Dark Stories Newcastle

09/06/2026

Robert Perkins doesn't become a criminal because he is born wicked. He becomes one because he is born unlucky.

His mother dies. His father remarries. His stepmother throws him out. He inherits nothing from a father who has plenty. And so a young man who once had every advantage drifts into the taverns and gambling tables of Georgian England.

Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals, a true crime book written nearly 300 years ago, records his story with the kind of unsentimental detail that makes it cut deeper than any modern retelling could.

Read the full story on our blog or listen to the podcast episode.

Is there a point in Perkins's story where you think he could have turned things around?


https://darkstories.com.au/robert-perkins-the-disinherited-baker-turned-thief

04/06/2026

Some cold cases stay cold forever. The murder of Betty Shanks might be one of them.

In 1952, the 22-year-old was beaten to death on a quiet suburban Brisbane street, just a few hundred metres from her parents' home. She had just stepped off a tram after a night lecture. Nothing was stolen. No one came forward as a witness. And despite decades of investigation, no one has ever been charged.

Her case has been reviewed multiple times, but degraded evidence and the limitations of 1950s forensics have kept the truth buried.

Betty's family never received answers. Her killer was never named.

Should cold cases like this have a time limit, or do we owe it to victims to keep investigating forever?


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02/06/2026

A father who flees to Jamaica. A grandfather who tries to save the boy. A young man who refuses to be saved.

William Barton's story reads like a case study in restlessness. Every stable path he is offered; apprenticeship, the sea, the army; he abandons for something more volatile. By the time he turns highwayman, he is applying military strategy to stagecoach robbery, sending scouts ahead to reconnoitre targets.

And the motive? Not greed. Love. The original text calls him 'uxorious'; so devoted to his wife that her needs become the engine driving him toward the gallows.

This story is nearly 300 years old. The human patterns in it are ageless.

Does every life contain a point of no return, or is it a series of small choices that only look inevitable afterward?


https://darkstories.com.au/william-barton-the-highwayman-who-could-not-stay-still

26/05/2026

The Ordinary of Newgate is part priest, part journalist, part grief counsellor. He visits condemned men in their cells, coaxes them toward repentance, extracts their confessions; and then publishes those confessions for profit.

John Trippuck, the Golden Tinman, speaks to the Ordinary with a polite 'prithee' even as he faces the gallows. Even a condemned highwayman remembers his manners when he wants a favour.

Trippuck's story is one of four tangled together in a single chapter from Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals, a true crime book published nearly 300 years ago. Each man arrives at the same destination by a different road.

Read the full story and listen to the episode now.

What fascinates you more: the criminals, or the strange machinery of justice that surrounds them?


https://darkstories.com.au/john-trippuck-the-golden-tinmans-highway-robberies

19/05/2026

Jane Griffin begs her husband to attend to his 'temporal concerns.' Not time. Not the clock. In eighteenth century language, temporal means worldly; the money, the property, the business, the family. Everything that must survive after she is gone.

It is a striking detail from a story full of them. Jane is a prosperous Smithfield innkeeper with charm, wit and a temper so violent that it will cost her everything. When she turns a knife on her maid, a life built on hard work collapses in a single, ungovernable moment.

This story comes from Lives of the Most Remarkable Criminals, published nearly 300 years ago. True crime by candlelight.

What strikes you harder: the crime itself, or the quiet practicality of her final words to her husband?


https://darkstories.com.au/jane-griffin-the-mistress-who-turned-a-knife-on-her-maid

07/05/2026

He was born into poverty, hounded by police from childhood, and dead on the gallows by 25. But Ned Kelly's legend has outlived everyone who tried to stop him.

Kelly killed three officers, robbed banks wearing stolen police uniforms, penned a furious manifesto against colonial injustice, and faced his final siege in a suit of homemade iron armour. When he emerged from the mist at Glenrowan, bullets bouncing off his body, even the police couldn't believe what they were seeing.

More than 140 years later, Australia still can't agree on what he was: murderer or martyr, villain or folk hero.

Where do you stand? Let us know in the comments.


https://darkstories.com.au/ned-kelly-the-outlaw-who-became-australias-most-legendary-bushranger

29/03/2026

Looking for a unique way to spend Easter? Dive into the past with Dark Stories True Crime Tours! Perfect for history buffs and thrill seekers alike 🕵️✨.



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29/03/2026

Easter just got more intriguing! 🐰 Join Dark Stories True Crime Tours and dive into captivating tales of the past. Reserve your spot today!



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16/03/2026

Exciting new legal drama Consent is almost here! We talked with star Samantha Lambert about her character and the challenges of this intense courtroom drama. Stay tuned for details!

Today, we sit down with Samantha Lambert, one of the stars of the upcoming, much-anticipated legal drama Consent, a courtroom and...

07/03/2026

🌍🚢 Experience the magic of Ireland The Voyage! 💚✨ Debra takes you on a journey through history, music, and dance in their latest review. Don't miss this epic celebration of Irish heritage!

From the producers of Celtic Illusion, comes a powerful new theatrical experience in Ireland: The Voyage, an epic celebration of Ireland’s history, heart, ...