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Kidnapped
‘A broad-brush morality tale about the consuming power of greed’When eight-year-old Graeme Thorne was kidnapped on his way to school in July 1960, Australia was gripped with fear and loathing. What monster would dare take financial advantage of the most treasured bond of love – between parent and child? Just weeks earlier, Graeme’s parents had won a fortune in the Opera House Lottery, and this had attracted the attention of the perpetrator, Stephen Bradley.Bradley was a most unlikely kidnapper, however his greed for the windfall saw him cast aside any sympathy for his victim or his victim’s family, and drove him to take brazen risks with the life of his young captive.tells the astounding true story of how this crime was planned and committed, and describes the extraordinary police investigation that was launched to track the criminal down. Mark Tedeschi explores the mind of the intriguing and seriously flawed Stephen Bradley, and also the points of view of the victim, his family – and the police, whose work pioneered the use of many techniques that are now considered commonplace, marking the beginning of modern-day forensic science in Australia.Using his powerful research and storytelling skills, Mark Tedeschi reveals one of Australia’s greatest true crime dramas, and what can only be described as the trial of the 20th Century.‘Masterfully pieced together by the New South Wales Senior Crown Prosecutor’‘With powerful research and storytelling skills, Tedeschi has delivered a gripping story about one of Australia’s greatest, and heartbreaking, true crime dramas.’ Better Reading‘Remarkably researched so as to explain one of Australia’s most extra ordinary criminal cases.’ Chester Porter QC‘A detailed and compelling account of events, unfolded with Tedeschi’s customary forensic skill and interspersed with interpretation and analysis that informs and provokes.’ Nicholas Cowdery AM QC‘An utterly compelling account of the kidnap and murder of schoolboy Graeme Thorne from an author with unparalleled knowledge of the investigation and prosecution of crimes which have terrified Australians.’Margaret Cunneen SC, Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor‘A study of kidnapper Bradley . . . and a picture of an insular Australia encountering a strand of icy pragmatism direct from war-damaged Old Europe.’ Peter Doyle, writer, academic, and occasional curator at Sydney’s Justice & Police Museum
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First published October 23, 2015
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About the author
Mark Tedeschi
6 books25 followersMark Alfred Guido Tedeschi, AM, QC (born 1952) is an Australian barrister, law professor, photographer and author. He has won numerous awards for his photography and has been featured in galleries throughout the world including in the State Library of New South Wales, the New South Wales Art Gallery, the Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado, and the National Library in Canberra. He is the Senior Crown Prosecutor for New South Wales and the Head of Chambers of the 84 Crown Prosecutors. He is the founder and president of the Australian Association of Crown Prosecutors and a visiting professor at the University of Wollongong. As a prosecutor, Tedeschi is best known for the prosecution of numerous high-profile cases in Australia including the 2006 conviction of Dr. Suman Sood for illegal abortion and the Backpacker Murders committed by Ivan Milat in the 1990s.
Tedeschi is the author of two books, one on law and the other on photography. In 1980, he co-authored Law of International Business in Australia with Dr. P.J. O'Keefe. He released a book of photograph in 2012 entitled Shooting Around Corners which featured over twenty five years of his photography.
Tedeschi is the author of a true crime book called Eugenia, published in 2012 by Simon & Schuster, which tells the story of Eugenia Falleni, a woman of Italian and New Zealand background who lived in Australia as a man from 1898 until she was charged with the murder of her first "wife" in 1920. In this book, Tedeschi describes the tortuous life that Eugenia Falleni led as a woman trying to lead life as a man in a society that did not understand such things. He describes her murder trial in Sydney in 1920 in which she was prosecuted by the first Senior Crown Prosecutor, William Coyle KC. Part of the book describes this very complex and interesting trial, and Eugenia Falleni's life after her trial.
Kidnapped will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2015.
Tedeschi is the author of two books, one on law and the other on photography. In 1980, he co-authored Law of International Business in Australia with Dr. P.J. O'Keefe. He released a book of photograph in 2012 entitled Shooting Around Corners which featured over twenty five years of his photography.
Tedeschi is the author of a true crime book called Eugenia, published in 2012 by Simon & Schuster, which tells the story of Eugenia Falleni, a woman of Italian and New Zealand background who lived in Australia as a man from 1898 until she was charged with the murder of her first "wife" in 1920. In this book, Tedeschi describes the tortuous life that Eugenia Falleni led as a woman trying to lead life as a man in a society that did not understand such things. He describes her murder trial in Sydney in 1920 in which she was prosecuted by the first Senior Crown Prosecutor, William Coyle KC. Part of the book describes this very complex and interesting trial, and Eugenia Falleni's life after her trial.
