This is not a one-minute read; it’s become a tad more than 100 words.  Frankly, this is a work in progress and one’s currently up to now 61,000 words overall thus far, though we are getting close to finishing this collated manuscript.   Compare perhaps a reading of an Amazon Kindle book.

We estimate once completed, this article (using AI-averaging about 100 words per minute) so 61,000 words would then extrapolate to approximating an 11-hour read.

This is clearly too much for a reading sitting.  Also the software is having conniptions coping with our excessive words in just this one article.   So once our sourced and edited manuscript content is all but done, we’re considering dividing up this article into chapters, so that each chapter becomes a separate article for convenience to readers, as part of a web-book on this same website.  We will first need to  provide necessary technical cross-links between the chapters to the entire web-book, as well as back links to the Table of Contents.

Quite differently to normal publishing of finished works, we offer this work currently as ‘live’ drafting – so published while still unfinished – this is so readers can see how our web-book unpublished gets written as a work in progress!    Though, when finished we’ll note CONTENT COMPLETE at the start of this Preface.

This article started off in its draft form by just collating what one could muster from media reporting available from 2013 as information was made public by police in dribs and drabs. 

One then paused researching content for a time (over a decade in fact) due to other personal commitments and stuff.  Now back at it, it’s evolving into a thesis of sorts due out of our respect for a need to share the truth about a locally significant Blue Mountains tragedy that should never have happened.  But it did.  The story is worth telling as best as research allows.

CONTENTS

 (PARTS)

1. Front Cover
2. Back Page Blurb
3. Title Page
4. Copyright & Disclaimer
5. Epigraph
6. Frontispiece
7. Foreword
8. Disclaimer
9. Dedication
10. Acknowledgements
11. Table of Contents
12. Preface
13. Introduction: Gary Tweddle
14. Chapter  1:  A limited backstory
15. Chapter  2:  Oracle’s 2013 sales conference
16. Chapter  3:  Gary’s state of mind?
17. Chapter  4:  Blue Mountains massive search
18. Chapter  5:  Critique about the search
19. Chapter  6:  Our own ‘ground-truthing’
20. Chapter  7:  Discovery later by fluke
21. Chapter  8:  Gary ‘lost in darkness’
22. Chapter  9:  Gary’s cocaine deal
23. Chapter  10:  NSW Police disclose vital facts 
24. Chapter  11:  Dénouement:  Cocaine use at Oracle
25. Chapter  12:  Sydney:  World’s cocaine capital?
26. Epilogue
27. Afterword
28. Bibliography
29. Author Bio

Another known local Blue Mountains author, Christopher Webber, has also previously in 2023 written an article on this case. [See References chapter at the end of this article].

View of Sublime Point Leura toward the Jamison Valley below.  [SOURCE:  ^https://www.truebluemountains.com.au/]

Why this author, on this particularly tragic issue?

 

For clarity, we wish to firstly point out to readers who are not familiar with the Blue Mountains in Australia, and so not then with Sublime Point in Leura in the Blue Mountains.

We mention this because there happens to be another location somewhat distant away also called Sublime Point Lookout, though that one is situated more than 100km away along the New South Wales coastline well south of Sydney.  See the map below showing the relative different locations of the two.

As a local of The Blue Mountains since 2001, this author has been a local resident/home owner/business owner in the adjacent town to Leura, of Katoomba.

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Just why our interest in this?   Well, two reasons.  One, this particular search became purportedly the largest in Blue Mountains history.   Two, more personally, this author has a nigh twenty year career (1993-2010) in the IT industry in the rough and tumble of corporate Sydney as a Business Analyst and in related roles, and became well familiar of the male dominating corporate bullying culture in this profession, so one has a sense of empathy with Gary’s employment experiences.

Coincidentally, the year 2013 just happened to coincide with Nature Trail first registering as a business, as a commercial tour operator in the Blue Mountains.   During our training, education and preparation for offering various commercial hiking tours, we started to read about stories in the local Blue Mountains gazette newspaper of hiking mishaps by others venturing into the Blue Mountains great outdoors and into remote wilderness areas.

We began to realise the incidences of mishaps in the Blue Mountains ‘great outdoors’ are not as expected occasional, but rather disturbingly so, all too frequent.

We don’t seek out to involve ourselves in tragedies for the sake of it, but moreso to comprehend the causations and to learn from them.  The goal being as a prospective leader delivering outdoor recreation hiking experiences commercially bloody well avoid to the know mistakes of others an so set better practice standards in a learned ongoing way.

Steve holds an extensive analytical background, is a qualified Business Analyst with related tertiary qualifications and a career background as a functional consultant in management accounting, reporting and forensic accounting.   Such background does not qualify us for search and rescue activities, but we can cross-apply our analytics skills to such problem solving.

Tongue in cheek, maybe from our articles and analysis, we ought invoice the NSW Government’s Forensic Medicine and Coroner’s Court for us having done its avoided tasks.

This story has turned out to be complex, and frankly rather sad.   The demise of Gary has unique causations, that were not fully disclosed publicly at the time.  It’s why we waited for authorities due time to explain publicly about what happened and why, but they never did.

So, this article attempts to interpret truths behind the media reported tragic story of one visitor to the Blue Mountains, the late Gary Lloyd Tweddle [29 Nov 1989 – 17 July 2013], whom on one freezing winter’s night in 2013 suddenly vanished from work during the course of his workplace compulsory conference staged at a luxury corporate stay on the outskirts of the village of Leura.

(5)  Gary’s untimely death has become yet another poorly investigated and unexplained fatality in the Blue Mountains by the responsible NSW government authorities, namely the NSW Forensic Medicine and Coroners Court (yet again) and by SafeWork NSW avoidance (yet again).  Gary was attending a workplace event of his employer Oracle.  We posit that Oracle sales extreme culture contributed mainly to Gary’s mixed substance abuse, anxiety and desperate state of mind whilst employed at its workplace event.  This we explore;

 

(7)  Gary’s employer, Oracle Corporation Australia has never made a public statement of any kind about their full-time employee Gary Tweddle, not at the time of his sudden disappearance from its sales work conference, nor during the massive search for him, nor once Gary’s body had been found and recovered, nor at his funeral.   What an uncaring employer!   This author has repeated experienced such uncaring management behaviour toward employees/contractors like himself repeatedly from Corporate IT Sydney firms (1993-2010) from well-known large corporates, government departments and IT consulting firms alike.  It is an uncaring ruthless corporate culture.

