Keith George Faure (born June, 1951), from Norlane,

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters. He is currently serving

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years for his role in two murders related to the Melbourne gangland killings. Faure's criminal history includes further convictions for

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

and

breaking and entering Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...

. Faure and Chopper Read continued a lengthy prison war while imprisoned in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's Pentridge Prison during the 1970s and 1980s and Faure features prominently in Read's first few books. Faure was also the basis for the character of Keithy George in the film '' Chopper'',Mokbel ordered hit on Lewis Moran
'' News.com.au'' 4 May 2006 who is stabbed to death in the film's opening scenes. Faure, portrayed by actor David Field, was reported to be unhappy with his portrayal and used his anger at his depiction in the film as a defence in a minor traffic offence.Let's make a deal
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' 4 May 2006 In the drama series '' Underbelly'' Faure is played by Kym Gyngell although as with several other characters his name is not mentioned in the series due to a court order.

Criminal family

Faure's grandfather, Norman Bruhn, was reported to be a

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

based gangster who operated during the 1920s. He was shot and killed in 1927 during a hit ordered by John Cutmore, who died with Squizzy Taylor in a Melbourne shoot-out four months later. His brother, Leslie Faure, was serving a 14-year prison sentence for the murder of his girlfriend, killed in 1997.. Faure's youngest brother, Noel Faure, was convicted of manslaughter for the 1990 killing of Frank Truscott of Rye, Victoria. Faure has been sent to trial for murder on five occasions and received two murder convictions.

Criminal history

1976 Clifton Hill ANZ Bank robbery

On 4 June 1976, Faure and two accomplices set out to rob the Clifton Hill branch of the

ANZ Bank The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, commonly known as ANZ Bank, is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fo ...

. Faure was convicted of shooting Senior Constable Michael Pratt in the back during the robbery. Pratt was later awarded the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

award for bravery, however he was forced to retire from the police force due to injuries sustained in the shooting by Faure. Faure was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for his role in the robbery and shooting of Pratt..

Manslaughter of Shane Rowland

Faure was found guilty of the manslaughter of Shane Dennis Rowland, shot dead on 1 May 1976 at a house in Richmond.

Manslaughter of Alan Sopulak

Faure was found guilty of the manslaughter of prisoner Alan Sopulak in 1976 at Pentridge prison. Sopulak died after he was stabbed nine times in the back with a sharpened butter knife.

Melbourne gangland killings

Murder of Lewis Caine

The body of Melbourne underworld figure, Lewis Caine (also known as Sean Vincent.), was found dumped in a residential street in Brunswick on 8 May 2004. On 3 November 2005, Faure and Evangelos Goussis were convicted for the murder of Lewis Caine, the first murder convictions related to the Melbourne underworld wars.

Murder of Lewis Moran

On 31 March 2004 Lewis Moran and associate Herbert Wrout were shot while drinking at the Brunswick Club in Sydney Road, Brunswick. Faure was reportedly paid $150,000 by Tony Mokbel for the murder of Moran, of which $140,000 was collected. On 5 December 2005, during the committal hearing for the murder of Lewis Moran, Faure fainted in the dock and was attended to by paramedics after suffering a suspected

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. Faure pleaded guilty to the murder of Moran. On 3 May 2006, Faure was sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment for the murder of Lewis Caine and life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 19 years for the murder of Lewis Moran. Faure also gave evidence against others in both of these murders in a deal with the prosecution in return for a reduced sentence.

Summary of criminal convictions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faure, Keith 1951 births Australian gangsters Australian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Australian bank robbers Australian escapees Contract killers Living people Melbourne gangland killings People from Geelong Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Victoria (state) Escapees from Victoria (state) detention Australian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Victoria (state) Criminals from Melbourne Australian people convicted of robbery Australian people convicted of manslaughter