Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ Read, one of the most notorious criminals of all time in Australia, is facing death row.
Read, who is suffering from terminal liver cancer, was admitted to palliative care at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Saturday.
Chopper Read was immortalised by Eric Bana in the 2000 movie ‘Chopper’. Read’s manager Andrew Parisi confirmed in a statement “I’m saddened to confirm today that Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ Read has been admitted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with an ongoing and serious illness.
“Neither Mark nor his family are able to provide any information regarding his condition. Mark and his family would appreciate privacy in these most difficult times.”
Only last Monday Read told all at a Q&A at the Athenaeum in Melbourne. He said he was unlikely to live past Christmas this year.
Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ Read is one of Australia’s most notorious criminals but also became a celebrity off his infamy. The 59-year thug had spent over 23 years in jail up to 1998 for crimes ranging from robbery to assault to kidnapping. However, he always said he only went after the bad guys and genuine, honest citizens never needed to fear him.
Read was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2012 after first being told he had Hepatitis C in 2008. Then he said, “A transplant would save me, but why would anybody give 53-year-old Chopper Read a liver over and above an 11-year-old girl with liver cancer? They wouldn’t – and I wouldn’t ask. I need a transplant, but I don’t want a transplant.”
