Don’t play god, don’t mess with their mail – in prison with the worst of the worst

Brian Coghlan is laid back, an asset he was able to use in his workplace. As a prison officer, he quickly learnt that being seen as a good guy around bad people was the key to life behind bars. For 26 years at Port Phillip Prison, he dealt with the worst society had to offer – sex offenders, serial killers and manipulative mass murderers who knew they were destined to die in jail. He spent most of those years working in the top-level protection unit that housed the likes of Peter Dupas, Julian Knight, Raymond "Mr Stinky" Edmunds and the Bega schoolgirl killers. Coghlan decided very early to deal with each inmate on the basis of how they behaved in jail, not what they did to get there. In this episode, he talks to John Silvester about the tricks to surviving in jail, as an inmate and as a prison officer, and his unique insight into some of the country's worst inmates. Background reading/viewing John Silvester's full story on Brian Coghlan – 'Dealing with Victoria's most notorious killers'. John Silvester's latest column – '$500 to firebomb: How crime gangs are outsourcing Melbourne's Bar Wars .' Foreign Correspondent, ABC, ' The man from Tobasco: The story of Carlos Cabal Peniche.'

You can listen to Don’t play god, don’t mess with their mail – in prison with the worst of the worst online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Don’t play god, don’t mess with their mail – in prison with the worst of the worst is an episode from Naked City by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

This episode is 53:15 long.

This episode was published on May 5, 2026.

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