Kidnapped will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2015.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 14, 2019
Mark Tedeschi QC has written a comprehensive, detailed account of the first and only story of a child being kidnapped for ransom in Australia. The build-up, which includes the excitement of the recipients of £100,000 through the Opera House Lottery, and the evil, depraved thoughts of a person who believed they shouldn’t receive that money – that he was more entitled, is interesting, fascinating and horrifying.
Graeme Thorne was only eight years old, and the innocent, much loved middle child of his parents, Bazil and Freda Thorne when he came to the attention of Stephen Bradley in July 1960. His disappearance caused great consternation within the police department, grief to his parents and horror across the nation.
The meticulous investigation, using skills that are common place nowadays, was intense and extraordinary. The police left no stone unturned in this horrific case…
Extremely well researched, Mark Tedeschi, who is the Senior Crown Prosecutor for New South Wales and has practised in the criminal courts for over 40 years, both for the prosecution and defence, has given his readers insider information on a case that many people may remember. The story of Kidnapped is every family’s worse nightmare – the author himself was around the age of Graeme when the events occurred. Highly recommended.
With thanks to Simon & Schuster AU for my copy to read in exchange for an honest review.
Graeme Thorne was only eight years old, and the innocent, much loved middle child of his parents, Bazil and Freda Thorne when he came to the attention of Stephen Bradley in July 1960. His disappearance caused great consternation within the police department, grief to his parents and horror across the nation.
The meticulous investigation, using skills that are common place nowadays, was intense and extraordinary. The police left no stone unturned in this horrific case…
Extremely well researched, Mark Tedeschi, who is the Senior Crown Prosecutor for New South Wales and has practised in the criminal courts for over 40 years, both for the prosecution and defence, has given his readers insider information on a case that many people may remember. The story of Kidnapped is every family’s worse nightmare – the author himself was around the age of Graeme when the events occurred. Highly recommended.
With thanks to Simon & Schuster AU for my copy to read in exchange for an honest review.
July 28, 2017
'Unputdownable' is overused today. But this book was just that. I haven't read a book so quickly since I was at school! Sitting in the car after an appointment, bedtime, lunch time...whenever I could sneak in some pages I was at it! A remarkable story. I was concerned it may describe too much of poor little Graeme Thorne's ordeal but gratefully this was not the case. The unravelling of the investigation and the ensuing court case was nail biting and compelling. Wonderful story telling and character development in this true story.
November 13, 2017
Kidnapped is a clinical lawyer's analysis of a high profile case of child abduction for ransom that occured in Australia when I was 10 years old. Tedeschi does a good clean job of presenting the chronology of the crime and analysis of the evidence presented at the kidnapper's trial. A worthwhile read for those who, like me, can remember the high profile case.
October 24, 2017
A well researched and written account about the Graeme Thorne abduction.
A tragic story but a must read .
A tragic story but a must read .
August 6, 2016
This is the best true crime book I've read.
It reads at the pace of a crime fiction Thriller in style, except it's tragically true.
I read it like a knife cutting through butter, and the way of showing different viewpoints from different participants in the story, in each chapter, is handled brilliantly.
The author states at the beginning some of this is conjecture or hypothesis, and when we reach the end of the book he discusses that again.
It is written with the most logical scenario of deductions made during investigation.
The trial was legendary.
The perpetrator was even more legendary, his narcissistic sense of self-aggrandisement and self-expectation was unbelievable, a personality a bit like Tony Mokbel in the modern era.
But the country changed in 1960. There had never before been a child kidnap for ranson. There had never been a Statute (law) governing child kidnap for ransom. There had never been an investigation of the like of this. Nor a trial. Nor a family of parents and children who had to endure the horror of the unknown, then the realisation, then their recovery with broken hearts.
This book is brilliant. I commend the author. He knows his stuff, and should do, coming from the legal arena, which doesn't automatically make him a good author, but, he is terrific !! Read it.
It reads at the pace of a crime fiction Thriller in style, except it's tragically true.
I read it like a knife cutting through butter, and the way of showing different viewpoints from different participants in the story, in each chapter, is handled brilliantly.
The author states at the beginning some of this is conjecture or hypothesis, and when we reach the end of the book he discusses that again.
It is written with the most logical scenario of deductions made during investigation.
The trial was legendary.
The perpetrator was even more legendary, his narcissistic sense of self-aggrandisement and self-expectation was unbelievable, a personality a bit like Tony Mokbel in the modern era.
But the country changed in 1960. There had never before been a child kidnap for ranson. There had never been a Statute (law) governing child kidnap for ransom. There had never been an investigation of the like of this. Nor a trial. Nor a family of parents and children who had to endure the horror of the unknown, then the realisation, then their recovery with broken hearts.
This book is brilliant. I commend the author. He knows his stuff, and should do, coming from the legal arena, which doesn't automatically make him a good author, but, he is terrific !! Read it.
