‘EVERYONE WAS DOING
SOMETHING ILLEGAL!’
CHARLES
STAUNTON
F
ormer policeman and
one-time ‘Mr Fix It’
for some of Kings
Cross’ most notorious
identities, Charles
Staunton has lived life on
both sides of the law.
“I enjoyed being a policeman
and thought I was going to save
the world,” Charles, 60, tells
New Idea. “It was exciting.
But it was also disappointing
because they seemed to get
away with everything.
“There was a hard-drinking
culture; the law didn’t really
seem to apply to the police- it applied to everyone else.”
Charles says the police
were “a hassle to most of the
establishments”.
“If you were in Kings Cross,
everyone was doing something
illegal, whether it was not
paying your taxes, or because the
licensing laws forced you to do
something illegal or you’d never
sell a drink,” he says.
“I knew where the police
cheated. I knew where the
observation squad said they
saw something when it
was impossible.”
After leaving the NSW police
in the late ’80s and working as
a doorman and host in various
Kings Cross clubs, Charles used
his understanding of both sides
He’s been on both sides
of the law – and now
former policeman Charles
Staunton has written a
book about his colourful
life, The Good Bloke.HE’S BEEN
A COP,
CRIMINAL
FIXER – AND
PRISONER
He’s been on both sides
of the law – and now
former policeman Charles
Staunton has written a
book about his colourful
life, The Good Bloke.32crime
special