{"id":9700,"date":"2021-09-06T11:10:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T01:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kelsolawyers.com\/au\/?post_type=institutions&p=9700"},"modified":"2025-03-28T11:46:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T00:46:38","slug":"institution-for-boys-tamworth","status":"publish","type":"institutions","link":"https:\/\/kelsolawyers.com\/au\/institutions\/institution-for-boys-tamworth\/","title":{"rendered":"Offending Institution: Institution For Boys, Tamworth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Institution for Boys, Tamworth,<\/a> was established by the Child Welfare Department in 1948. Originally a colonial prison the Institution for Boys was a place of secondary punishment for boys aged 15 – 18-years-old who had absconded from Mittagong Training Home or Mount Penang or had been convicted of offences in those homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, for almost all of the boys, the punishments at the institution were far too harsh. Many <\/span>former inmates said there was a \u201ckill or be killed\u201d culture<\/span><\/a> within its walls. From day one, the boys were beaten, starved and had to fight for their lives every single day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bob McCluland, who was sent to Tamworth for five months in 1962, walked away from the institution <\/span>with a \u201ckiller instinct\u201d<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Anyone crossed you, you’d just cut their throat,” he said.<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He\u2019s not the only one. ABC News interviewed six former inmates who did not go on to commit violent offences but agreed with Bob\u2019s sentiment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They all agreed <\/span>time spent at the Institution for Boys in Tamworth could turn a man into a killer<\/span><\/a> \u2014 and that it did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alumni of the Institution for Boys in Tamworth include some of Australia\u2019s most notorious killers and criminals, including:<\/span><\/p>\n