January 30, 2020
I very well remember, as a child, the horror Australians felt at the time when Graeme Thorne was kidnapped. His parents won an opera house lottery and their names and picture were well publicised. The kidnapper comes across as emotionless and continued to excuse his killing of the young boy even after his conviction. Surprising to read a previous wife of Bradley (kidnapper) died in a car accident supposedly because the brakes on the car failed. Really!
Well written and well researched and provides insight into Bradley's family and you do wonder if his wife had prior knowledge.
Such a small amount of money in today's terms but a fortune in 1960. The kidnapper demanded 25,000 pounds (from a lottery win of 100,000 pounds).
I feel for Bradley's descendants and no doubt they changed their surname. And of course the utmost empathy for the Thorne family who appeared to be an everyday, hard working Aussie family.
I enjoy Mark Tedeschi's writing. Clear cut and factual but with some licence taken as to insight into his interpretation of people's feelings and the author does mention this in the preface.
Well written and well researched and provides insight into Bradley's family and you do wonder if his wife had prior knowledge.
Such a small amount of money in today's terms but a fortune in 1960. The kidnapper demanded 25,000 pounds (from a lottery win of 100,000 pounds).
I feel for Bradley's descendants and no doubt they changed their surname. And of course the utmost empathy for the Thorne family who appeared to be an everyday, hard working Aussie family.
I enjoy Mark Tedeschi's writing. Clear cut and factual but with some licence taken as to insight into his interpretation of people's feelings and the author does mention this in the preface.
January 7, 2016
An insightful and well-written account of Australia's first - and only - child kidnapping for ransom. I remember I had to write a uni essay on this case, so it was fascinating to revisit this in more detail, particularly understanding how much effort was put in by the Australian police force as well as the first forays into using forensics to solve a crime.
December 12, 2016
A despicable crime thoroughly examined. The details are presented in a gripping style.
December 28, 2016
I'm old enough to remember when this kidnapping took place and Mark Tedeschi took me back to that dark time. To win the Opera House lottery was many people's dream in 1960; however that dream was shattered when the winners, the Thorne family, had their only son, Graeme, kidnapped on his way to school. Stephen John Bradley's name took on a fearsome familiarity in Sydney at that time and the city was gripped with details of the crime. It was Bradley's ordinariness that confused Sydneysiders, but at the same time his foreignness fed into a post WW2 suspicion of "refos" from Europe, particularly since he had changed his name. Mark Tedeschi has captured the essence of the time and the social milieu in which the crime took place. He seems to have inserted himself into the kidnapper's psyche in order to appreciate the motive: Bradley's sense of unfairness, injustice and entitlement. As with his other books, Tedeschi brings to "Kidnapped" his legal knowledge, his incisive mind and his skill to turn a criminal account into a thrilling read.
March 17, 2019
Like the author I remember this infamous crime because I was also a child when the abduction took place & my parents were as shocked as any other in Sydney. What is perhaps most shocking is finding out that kidnapping for ransom wasn't even a crime in 1960. What is truly weird is that, since adding kidnapping to the statutes, there hasn't been one recorded since involving a child. The book is largely a study of child murderer Stephen Bradley's narcissism - he is a simultaneously fascinating & repellent character. And the crime occurred on the very cusp of forensic evidence claiming its place in police investigations. Indeed, police procedure would change a lot after this trial because the perpetrator retracted his confession & the scientific & circumstantial evidence became crucial. A really interesting case study without the crackling prose that might have made it a page turner.
May 24, 2021
I think this is the third of this author's books I've read but I have to say it didn't grip me as much as the last about the Myall Creek Massacre. I quite like the True Crime genre and I know Mark Tedeschi's background as Crown Prosecutor for NSW makes him more than adequately armed for his task.
I cannot put my finger on what it was exactly that didn't fully engage me perhaps I just wasn't emotionally invested for the family or against the protagonist. However, having said that I probably felt most for Magda, Stephen Bradley's (the perpertrator) wife.
I think I would have liked a little more about the new forensics that came out of this case and more detail about the politics surrounding the introduction of the legislation developed post kidnapping to address future kidnap with ransom crimes.
It wasn't unreadable just slightly dissatisfying given how wonderful a job Tedeschi did with his Myall Creek Massacre offering .
I cannot put my finger on what it was exactly that didn't fully engage me perhaps I just wasn't emotionally invested for the family or against the protagonist. However, having said that I probably felt most for Magda, Stephen Bradley's (the perpertrator) wife.
I think I would have liked a little more about the new forensics that came out of this case and more detail about the politics surrounding the introduction of the legislation developed post kidnapping to address future kidnap with ransom crimes.
It wasn't unreadable just slightly dissatisfying given how wonderful a job Tedeschi did with his Myall Creek Massacre offering .
