Russell Manser funeral: Underworld figures among family and friends who ... trends now
The career criminal who turned his life around to advocate for victims of institutional abuse has been remembered as a 'lovable larrikin who was loyal to the bone'.
Russell Manser, who became a TikTok star after spending almost half of his life in-and-out of prison, was farewelled on Monday by family, friends and ex-cons in an emotional service at Pinegrove Memorial Park in Minchinbury, western Sydney.
The former hardened criminal and sexual abuse survivor transformed his life when he founded his charity, The Voice of A Survivor, to help victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
Manser died suddenly at his Sydney harbourfront apartment on March 23. The cause of death has not been revealed.
Russell Manser became a TikTok star after spending almost half of his life in-and-out of prison
Mourners arrive for the funeral service of Manser at Pinegrove Memorial Park in Minchinbury, western Sydney on Monday
Mourners at the service recounted stories from Manser’s colourful criminal past, including how he stole a Porsche from Sydney’s Northern Beaches
Mourners at the service recounted stories from Manser’s colourful criminal past, including how he stole a Porsche from Sydney’s Northern Beaches, and later escaped prison and pretended to be a German tourist in an attempt to evade capture.
Ex-prisoner John Killick, a good friend of Manser's who wrote his biography The Voice of a Survivor – the Russell Manser Story, spoke of his early days in Mount Druitt in Sydney’s west.
Manser was famous for walking around the neighbourhood with his Staffordshire terrier called Butch, who would carry a house brick in its mouth and play fetch, Killick recalled.
He told how Manser ‘saw the poverty around him and wanted to be a bank robber'.
'One day, that did happen,’ he added.
At a young age, Manser started in petty crime, stole cars, committed a few break-ins, and was eventually caught and sent to the notorious Daruk Boys Home, which later became a subject of the Royal Commission
