, has begun his 12 months' sentence for theft in Fanny Bay Gaol at Darwin.
He was sentenced for the theft of Disposals' radio valves. Fanny Bay Gaol is deemed by gaol authorities here to be the least punitive of any goal in Australia.
At one time Fanny Bay was a notorious gaol, with a greater percentage of murderers in its cells than any other Australian gaol. Today Fanny Bay has only 19 prisoners, none of whom is regarded by the gaol authorities as a dangerous criminal.
Speed will probably join them working on improvements on the gaol or planting trees or gardening.
Daily diet at the gaol is: 24oz. bread, 16oz. meat, loz. milk, 2oz. Oatmeal, 2oz. dried peas or beans, 24oz. potatoes and other vegetables, 3oz. sugar, loz cheese, and 2oz. jam. Prisoners rise at 7 a.m. and go back to the cells at 4.30 p.m.
With remissions, Speed will probably be released after he has served 10 months.
Source: Trove Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954) Thursday 29 July 1948 Page 3