This particularly long article is a dedication to the memory of the late Gary Lloyd Tweddle.  We hope we give his story justice.

 

2. Introduction

• The largest missing person search in Blue Mountains history
• A misguided search and rescue effort
• Another death by misadventure in the Blue Mountains
• A complex family backstory
• Oracle sales stressful corporate culture
• Poor police methodology
• NSW Coroner’s Court lack of inquest and public transparency failures
• Narcotic use, and criminal dealing
• Sydney’s rampant cocaine scene.

Young people like Gary and his work mates naturally seek fun and excitement and many party frequently, especially the more exuberant personalities.  They are predisposed to take more risks than older folks – their natural youth, fitness and boundless energy convincing them that they are pretty much bulletproof.

Regrettably, some seek high-risk pursuits and are more inclined to be influenced by their mates.  Youth risk aversion and propensity for fun (at any cost) can mean taking risks like experimenting with narcotics.   The media reports at the time connected Gary with narcotics, but this revelation took some weeks to be revealed publicly from Gary’s co-workers following Gary’s sudden disappearance.

Narcotic drug use can be associated with a response to uncontrollable anxiety.  Workplace stress such as a high pressure sales performance expectation culture can inculcate feelings of inadequacy and this can urge one to turn to coping mechanisms, like such substance abuse.

But was Gary using drugs?

At the time of his disappearance this was not publicised.  Police were just starting to investigate his sudden and unexplained disappearance, and the media reporting early on was not aware.

3. Prologue:  a contextual workplace backstory to Gary’s disappearance

May be this is how Oracle management preferred it, so they have a young keen naive lackey, achieve through magic (none by any training) with a short deadline to achieve
an arbitrary peak sales performance else face an expressed threat of crash and burn of the streets, ostracised, and fired.

So, for such an ‘intern’ to engender ‘anything goes’?

Young Gary, employed full time (likely on a standard 3 month probation to first prove himself) at his workplace at the time, would have been required by his employer Oracle to compulsorily attend its in-house sales force conference event at this isolated venue out of Sydney in the Blue Mountains.

Gary’s employer, Oracle Corporation, is a lead American multinational computer technology corporation and at the time in 2013 employed 122,000 staff globally, reporting an annual profit of US$10 million out of sales revenues of US$37 million.  This was on par with Oracle’s previous years, but performance was unsatisfactory in the mind of the sales driven culture of its founder and then CEO Larry Ellison, already a billionaire control freak.

‘Oracle posted a 2 percent drop in new software sales and Internet-based software subscriptions to $2.3 billion in its fiscal third quarter, missing its own forecasts and sending its shares sharply lower.’

SOURCE:  ‘Oracle sales down, stock falls‘, 2013-03-21, CRN Australia (technology

news), ^https://www.crn.com.au/news/oracle-sales-down-stock-falls-337261

Worse though, was that Oracle’s global profit was down considerably and that this looked set to continue, and did:

Oracle has been renowned for its aggressive marketing and sales strategy as well as acquiring competitors to achieve market dominance.  This corporate culture has been driven by the ambitiously competitive personality of its founder in 1977 and then CEO Larry Ellison.

The comparatively shortfall from forecast sales was more of a chink to Larry’s ego and reputation than a devastating impact on Oracle’s successful global software business.

Oracle sales force was hard results driven under CEO Larry Ellison.  Former sales representatives have commented online of their experience working at Oracle:

• “Oracle is very large and very driven in business. It is easy for employees to feel lost and to fight for survival anyhow they deem fit”
• “their goal was to hire 22-year-olds right out of college and roughly half our salary.” 
• “team morale is very low. Teams not hitting their numbers, especially on the SaaS side. Very high attrition rates and overall, cloud products not market ready. Internal processes are driving lots of internal conflict and frustration.”
• “Oracle was a great job coming out of college, but even after repeated quarters of overachieving I was still micromanaged.” 
• “worked hard and played hard. Very hard driving to meet objectives”. 
• “Sales – Very stressful environment.”  
• “Oracle is more focused on short-term quotas.” 
• “It was a nice place to work many years ago, but now the company is a creepy greedy place. They have fired 60% of the team since Jul-20 up to date, but only to get more profit, as they opened a low cost support center in Mexico, and they are gradually firing the people working in the US. Usually you receive emails from the management requesting something, and also including something like “the directors are watching you”. The directors are also logged in to the chatroom so you can be careful about what you write. They also hear you phone conversations.”  
• “Quickly to fire.”
• “Greedy company. Management promote a culture of fear.”
• “They’re bussing in college new hires by the thousands.” 

[^Source]

Such was Gary’s new high pressure workplace market culture where the bottom line was everything.

Gary would have been one of those many IT college graduates at aged just 23 – keen, trying hard to please, young and naïve with immaturity to be able to cope with the demanding corporate sales target pressures and having little sales experience.  [Ed: Been there!]

So, Gary was likely out of his depth at such a powerful and controlling large male-dominated organisation trying to sell Oracle’s complex software systems to big companies.

Gary, being far from home on the other side of the world, would have in front of mind his sense of financial dependency upon his employer, Oracle.  His tenure in Oracle sales was wholly dependent on him delivering their new sales results week in, week out.

So Oracle owned Gary.  It would have been week-by-week performance survival.  He had nowhere else to go, save the prospect of being fired for poor performance and returning back to London as a failure.  May be his girlfriend knew or sensed this pressure in otherwise happy Gary.

Why discuss Gary’s employer culture?.  Read on.

May be Gary’s sales colleagues at Oracle at the time may have more to say, so long as they are no longer under Oracle’s spell.  But one surmises, from one’s own corporate IT stressful performance pressure experiences in Sydney.

The Oracle Sales Dinner Event at Silk’s Brasserie

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5. Gary’s state of mind at the time?

 

The jacket mention would later contradict the discovery of Gary by paramedics.

He had forgotten his eye glasses.  This above quoted description however is vague.  There is a big difference between a human height of 165 cm (5′ 5″) and 170 cm (5′ 7″).  At 5’5″ he would be an unusually short man.  In fact, according to his girlfriend’s poster, Gary was 170 cm tall, or 5′ 7 inches, so not tall.  She ought to know his height, and so would with his mother and father, who turned up, and likely his GP.

