“Remember that British MP John Stonehouse who back in 1974 left his towel and his clothes on the beach at the Miami hotel he was staying at, went swimming and faked his own death?” retired Detective Senior Sergeant Doug Willingham asks.
“Well, the ‘dead’ MP was spotted doing a spot of banking in Collins Street in Melbourne, and I was part of the team that arrested him.”
Doug slaps his knee and laughs as he recollects: “At first we weren’t sure whether this bloke was Stonehouse or Lord Lucan, so I phoned Scotland Yard, and they sent photos of both men on the next flight to Melbourne. And sure enough, it was Stonehouse.”
And arresting the MP, who was consequently sentenced to seven years jail in the UK for fraud, is just one of the many colourful criminals that Doug has brought to justice during his 35 years in the police force.
The 89-year-old who is “as tough as they come” moved into Uniting AgeWell Noble Park Community six years ago after he had a couple of falls at home. “My knee and my neck were playing up a bit, that’s probably because of all the injuries I got from football over the years,” Doug explains. “Many years ago, one of my brothers and his wife moved in here, and when I visited them I thought it was a lovely place and I swore that I would also move in one day if I needed a bit of extra help.”
He did just that, but the extra bit of help goes both ways. Policing habits die hard and Doug still double-checks the doors are locked each night before he turns in for bed.
It’s easy to see why Doug, with his powerful military bearing and razor-sharp mind, was such a force in the police force during his career. “I have a trained mind,” he says. “There’s a thoroughness to investigating crimes that I really enjoy.”
And it’s clear he has derived great satisfaction and enjoyment from his career. He has a treasure trove of tales of murders, arson, fraud and theft cases he’s helped solve over the years – many of them high profile. And he says he was part of the first squad appointed to try to reduce the Victorian road death toll many years ago.
Doug is single now, has four children and “lots of grandchildren” and has lived in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs all his life. “I was one of 12 kids, and my Mum was widowed pretty early on and brought us all up on her own,” Doug says. “There’s no room in my life for whinging or self-pity. I’ve always just got on with things.”
He’s not kidding. When he was diagnosed with bowel cancer in the 1980’s, he had surgery and “just concentrated on getting better”.
Now Doug spends his days reading newspapers and police bulletins, and taping movies to watch whenever the mood takes him. Detective movies mostly, of course!
“The food is fine, the staff are kind, I’m very content here,” Doug says. “What’s not to be happy about?”
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