The True Story of the Postcard Bandit

Meshel Laurie· Host0:00

This is Australian True Crime with Michelle Lawrie. Brendan James Abbott is one of Australia's most notorious bank robbers, a figure whose crimes, repeated prison escapes, and years spent evading capture throughout the 1990s turned him into something of an outlaw legend. It was during this time on the run that the media released photos cementing his nickname, the Postcard Bandit as his image spread widely and his story took on a mythological quality that blurred the line between criminal and folk anti-hero. To unpack the story behind both the legend and the reality, we're joined by Abe Maddison, author of The Postcard Bandit, an authorized biography of Brendan Abbott. Abe wrote the book under the name Derek Pedley, and we begin this episode with the story behind the name change. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. And a warning, this episode of the podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence.

Abe Maddison· Guest1:03

Abraham Maddison is the name that I was given when I was born. Uh, about three months after I was born, I was adopted, and I was given the name Derek Pedley, and that's the name I grew up with. Uh, I found my adoption papers when I was about 15 and, uh, struggled with that a little, um, for, for, for quite a number of years. And look, the, the reason I ended up, um, spending