 

Back to his running out of the Fairmont, Gary then had been last seen waving at a car 400 metres from the Fairmont Resort about 12.15 am just after midnight on the Wednesday morning 17th July 2013.  The motorist ( a local) later told police that Gary was seen standing in the middle of the road (specifically Sublime Point Road) talking on his mobile phone. 

Gary then continues running/(now jogging?) southward along Sublime Point Road with his mobile phone and seeking directional guidance from his work colleagues back who were all back at the Fairmont.

• So one of Gary’s work colleagues/mates after three hours of stewing, and no mobile response from Gary’s mobile, probably after trying to call Gary multiple times, decided to handball the problem to Gary’s girlfriend, likely waking her from sleep.
• How did that colleague obtain Anika Haigh’s mobile number at 3:30am, unless she was also an Oracle employee, and that’s how Gary met her?  Her name is old English with a hint of Nordic, so perhaps she like many other Oracle employees was seconded from overseas, like Gary.  Gary’s party photo below reveals a mix of cultures in the group.  Anika later stated she had to travel down from Queensland after the search began.  Oracle has a Brisbane office at 300 Anne Street in the Brisbane CBD – perhaps she was working out of the Brisbane office.
• The Oracle sales conference in the Blue Mountains was a male only affair, so was this part of the Ellison Oracle corporate culture – the lads do the sales heavy  lifting, while the girls are relegated to the back office?
• Why didn’t Gary’s colleague instead phone Police Emergency 000 directly himself, since he knew the situation intimately, he was staying locally where Gary had gone missing so could help police with relevant information (unlike Gary’s girlfriend), and he was also awake at 3:30am.
• Why didn’t Gary’s colleague phone Police Emergency 000 much earlier like just after 12:30 am , rather than wait another 3 hours since Gary had said he was lost and his mobile phone had gone silent?  Guilt here?   There was not going to be more cocaine party with Gary now lost.
• A coward act!  This Gary’s colleague knew about the cocaine deals Gary had been and continued to be involved in – we explain this in detail later.  Presumably so did Gary’s other three colleagues who had stayed back at Silks – check this lot below.  It was arse covering, and side stepping to avoid police implications about narcotics use and supply  – to avoid being sacked from Oracle once the true cocaine deal story got out).
• How many of Gary’s Oracle colleagues were doing ‘coke’, including at Silks in the Men’s toilet there?   Why were few drinking alcohol at Silks according to the Silks owner/manager?   Were they imbibing something stronger, like before even arriving at Silks that night?
• Was Gary their new cocaine mule?  Had he run out after being generous, and was just desperate to party hard and please?   So are they implicated in Gary’s death?   Later it turned out that one drug dealer Christopher Thomas Pambos of Earlwood (inner Sydney) was Gary’s private regular drug dealer/supplier of his cocaine.
• Research shows that back in 2013, in Sydney the street price of one gram of cocaine fetched $500.   Oracle must have financially rewarded its high-performing sales executives well to be able to splurge on that (or more) weekly
• Was this the last day of the Oracle sales conference, noting that Gary’s mother had been quoted in the media stating that her son Gary pre-arranged to “give her away” to her new fiancé that same Wednesday back in Sydney?

These comments and questions are supposition and conjecture, yet we’ve collated cross-media reporting revelations in the months following Gary’s disappearance and analyse that much more was going on.

6. The missing person massive search

“Gary is still out there waiting for us, there are 200 people looking.  We have searched the cliffs and gullies with choppers, abseilers and

bushwalkers.  It’s minus five (Celsius) up top with the wind (factor). There is no sign of a down scale (in the search) yet.”

 

 

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The NSW Police borrowed the relevant information on its own Facebook page some 12 days later, thus:

NSW Police Force Facebook Post:

“Have you seen Gary Tweddle?

NSW Police are appealing for public assistance, as part of #MissingPersonsWeek, to locate missing 23-year-old, Gary Tweddle, last seen in the Blue Mountains earlier this month.

Gary Tweddle, was seen leaving the Fairmont Resort, Blue Mountains at Leura in the early hours of Tuesday 16 July.

The Cremorne man had been staying at the resort for a work conference. Mr Tweddle has not been heard from or seen since and police now hold serious concerns for his welfare.

Police from Blue Mountains LAC – NSW Police Force have coordinated a major search for him, which has centred on dense bushland where he was last seen.

Police will continue to search for Mr Tweddle as a missing person.

Mr Tweddle is described as being of Caucasian appearance, 165-170cm tall, medium build, brown eyes with short brown hair.

At the time of his disappearance he was wearing blue jeans, a black jacket and checked shirt.

Missing Persons Week began yesterday (Sunday, 28 July 2013) and will run until Saturday, 3 August 2013. NSW Police will profile a missing person every day of the campaign.

Each year 35,000 people are reported missing in Australia – one person every 15 minutes.  In NSW last year, 12 409 people were reported missing, of those 84 remain missing.

Over $210,000 in free advertising space for the Missing Persons Week poster has been donated by Outdoor Media Association (OMA).”

 

It is noted in the above excerpt that Police still hadn’t verified Gary’s actual height at 170 cm.   We also note again that when Gary was eventually found (by fluke after the search had been officially called off) he was not wearing a jacket.

We also note that some of our hyperlinks to websites that were provided are not reliable in perpetuity, and also that media links now tend to impose access fire walls, so denying access without re-paid subscription.   That media news is now dated, and in any case we have obviated any need for readers to go source the old news, since in this article we have integrated much of the news articles into distinct thematic chapters with appropriate chapter headings and adding insightful critique and analysis.

Gary’s father David, a vice-president with the same company his son worked for, flew out to Australia from his home in Berkshire in England in the first week of Gary going missing to help with the search effort.  Similarly Gary’s mother interstate, and his girlfriend working in Queensland.   Gary’s family galvanised to help the search effort find him and to just be there.

David said the family was indebted to police and volunteers looking for his son. “I do not think there are enough words in any vocabulary to say thank you to the hundreds of volunteers that have given their weekend to find Gaz,” he said.

David: 

“The police have been unbelievably amazing and the Fairmont Resort could not have done more, it is truly breathtaking to see and experience all the help and support we are receiving.”

A week after his disappearance from a Blue Mountains Resort his family is still holding out hope he will be found alive.  Father David said the family, along with hundreds of SES volunteers and police, are still scouring more than 14 sq km of rugged bushland near the Fairmont Resort in Leura where the British-born IT salesman, 23, went missing.

David added saying to the media that the family was indebted to police and volunteers looking for his son.