August 23, 2021
A very interesting book to read. The story is shocking, an innocent child and the anguish the family went through. You would never recover from this and the parent would be forever tortured. The forensic investigation in incredible, the evidence, the details and linking everything together. It is well written, very engaging that I could not put the book down and so interesting tracking everything. Reading all the locations and streets, your mind just follows and can imagine step by step today reliving it from the 1960's. You really appreciate how smart and amazing people are in their investigations, legal battles to victories. Worth to read.
October 16, 2022
Kidnapped is about the first case of kidnapping a child for ransom, in Australia. This book was quite interesting when detailing the crime and court proceedings. However, the in between stages were quite boring. I do not agree that the perpetrator committed this crime that resulted in the death of an 8-year-old boy because he "wanted love and attention" or because he wasn't loved at home. I think this crime was committed because a man was greedy and careless. The man wanted $25,000. He was distant when Graeme lost his life. He never showed remorse.
July 1, 2024
My notes :
- it is so sad knowing how many children get kidnapped or go missing .
Summary:
Tells the astounding true story of how this crime was planned and committed, and describe the extraordinary police investigation that was launched to track the criminal down. Mark Tedeschi explores the mind of the intriguing and seriously flawed Stephen Bradley, and also the points of view of the victim, his family- and the police, whose work pioneered the use of many techniques that are now considered common place , marking the beginning of modern-day forensic science in Australia
- it is so sad knowing how many children get kidnapped or go missing .
Summary:
Tells the astounding true story of how this crime was planned and committed, and describe the extraordinary police investigation that was launched to track the criminal down. Mark Tedeschi explores the mind of the intriguing and seriously flawed Stephen Bradley, and also the points of view of the victim, his family- and the police, whose work pioneered the use of many techniques that are now considered common place , marking the beginning of modern-day forensic science in Australia
August 1, 2024
I love Tedeschi's writing. He manages to maintain the mind of a KC but uses human logic to make his arguments and tells an amazingly fast paced tale. This was so tragic. I remember my parents still being rocked by this little boy's death when I grew up in Sydney. The murderer was not psychotic but sits on the edge of human sanity. Greed and narcissism. The poor boy and his parents were destroyed. The book takes the story a step further than I'd expected as we get Tedeschi's plan for how he would have prepared the case for court. Fascinating. But so sad.
October 9, 2017
Loved this book, it's a book you can't put down and to see the places on Google and see how much they have changed since the kidnapping has happened is great.
While this was Australia's first child kidnapping there have been many more since then like Sheree Beasley, Bega schoolgirl murders, Eloise Worledge, Kylie Maybury just to name a few more.
While this was Australia's first child kidnapping there have been many more since then like Sheree Beasley, Bega schoolgirl murders, Eloise Worledge, Kylie Maybury just to name a few more.
July 12, 2018
Half hypothetical (taken from evidence), and half thoroughly researched fact. Great read on a tragic event, Tedeschi gives excellent background on the Australian legal system (although sometimes it can read like an affidavit).
May 19, 2020
Kidnapped is very well written, it was after this that the lottery in Australia changed, never knew this, enjoyed this book although it was sad for the little boy and his family. Would highly recommend this book.
May 20, 2021
Another fascinating book by Mark Tedeschi telling the story of Australia's first and only case of child kidnapping. The author sets out all the facts the the likely chain of events, eventually detailing the trial.
January 25, 2022
This is an excellent audiobook. I loved it. So well written and narrated. Very easy to follow. Fascinating to explore the crime from early 1960s in Australia, the investigation and court proceedings for all involved. Highly recommend!
January 15, 2024
First half was gripping, second half was slightly less interesting while discussing the overall extradition and trial process. Heartbreaking read overall. Would've loved to hear more about the Thorne family and the effects of the case on modern forensic science.
July 7, 2017
This was pretty fascinating.
August 5, 2018
Very well written and interesting book about the history of Sydney, history of the change of law and a great insight into how police investigations work. I would highlight recommend it.
February 3, 2020
Tragic story. Interesting read
January 18, 2021
Interesting, very long winded...
April 16, 2022
I loved this book. I could not put it down. A work of art!
November 13, 2022
Kidnapped
Really enjoyed this book. Unlike some other true crime stories the story and timeline were easy to follow. I was in from the first page to the last.
Really enjoyed this book. Unlike some other true crime stories the story and timeline were easy to follow. I was in from the first page to the last.
March 23, 2017
great look at a crime I had no knowledge of and Australian society at that time
February 5, 2022
Oh I lovveed this book. I knew a little bit about this crime, but what I didn't know is that it all went down in my part of town which makes it extra, super disturbing. I regularly happen past 'the' house. This is just a really interesting story for true crime fans and it was an important case for many legal reasons too, particularly in relation to privacy laws in Australia - oh, and of course KIDNAPPING laws. I am always interested to see how mistakes that are made by the police and government during these cases lead to major changes in how they do things. Really fascinating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews