Thursday 1 September 2022 11:19 PM What prison life will be like for Teacher's Pet killer Chris Dawson trends now
A one-time career criminal has explained why wife-killer Christopher Dawson will live a lonely and terrifying life behind bars, with even the 74-year-old's exercise hour a moment of peril.
Dawson was found guilty of murdering his first wife Lynette Dawson on Tuesday, some 40 years after she first vanished from their home on Sydney's northern beaches - his trial hearing he killed her so he could be with their teenage babysitter.
In an insider's account of life behind bars, former convict Russell Manser said Dawson's high profile will make him a prime target for extortion as the former rugby league star awaits sentencing in Sydney's Silverwater prison.
And it won't be the fact Dawson killed his wife which will see prisoners turn against him, it's his relationship with a teenage girl that will attract the wrong kind of attention.
'He won't get it easy, those sorts of conditions are going to be real tough on someone like him,' Manser, who robbed multiple banks in the 1990s before drastically changing his ways, told Daily Mail Australia.
The true crime podcaster said every step of Dawson's journey inside would be painful.
Ex-con Russell Manser (pictured right) works in abuse rehabilitation and hosts crime podcast 'The Stick Up'. He said Chris Dawson's upcoming stint in Silverwater intake is going to be 'real tough'
Chris Dawson (pictured) was found guilty of the murder of his wife Lynette on Tuesday and has already received jail-house death threats as he awaits sentencing
Dawson's move after court to the Sydney Police Centre in Surry Hills was the first brutal step in a long line of corrections processes to come.
'Sydney Police centre in Surry Hills is the lowest of the low, the screws (the security) can be brutal,' Manser said.
His first night in the station on Tuesday in the 'one-out' cell below ground saw his pressed blue suit and lilac tie rubbed up on against a cell infamous for its horrible food, cockroaches and sometimes rats.
After his night at the notorious lockup, Dawson was taken across Sydney from Surry Hills to Silverwater in a police van, which would have 'smelled like piss' according to Manser and has metal interior walls with fastening points for handcuffs.
Screening at Silverwater Correctional Complex is 'rigorous', Manser said.
'He'll be strip searched, he'll have to get fully naked, lift his b**ls, spread his a***-cheeks.
'It'll be humiliating for him, he'd never have experienced that.'
Dawson has been taken to Silverwater prison in a transport vehicle (pictured, left) that typically 'smells like piss'. Russell Manser said those in prison are not expected to take kindly to the wife-killer (right, with Lynette) who slept with his children's babysitter
Manser (pictured with his partner) now runs a support and advocacy group that helps connect survivors of abuse, prisoners, and former prisoners with legal advice and rehabilitation
Dawson then would have undergone a psychological test and have his prison greens tossed at him - a tracksuit and green t-shirt '10 sizes too big', Manser said.
The former teacher was also in custody four years ago at the vast Silverwater correctional complex's Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre, but only spent three weeks there before being released on bail.
He had been charged for his wife's murder in 2018, but this time - after being convicted of killing her and admitting to having a relationship with a former student - his stay will be different.
Death threats have already flooded in for Dawson with extra attention on his presence in the jail.
'Darcy', the Silverwater reception unit Dawson will be thrown into, has a formidable reputation which Manser said rivals that of prisons in third-world countries like Indonesia.
There, health staff will assess whether he is a suicide or self-harm risk, and evaluate the needs of any ongoing physical health problems.
During the 10-week murder trial which culminated in Dawson's conviction, and in other legal proceedings, he has complained of a fractured hip and of a possible brain injury from his years of playing football.
Manser (pictured robbing a bank in the 1990s) says other criminals inside wouldn't much care about Dawson's murder charge - instead they'll focus on how he forged a relationship with a teenage girl
This will be the most treacherous step for Dawson, according to the hardened ex-con.
Even though Dawson is likely headed straight for protection, due to the high profile of his case and the nature of his crimes, it might not be enough to save him from other inmates.
He'll be in 'Darcy' until he's classified and allocated a unit at a different prison.
If Dawson does end up in a protected intake unit at Silverwater, Manser believes even other protected prisoners might beat him 'to make a name for themselves' in exercise time, or as they hand him his dinner.
'Not all protected prisoners are paedophiles, some can't fight, or have huge drug debts, and they'll all want the notoriety,' he said.
'There'll also be trusted blokes called "sweepers" who hand out the food (to inmates even in protected areas) but one of them might be told (by regular inmates) to just square up the ledger.
'They also might not, he'll have to see if he gets lucky.'
Dawson (pictured arriving at court on Wednesday) will receive a welcome reserved for 'rock-spiders' when he finishes the intake processes at Silverwater prison, a former inmate has said
Dawson (pictured) began a career as a teacher after hanging up the football boots - before 'grooming' one of his students and killing his own wife
Dawson (left with Lynette right) will be 'lucky' if trusted prisoners tasked with taking food to the bone yard don't succumb to pressure from other inmates and attack him while in the protective custody area
Dawson will be a special target, but not simply for murdering his wife, covering up the killing and leaving her family haunted by the mystery for 40 years.