But by 26th July, some ten days after Gary had gone missing in freezing conditions, and the NSW Police extensive search failing to find any trace, David admitted he believed that his son was dead.

The change of circumstances in the search means that rescuers were now looking for a body, rather than someone who might have been able to survive the unforgiving conditions during which temperatures have dropped below zero at night  (down to minus 5 degrees Celsius factoring in wind chill).

Mr Tweddle compared Gary’s plight with that of British bushwalker Jamie Neale, who was found alive after going missing for 12 days in the Blue Mountains at the same time of year four years ago.   Mr Neale was wearing warm clothes and had supplies in a backpack, whereas Gary, who had earlier been drinking with his friends before deciding to take a walk from the resort hotel, was wearing just a shirt and jeans.

David said in a farewell message to his son which he posted on Facebook that he loved him very much – but told followers that what had been a search and rescue operation conducted by police and fire service officials had now been re-classified as a ‘recovery operation’.

In an emotional message to his son, who moved to Australia four years ago to start a new life and had won a top job at the technology firm, Mr Tweddle wrote:

‘I miss and love you unconditionally, Gaz. ‘I am so proud of all you have achieved at Oracle’ – the technology company – ‘and with your private life. The depth of this pride is infinite. You are a true star in all our lives.

“We have had so many incredible times together in UK, ZA (South Africa) and Goa to name a few and there is nothing I would not give for 1 more second of time with you.
Money, possessions and material becomes irrelevant now.  It’s all about time, so my closing message to you my friends is cherish every second you are fortunate enough to have with the people you love.
Waste not one moment, be available and show love at every opportunity. I love you so much son, so, so much. Dad X.”

Mr Tweddle and Gary’s stepmother were then expected to return to the UK at the weekend or early next week.

(Question 1):  Why was NSW Police Senior Constable Stephen De Jong from the ‘Riot Squad‘ delegated to take charge of the land and air search for Gary Tweddle?    While we acknowledge that more than 1000 people were involved in the search, surely the unarmed emergency service personnel and similarly unarmed supportive local volunteers at not time posed a risk to civil order.

 

[Aside, our research shows that the surname De Jong is Dutch (Boer, South African).  It is possible that Stephen De Jong immigrated into Australia from South Africa, that previously he had compulsorily served in the then White-only South African Army  from age 18 during conscription (which officially in 1993, when De Jong was aged 20).

We also note that ten years after this search for Gary, in August 2023 Senior Constable Stephen De Jong, still in the NSW Police Force (aged 51), was found guilty of unlawful assault of Aboriginal teen Tash Maher (15) throwing Tash off his bike, dragged him along a footpath and kneeling on his neck.   Boer and Riot Squad training?]

(Question 2): Did NSW Police Senior Constable De Jong at the time in 2013 hold previous search and rescue (S&R) professional training skills [bush navigation skills from the Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag perhaps?  – we speculate, or S&R experience, a local knowledge of south Leura, or hiking familiarity of the upper Blue Mountains, particular of Sublime Point plateau headland?

(Question 3):  We note that in the following photo, presumably taken during this search effort, NSW Police Senior Constable De Jong is not dressed in the Police Rescue (white overall uniform ‘fatigues’), so why weren’t local experienced Blue Mountains Police Rescue co-ordinating this major search? ]

(Question 4):  The timing of the NSW Police decision to downgrade its search and rescue  operation to a body recovery exercise, was 26th July 2013, just ten days after Gary went missing.   When did the NSW Police first learn about Gary’s connection with narcotics?

The key evidence that had during the search was from Gary’s four sales colleagues staying at the Fairmont.  Did his ‘mates’ end up dobbing Gary in to Police telling them he was out to do a cocaine deal?   Did this new evidence influence the De Jong’s decision to downgrade the search, after De Jong would have explained this new evidence to Gary’s family?

[Aside, certainly Gary’s father on that same day Friday 26th July.  David that day admitted to the media he believed that his son was dead. “Mr Tweddle and Gary’s stepmother were then expected to return to the UK at the weekend or early next week.”

Clearly there was a deep sense of disappointment in Gary’s links to cocaine.

Just seven days later on Friday 2nd August, NSW Police charged and arrested Gary’s drug dealer Christopher Pambos after doing a separate drug deal.  Pambos had been known to police.  Notably, from the evidence Gary and his father had holidayed in  South Africa, so a short term connection between De Jong and Mr Tweddle would have been likely.]

We restate the pertinent evidence reported by the media about Gary’s predicament at the time he went missing:

• Gary had been last seen waving at a car 400 metres from the Fairmont Resort about 12.15 am just after midnight on the Wednesday morning 17th July 2013.  The motorist later told police that Gary was seen standing in the middle of the road (Sublime Point Road) talking on his mobile phone. 
• According to four of his work colleagues, Gary spent 17 minutes on a mobile phone call after midnight before being cut off on the Tuesday night that he disappeared from the Fairmont.  They had jointly spoken with him on a mobile loudspeaker as they tried to figure out where Gary was. They said that Gary didn’t sound panicked on the phone, only that he was near a main road and was lost.
• Gary then continues running/(now jogging?) with his mobile phone and seeking directional guidance from his work colleagues back at the Fairmont Resort…
• Police said he told his colleagues he was then running and sounded as he was jumping or leaping over things as he spoke to them.
• Had Gary’s colleagues used the loudspeaker to enable one of them to record his conversation with them.  Being in IT sales they likely each had the latest Apple iPhone which includes a ‘Voice Memo’ app as standard that allows audio recordings (but not on the same phone as the conversation).  Nature Trail does this when ever government phones.   This recording would have been valuable evidence to assist in the police search at the time.
• When police later recovered Gary’s body, give they mentioned that they found his mobile phone on his person (up the tree), the only data obtainable would have been metadata – contacts, call contacts, call times and duration, and text messages, but not voice recordings.
• Gary’s colleagues pleaded with him on the phone to stay where he was and to look at a letter box to find out exactly where he was.
• Gary then told them he was heading towards a “light on a hill” before his phone battery died.  It was 12:30 pm on Wednesday 16th July 2013.   That was the last contact anyone had with Gary.

 

(Question 5):  So, did Blue Mountains Police capture this evidence for its critical use in the search to make the search geographically targeted/limited and to ensure efficient use of the dedicated mix of resources involved?

(Question 6):  If so (in Question 4), how did Police apply this evidence to direct the missing person search?

