Chopper Read - dead

[blueoval]

http://www.news.com.au/national-news...-1226735583857

THERE are reports this afternoon that Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read is dead.
The notorious criminal and author, whose life story was turned into the eponymous film "Chopper" in 2000, was 58.

Read was discharged from Royal Melbourne Hospital earlier this week after receiving treatment for liver cancer.

He was diagnosed with liver cancer in April last year and he also has cirrhosis. He said his illness started after contracting hepatitis C while in prison.

Read spent more than 23 years in jail up until 1998 for crimes including armed robbery, assault and kidnapping.

[nuthin' fancy]

I'm not sure anything we saw helped us know who he really was, you don't spend 23 years in jail being a good guy. He leaves a wife an child behind, that is always sad, regardless of who you are.

[zilo]

Closure for all his many victims at last.

[hagarone]

R.I.P. CHOPPER

[b2tf]

Watch all the bogans come out and say how much of a legend he was now. Happens every time.

[rog xc]

Regardless of who he was or what he had done, Death is the equalizer & God the judge.

Fwiw, I quite liked Him, He did life on his own terms.. & most of his "victims" were as bad or worse than he was..

[jaydee]

Originally Posted by rog xc

Regardless of who he was or what he had done, Death is the equalizer & God the judge.

Fwiw, I quite liked Him, He did life on his own terms.. & most of his "victims" were as bad or worse than he was..

Exactly, he didn't kill or bash anyone that didn't need it. He was still a villain though so no RIP from me, just another gun slinger gone to meet his maker.

[pottery beige]

RIP Chop Chop..

[ratter]

like him or not, he told a good story, slightly exaggerated but with a little truth thrown in

[Geez Louise]

Exactly. Like him or not, he has still passed. He was a character who lead a very different and interesting life.

RIP Chopper

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by rog xc

Regardless of who he was or what he had done, Death is the equalizer & God the judge.

Fwiw, I quite liked Him, He did life on his own terms.. & most of his "victims" were as bad or worse than he was..

Tend to agree with this, feel sorry for his son, bad age to lose a father.

Originally Posted by zilo

Closure for all his many victims at last.

His victims are mostly dead, and were generally drug dealers selling drugs to kids, not sure they need or deserve closure.

RIP Chopper

He was a stand over man, but never stood over anyone that did not deserve it, he is one man that had the drug dealers shaking in their boots.

[monte.b]

Funny isnt it ,people are a lot nicer when they are dead ,and a good place for him id reckon

[geckoGT]

He was a criminal, end of story!

He just found a better way of making money off being a criminal, one that did not attract free accomodation at tax payer expense.

[mick457]

I cant help but wonder how many sick F***s would still be alive today if it wasn't for chopper

R.I.P uncle chop chop

[302 XC]

We all meet the maker in the end,good, bad,rich poor,has beens,wannas bees and never will bees
With all the good people in the world doin good for humanity why do we need to put crooks on pedestals and glorify them ???

[davenl5l]

Originally Posted by ratter

like him or not, he told a good story, slightly exaggerated but with a little truth thrown in

just like a polititian

[FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0]

Love him or hate him, you have to respect a guy who passes up the opportunity to save (or prolong) his own life in lieu of more 'deserving' people....

Read contracted hepatitis C during his time in prison, possibly contracted by using a blood-stained shaver. In March 2008 he revealed he only had two to five years to live and required a liver transplant. However, he refused to agree to the procedure, stating that while a transplant would save him, he did not want one when an organ could be provided to someone else

Craig H

[GT0132]

As far as I'm aware Chopper had claimed to have killed drug dealers and other criminals. I don't see any problem with that. I only wished he got around to dealing with paedophiles, murderers and rapists. He could have really put his talents to good use then.

[GK]

Originally Posted by rog xc

Regardless of who he was or what he had done, Death is the equalizer & God the judge.

Agreed!

GK

[LTDHO]

I wouldn't say that I support his actions. It takes guts to be a standover man of the Victorian underworld. He didn't push drugs or bash old ladys or kidnap children. So I don have a problem with him (maybe some of his methods though)

He wasn't an educated man, he did want he felt he needed to in order to survive. Sure that was be a criminal, and I done crime but shooting bad people isn't a bad thing IMO.

Chopper was a great story teller and probably wouldn't have much of his life if it wasn't from being a standover man. I think it's incredibly honerable for him to accept death and deny a transplant.

[ltd]

And finally Neville Bartos can get a good nights sleep.

Respect for him not taking a transplant over others, and the ad he did about men hitting women was brilliant. RIP Chopper.

[Charliewool]

State funeral for Chop Chop, I hear

[robbyj]

The news reporter who interviewed him and he played Russian roulette with him self and then her, (it was a bit before my time) but does anyone know if there actually was a bullet in the pistol? (he seemed to be enjoying the interview and i would imagine it was a joke, but would be interesting to know)

An interesting character that's for sure.

[ratter]

he was good at exaggerating the truth

[Bearman]

He did his crimes, he did his time, he had his regrets.

I guess the upside is he did not harm innocent people and he did his best to live out his life as a useful member of society. I guess that is debateable but at least he didn't 't go back to crime like so many others.

Upon reading his books and hearing him speak it struck me he had a really good intellect. Makes me wonder what his life would have been had he had an education and stable family upbringing.

[creative]

Originally Posted by Bearman

He did his crimes, he did his time, he had his regrets.

I guess the upside is he did not harm innocent people and he did his best to live out his life as a useful member of society. I guess that is debateable but at least he didn't 't go back to crime like so many others.

Upon reading his books and hearing him speak it struck me he had a really good intellect. Makes me wonder what his life would have been had he had an education and stable family upbringing.

prime minister?

[Bearman]

Originally Posted by creative

prime minister?

Over qualified!!

[Bossxr8]

Couldn't be PM, has too much spine.

[Spurious]

IMO he was like the modern Ned Kelly. He did what needed to be done, legal or not! He's a true Aussie celebrity in his own right.

I'm sure he's family will miss him as will a lot of others. I didn't know him personally but we shared the same home state & I never came to any harm.

RIP Mark. Condolences to the family.

[Moby Vic]

I saw the movie before my trip, and finally found a copy of his first book in the Sydney airport on the way out of the country.

He wrote his own epitaph at the end:

I know I have said that I regret nothing—but the truth is that I regret plenty. I regret my whole life. I regret not continuing at school. I regret spending half my life behind bars. I regret not spending more time with my dear old Dad. I regret my poor Margaret having to suffer the torment of having to visit me in jail for eight years. I regret the sad deaths of some true and loyal boyhood friends who died because I, in my blood lust, ordered them into street battles they could never win. I regret that in my single-minded madness to get at my enemies that some non-combatants have fallen by the wayside.

I regret not having lived a real life, not being able to walk the streets of the city I love without having to look over my shoulder. Every time I sit down, it has to be with my back to the wall and facing the door.

I regret that once you've built a reputation in the criminal world you have two choices; die or vanish. I regret that all the grand old fellows I have mentioned in this book never bothered to pull my coat and never bothered to explain to me the real horror of it all.

I regret that I have not been close to my mother or sister. I regret the death of Cowboy Johnny, who took a broken bottle in the neck to save my life.

To the young blokes out there who look up to me, and I know there are a few of you sneaking around, stay at school. And if you have made up your minds to be gangsters, then get yourself a briefcase and become a gangster in the boardrooms of the nation, because that's how the real gangsters do it.

Je ne regrette rien. 'I regret nothing.' What a sick joke. I regret everything.