(Question 7):  The evidence of Gary’s last mobile phone conversation with his Oracle colleagues back at the Fairmont was that “Gary didn’t sound panicked on the phone, only that he was near a main road and was lost“.    Did the search command team consider this and also consider the likelihood that “the main road” would be Sublime Point Road since this was the same road that the local car driver had seen Gary just 15 minutes prior talking on his mobile phone.  If Gary was near this main road, rather sort of narrows options of where Gary might be to just a few streets adjoining streets such as (1) Orchard Lane, (2) Willoughby Road, (3) West Street and (4) Sublime Point Lookout ONLY!  Did the search Command Team apply this evidence to direct their search?

(Question 8):  The evidence of Gary’s final last mobile phone comments on his mobile phone conversation with his Oracle colleagues back at the Fairmont at 12:30 pm was that told them he was heading towards a “light on a hill” before his phone battery died.    Did the Search Command Team apply this evidence from his colleagues to direct their search?  The only light of a hill from Sublime Point is in Katoomba; all surrounding otherwise at night is in pitch darkness with no street lights or housing visible elsewhere in the distance.  Did the search ground truth Sublime Point Road at night time (in due safety) from where Gary was last sighted and retrace the road options that he likely took?  Did they then get to West Street and perceive the only possible “light on the hill” from Sublime Point Road toward Katoomba?  Obviously not. Why not?   Was the search only conducted during daylight hours…after a hearty breakfast?

(Question 9):  The evidence of Gary’s final last mobile phone comments on his mobile phone conversation with his Oracle colleagues back at the Fairmont at 12:30 pm was, police say “sounds as if he is running and jumping during the conversation.”   How did the police obtain such records?

(Question 10):  Who ordered the search to be scaled down then terminated and why?   Had all likely scenarios of what happened to Gary by the search scaling to recovery operation and then by the search being ultimately called off?

We posit feasible scenarios of what might of happened to Gary between his last communication and the search timeframe.  It is not intended to be exhaustive, but realistic:

(A)  Gary while running and jumping through bush fell of a cliff and died instantly due to the deadly descent distance causing fatal head/neck/spinal/organ/limb trauma(s);

(B)  Gary succumbed to hypothermia (due to lack of clothing insulation) and lay in the bush, went unconscious and was either still alive by morning else dead or  would soon be;

(C) Gary realising dead-end roads at all route options on Sublime Point, went back to Sublime Point Road, but while trying to seek shelter perished from hypothermia (due to lack of clothing insulation) and lay in the bush or someone’s backyard in the vicinity of Sublime Point;

(D)  Gary realising dead-end roads at all route options on Sublime Point, ran back towards the Fairmont retracing his steps,but got lost due to his mobile phone torch light off due to the battery dying, the lack of street lighting, and  the sever cold causing hypothermia (due to lack of clothing insulation) and lay in the bush or someone’s backyard in the vicinity of Sublime Point;

(E)  Gary had secretly met up with someone in a car – his drug dealer had driven to Leura and Gary was able to arrange the dealer collect Gary from outside the Fairmont premises, so Gary returned towards the Fairmont, northward back along Sublime Point Road, but did not tell his colleagues;  Gary then went elsewhere.  (Note: The Oracle sale conference was due to return to Sydney that day obviously after breakfast, since Gary’s mother’s evidence stated that she had arranged to meet with Gary later that day back in Sydney);

(F)  Gary had met with foul play whilst along Sublime Point Road – connected to his drug dealing with someone know or unknown to him.  Perhaps Gary had unpaid drug debts, so disappeared for that reason or a different reason;

(G)  Gary had managed to retrace his steps back along Sublime Point Road to  the Fairmont, or back into Leura and arranged a taxi to somewhere and then disappeared for some other reason;

(H)  Gary did not want to be found and wanted to deliberately disappear, perhaps with his pre-arranged support from entrusted others, but unknown to his Oracle sale colleagues. He was to fake his death;

(I)  Another reason not considered.

Had the NSW Police search command/investigation consider all these feasible scenarios?

(Question 11):  Who led the search command – Police Senior Constable De Jong or Blue Mountains crime manager Inspector Mick Bostock?

(Question 12):  Why did the search cover 14 km² and where specifically was the search conducted?   Given the evidence , why did Police search Leura Golf Course and Wentworth Falls bushland?  Why was the search doing this?  PR?

(Question 13):  Do Blue Mountains Police confirm that Gary had by an act of  misadventure fallen off the cliff at the western end of West Street Leura within a hour after his last mobile phone conversation with his Oracle work colleagues at 12:30 am on Wednesday 17th July 2013?

 

(Question 14):  Admittedly the temperatures were freezing and not suitable for abseiling, yet NSW Police stated that they had deployed abseilers as part of their search efforts.  Were professional abseilers, properly kitted up for the conditions deployed to the known rockclimbing cliff wall routes around Sublime Point?

 

[Aside, there are a number of cliff wall route climbs around the escarpment of Sublime Point and are well known amongst the rock-climbing and abseiling fraternity in the Blue Mountains and to many back in Sydney.  The wall ‘Sweet Dreams‘ (being where Gary was found part way down slumped in a tree on the cliff) is possible the most famous of these at Sublime Point.

Read this promotion:

“Sweet Dreams is a rite of passage for rock climbers in Sydney looking to enter the world of the multi-pitch. Here’s what you need to know. 

 

If you’ve recently taken up rock climbing and live anywhere near Sydney or the Blue Mountains, at some point someone will say,

 

‘Hey, you should totally climb Sweet Dreams!’

Sweet Dreams is an epic, 120-metre multi-pitch climb at Sublime Point in Leura.”

 

 

[SOURCE:  ^https://weareexplorers.co/sweet-dreams/]

(Question 14):  Do Blue Mountains Police confirm that Gary’s cause of death was this this fall?

 

(Question 15):  Given the search utilised helicopter resources to try to locate Gary, why was Gary’s body not located during the search in the vicinity of where he was last know to have gone missing on the Sublime Point headland?

(Question 16): Why instead then later, 3 weeks after the search had been terminated was Gary’s body then found by fluke by a helicopter during an unrelated training exercise in this same vicinity, hanging dead in a tree 50 metres below the western end of West Street Leura?

(Question 17):  Did Blue Mountains Police use drone video technology to search for Gary, given that drone technology had been available for a decade at the time in 2013?

 

Evidence showed that he was clearly under the influence of substance abuse (likely cocaine as it later turned out) and as his taxi driver from the restaurant accounted for to the media less and than an hour prior:

“He was wasted, seriously wasted.” 

So, retracing Gary’s movements that night, the route on foot that Gary must have taken was left outside the Fairmont Resort’s main entrance (image again below).  It was approachng midnight, very dark and Gary was seen running hurriedly out of the Fairmont Resort’s main entrance here and turn left toward the resort property’s exit.

Again, along the length of Sublime Point Road from the Fairmont intersection at Watkins Road (an overall distance of 2.2 km) there are no footpaths at either side.

There are also very few street lights in this residential on the outskirts of Leura.  Our recent ground-truthing (by car and on foot at times) counted a total of just 12 street lights on timber electricity poles with most spaced over 300 meter apart and in two sections no lights at all.

One section was at the critical intersection of Sublime Point Road and Watkins Road just outside the Fairmont Resort property, where Gary made the wrong decision to go straight.

The second section was a 400 metre straight bushland section between Willoughby Road (heading westward) and West Street (also heading westward).   Now significantly in Gary’s situation from the first intersection at Willoughby Road, the distant town light of Katoomba toward the west are not visible.  Our ground-truthing shows Willoughby Road to have a right-hand bend in it with taller native vegetation blocking views beyond looking from Sublime Point Road.  So with no incentive to turn down a side street, Gary would have just kept continuing  southward along Sublime Point Road.

Then he reached West Street heading west – and quite a different sight of distant lights visible.

The precinct here is predominantly residential on the outskirts of Leura village surrounded by natural bushland all around.  It is exclusive residential real estate with many multi-million dollar homes on large block holdings with million dollar views above the majestic Jamison Valley.  So, at night only local residents would use Sublime Point Road and its five small side streets to access their homes.  And there are few of them, since about 1 in 4 dwellings in this exclusive area are second homes as weekend retreats for some of Sydney’s elite.

We tried taking photos at night, but they came out black, so we waited to dawn.  The following photos serve to provide samples of the road Gary took that night.

Whereas by day and especially at weekends, many day-tripping tourists mostly driving up from Sydney find the Sublime Point lookout very appealing.   The demographic of the property owners and tourists is immiscible.

So this is why Sublime Point Road is properly sealed and has centre double lines for heavy traffic safety.   It so gives the impression of being a highway, rather than a local dead-end road.

 

This impression would have been a reason for Gary to use it thinking it went somewhere prominent, like to a town centre and a railway station.  Yet Gary was heading  the opposite direction.

In any case, the Blue Mountains rail timetable showed that the last train to Sydney had departed Leura station that weekday night at 22:19 hrs (10:19 pm).  He had missed the train by nearly two hours.

 

A steady walking pace along a footpath/road is about 4 kph, so at that pace if continuously maintained, to cover 1.8 km would take 27 minutes. [Algebra derived relationship for Speed = Distance / Time , which to solve for Time transposes to the formula:

Time = Distance / Speed

In this case, known are: S = 4kph, D = 1.8km

Calc:   4kph x 1.8km = 0.45 Hours, which converting that to more meaningful minutes is by 45/60 = 27 minutes.  Basic algebra is taught in Australia from Year 7 (aged 13 years), but to readers, as adults you must use it or lose it.

Here’s a handy alternative tool for evidence analysis:

Ok, however evidence obtained is that Gary was not walking but running, as confirmed by the Fairmont’s CCTV at the start and then mobile phone audio feedback from his colleagues once he said he was lost.Re-doing the calculation, lets be conservative and say on average Gary was not able to run at 8 kph continuously over nearly 2 km at twice the pace of walking (especially given the road was so dark), but on average jogging at 6 kph.   Recall the eyewitness driver saw Gary “standing” on the road talking on his phone, not running at the eyewitness time of 12:15 am.This indicates that overall, it took Gary about 18 minutes to get from the Fairmont entrance the cover the 1.8km mostly level road distance to the end of West Street before rummaging in through the scrub.  This would seem to be a reasonable guesstimate, based on the supplied evidence in the media, our mapping and basic algebra.So, to then better calculate the location where Gary was sighted by the driver let’s backtrack (since that fact was not supplied by the police to the media).  We’re allowing a nominal extra 5 minutes of him struggling in the bushes at the end of that 17 minute conversation just before his phone battery went dead.  So, from the scrub at the end of West Street back to where the drive sighted Gary on Sublime Point Road:  Time is 17 minutes less 5 minutes = 12 minutes.Algebra Distance = Speed x Time  =  6 kph x 12 minutes, so Distance = 1.2 kmSo, 1.2 km from the end of West Street would place Gary 2/3 the distance of the overall 1.8km back toward the Fairmont.  Again, this is near the intersection of Orchard Lane as we had estimated.

Gary’s Fateful Decision at West Street:

 

The following photo is a street view from Google Maps at the time of compiling this article.  It is taken at the intersection of Sublime Point Road and West Street facing westerly (a rather imaginary Council name for this street).

This street is short at about 150 metres in length and is a ‘No Through Road’, which is consistent with Sublime Point and its short side streets off (dead-end) Sublime Point Road all being in a dead-end-cul-de sacs due to this small residential precinct being situated atop the surrounding cliff escarpment on a plateau peninsula above the Jamison Valley.

 

He was walking towards the distant light through thick bushland with no more mobile phone torch light in total blackness unbeknownst of the chasm in between.

As we’ve previously stated, NSW Police ‘Riot Squad’ Senior Constable De Jong on Monday 12th August 2013 had announced to the media that the official NSW Police search for Gary Tweddle (alive or dead) was being called off altogether.

However, exactly three weeks later to the day, on Monday 2nd September 2013, an unrelated helicopter training flight of the NSW Ambulance Special Casualty Accident Team (SCAT) through the Jamison Valley was diverting and, by fluke found Gary’s body; but not realising it was him at the time.

 

This is how that chance discovery played out in the media reporting.  We have corrected the many media errors and guesstimates, rather than repeat them and then labouriously correct them – what would be the point?

‘The (late) afternoon sun shone brightly on the escarpment of a Blue Mountains valley. It beamed over the shoulder of the Three Sisters rock formation, as it came in from the west, then flickered off the sandstone cliff face.

It was Monday and a team of NSW Ambulance Special Casualty Accident Team (SCAT) paramedics were on the final leg of a training flight.  They had been flying low around Wentworth Falls, familiarising themselves with rock-climbing and abseiling accident spots and, at the last minute, tacked on a trip to Sublime Point.

As the chopper hovered above the valley, paramedic Aaron Davidson and the five-person crew were running through possible rescue scenarios.

“This area wasn’t on the original training plan, but we added it on because there’s been a few calls to it lately, a popular rock-climbing spot called Sweet Dreams,” Mr Davidson said.  “So we were pretty much going through possible situations, discussing aircraft capabilities, that sort of thing,” Mr Davidson said.

To maintain the hover as they ran through hypothetical rescue missions, the pilot had to pick a reference point on the cliff as a marker.  The sun flickered on something slumped backwards over a fallen tree branch that caught the pilot’s eye. Mr Davidson spotted the same thing.  It was slumped backwards over a fallen tree branch, clothed in dark blue jeans or pants, and a tattered shirt partially covering what appeared to be a bare torso. Two legs could be clearly made out and, the way the object was lying, just one arm was visible.

“We pretty much said ‘Is that a body?’,” Mr Davidson said.  He quickly instructed the pilot to turn the chopper around and move it forward.  “We went in as close to the cliff as we could, about 40 or 50 metres from it, so pretty close,” Mr Davidson said.  “We knew straight away that the person was deceased, otherwise we would have gone straight into performing a rescue operation, but we could tell that wasn’t necessary.”

The pilot used the on-board GPS system to track the exact location of the body – the latitude and longitude – and then phoned police.

The body had been spotted in a tree growing from a crevice in the cliff face about 25m down a cliff edge in dense bushland off the end of West Street at Sublime Point Escarpment’s western side.  The site of the body was inaccessible by foot.

“We landed on the oval at Leura and waited for the police. It was a funny feeling … it’s not every day you go on a training exercise and find a body,” Mr Davidson said.

Mr Davidson was already familiar with the high-profile disappearance of IT salesman Gary Tweddle, who had gone missing in the early hours of July 16 while staying at the Fairmont Resort for a work conference.

As the crow flies, it would only be about 2 km from the resort to where the body lay.

“I was fairly sure it was him (Gary Tweddle), from the clothing and the location. But you always want to hear it from police, before you know for sure,” Mr Davidson said.

Sublime Point Road, Leura, was the last place Gary Tweddle was seen alive by a passing motorist and then during the phone call to his work colleagues to say he was lost.

By now it was nudging 5pm and the westerly sun that had earlier beamed on the escarpment had dropped into the valley.

“When Polair flew over, even though we’d given them the exact co-ordinates of where the body was, they couldn’t find it,” Mr Davidson said. “They came back … one of our guys got in with them and took them back to the spot. The sun had gone, so you couldn’t see it (the body). Without the sun, you wouldn’t have found him.”

Mr Tweddle came to rest on a ledge, a reported 23 metres down a cliff face.

Mr Tweddle, an Oracle Corporation employee, had left the resort in a hurry without his glasses or a warm jacket – despite the 8C temperature – telling colleagues he would be “back soon”.  (Ed: No, it was sub-freezing – more media guesswork).

 

 

 

Leura’s Kevin McDonald, who volunteered in the search for Mr Tweddle, said it staggered him how someone could plunge from that cliff, given the edge was several hundred metres from the roadway: “It’s not like you come to the end of Sublime Point Road and bang, you drop off the cliff,” Mr McDonald said.

“You’ve got to walk for a good way through seriously rugged bush, before you fall off.”
Police insist it was an accidental death but would not speculate on Mr Tweddle’s state of mind until results of a post-mortem and toxicology report were received.

“Until we get all the results of the post-mortem and the toxicology report, we can’t speculate on what his state of mind was,” a senior police source said.

Typically that report was never made public, only that he had been formally identified as Gary Tweddle.

The discovery gave Mr Tweddle’s family the closure they have longed for over the past near seven weeks.

“We thank the air ambulance helicopter crew and police, and all the volunteer organisations that were involved in bringing you out,” his mum Carol Streatfield wrote on Facebook.

As we have highlighted, the physical road chosen by Gary, Sublime Point Road, is very dark at night such that Gary had to use his smartphone torch feature to navigate walking along the road in such pitch black physical darkness.

Then starting with his frequent use of his mobile phone probably during the course of the day, such as contacting his would be drug dealer in Sydney, then his 17 minute phone call to his colleagues back at the Fairmont, then his constant use of his phone torch light to navigate along the road, his battery went flat.

Gary stated “light on a hill” that he observed in the distance and that he sort to reach it.  It was in his mind his escape from this darkness he had found himself immersed in.

But he clearly wasn’t thinking straight nor rationally.  Once he made another bad decision depart West Street and entered into dense scrub, and his phone battery died, with no torch light he would have been plunged into complete darkness – not even able to see his hand in front of his face.

---

Our personal darkness experience in the ‘wilds’: 

As an aside, when this author undertook tertiary ‘Outdoor Recreation’ hiking training courses (2014, 2016), one has never forgotten a salutary lesson from during a multi-day hiking trip our student group was provided with a brief reality check of trying to walk in the natural bush at night with no light whatsoever.

I couldn’t see even my hand in front of my face to be able to take even one step without risking the thought of hitting something hard and hurtful. I was like in a cave totally blinded.

On another trip, one decided at a walk-in bush camp at turn-in to replenish one’s drinking water bottle from a small creek running quietly just 20 metres away accessible on level ground through walkable scrub – a no brainer?   Sensibly, one had already donned a head torch (pre-tested and with new batteries) and was turned on.

Yet, about half-way to the creek, the head torch failed.  It was unexpectedly pitch black.  The creek flow was not audible, all camp lights were off – so one had no directional bearings.  Again, one couldn’t even see our hand in front of our face to be able to take one step.

What do do?  One could embarrassingly call out back to camp for help?

So, in somewhat a desperate hope that it was just an minor wiring connection problem, one took the head torch off and shook it a bit.  That worked. “Few, life saver!”  And we fetched our water returned safely back to camp.

But it was a scary wake-up call.

When hiking, even if intending just a day-trip, one now always carries two head torches, each with new batteries and pre-tested on the day of every hike.  Also, an hour or so before sunset (not later when twilight ends) always don a headtorch and know where one’s critical backup #2 is safely/reliably on one’s person and within easy reach.  It may safe your life.  And being embarrassed calling for help is the least of your problems.

This personal experience allows us to again relate a tad to Gary’s very brief one.

---

 

Gary, in those last few minutes struggling through what was about 100 metres of thick scrub proceeding around 30 degrees downslope, would have become suddenly seriously emotional upon becoming lost in darkness alone.  This unbeknownst before even realising his ill-fated end ahead.

And we’ve learned of his tragic outcome.

“the sun is beginning to rise on a day that we have all been hoping would never come”. 

Once Gary’s body was recovered (after being propped 6 weeks in a remote cliff-side tree), police arranged due tests – evidentiary search discovering finding his mobile on person, a post-mortem examination, toxicology examination and report, cause of death.

However, no official update by the police was provided to the public at the time, despite the considerable public search effort and concern.  However, subsequent criminal prosecution by police would reveal more relevant explanatory details, as we later disclose.

“A mission to keep the party going turned fatal for Sydney man Gary Tweddle on the night he vanished into Blue Mountains bushland. None of his friends imagined the awful tragedy that would unfold when the much-loved 23-year-old went to buy some cocaine.

 

Tweddle was attending a work conference when he ran out of the Fairmont Resort at Leura in the early hours of July 16.”

Yet Gary had been observed by the Silk’s restaurant owner/manager as a dining guest that night having very little alcohol during dinner event.

Court documents obtained by Fairfax Media revealled that Gary was intoxicated and trying to find his way to Penrith train station to buy five bags of cocaine from Pambos.  Also that 26-year-old Pambos had planned to sell Tweddle 2.5 grams of cocaine in five small resealable plastic bags, presumably one each for Gary and his four Oracle colleagues.

“The British-born sales representative, from Cremorne, ran out of the Fairmont Resort at Leura during a work conference in the early hours of July 16, 2013.  But the 23-year-old got lost in bushland and was never seen again.”  

Before Gary’s body was found, police had deduced that narcotics had been a factor in his odd running behaviour and sudden disappearance from the Oracle sales conference at the Fairmont Resort near midnight on 16th July 2013.

In hindsight, the police investigation, to ensure legally effectiveness in a court prosecution, kept details close to their chest and undisclosed to keen media reporting.

We provide the previously undisclosed facts:

• Mr Tweddle had drunk one to two bottles of wine at Silks Brasserie in Leura with Oracle colleagues and appeared to be in “good spirits”.  [COMMENT: No this is incorrect media guesstimate speculation that contradicts the witness account from the Silks Brasserie owner/manager]

• He was helped into the front seat of a taxi and after he got back to the resort he contacted Pambos.

• Phone records showed Mr Tweddle and Pambos exchanged 25 text messages between 11.02pm on July 15 and 12.50am on July 16 to organise the sale of five bags of cocaine for $1550.

“Hey man. I’m in leura. Keen to pay whatever. Any chance for a delivery? Will pay BIG,”  – said a text message sent at 11.15 pm.

• It was agreed the pair would meet at Penrith train station to make the exchange. This was a 45 minute drive from where Gary was staying.

• When Pambos arrived he parked in the train station car park and sent Mr Tweddle three texts.  Pambos said he had waited 15 minutes but drove back to Sydney after failing to get a response.

• Concerned friends called Gary’s phone at 12.02am and Mr Tweddle picked up and told them he was lost.   “Tweddle appeared to still be in good spirits during this call. This was the last known contact with Tweddle. [He] was not seen or heard from after this call,” the agreed facts stated.

• Documents tendered at his sentencing detailed how Mr Tweddle died as a result of lung puncture caused after falling 23 metres from Sublime Point at Katoomba.  Police said he was found wearing the same clothes he went missing in with a wallet containing his ID and $1300 cash (aka Gary’s wallet).  An iPhone found 70 metres further down the cliff had no battery but showed Gary had been using a compass and flashlight app at the time he fell.

At this juncture in this story, this author as an outsider, logically asks why would a clever, successful and presumably well paid sales executive like Gary employed with such a global leading IT corporation like Oracle, delve into illegal use of narcotics?

Clearly, Gary was a team player within the Oracle Sales team in Sydney.  Gary had never made contact with drug dealer Pambos, yet Gary was observed by two independent witnesses as clearly “wasted” on some substance on the night a few hours before Gary suddenly went missing.   The logical explanation for Gary’s impaired condition was that Gary’s fellow sale colleagues had previously obtained and shared cocaine with Gary on the night (at the restaurant) before Gary went missing.

Was Gary’s “wasted” then later erratic running behaviour that night consistent with him being affected by taking cocaine, and if not, also by ecstasy?  Pambos was caught with both types of narcotics, so it is possible that Gary was doubly affected by both drugs.  His colleagues on the night  were not observed as so ‘wasted” by the two eyewitnesses.

It is not normal behaviour to run at midnight off the resort premises wearing only a shirt in freezing conditions, not knowing the area or where to go, and not have the state of mind to call for another taxi, or to check the train timetable and the 45km distance to Penrith by train to meet up with Pampos.  Gary was clearly not thinking straight.

The available information about Gary covers on the very brief 6.5 hours between 7pm and 12:30 am.  His behaviour that night seems contradictory to the feedback provided by his girlfriend to the media, if not out of character.

Cocaine and ecstasy are both stimulant drugs.  Official medical research tells us that cocaine intoxication tends to has symptoms of feeling high, excited, anxious, talking and rambling, confusion and poor decision making. 

Narcotics and prescription drugs can affect different individuals in different ways.  Gary may likely not have used narcotics previously, if so, likely he was not used to the effects of cocaine use.  Perhaps he took excess on the night give that he was the only one in the Oracle dining group observed by eyewitnesses as being so ‘wasted” compared with his colleagues.

Had Gary also used ecstasy (MDMA) as well as cocaine at the time?

Perhaps the opportunity presented after the restaurant back in one of the rooms with his colleagues.  If so, whoever supplied Gary with the cocaine and perhaps also ecstasy, must be contributorily culpable for the manslaughter, not misadventure of Gary.  Gary’s behaviour that night demonstrated that once he ran out of the Fairmont in that dark freezing night to think rationally, he was not in control of his mind.

If so, then the symptoms of his intoxication would have compounded.  Official medical research also tells us that ecstasy starts to work about 20 minutes after it is taken and the effects usually last up to four hours.  Symptoms of ecstasy intoxication, are similar to cocaine – its causes feelings of extra energy, euphoria (extreme mood elevation), heightened confidence, hallucination, irrational behaviour and can lead to psychosis.

[SOURCE:  ^https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mdma-ecstasy]

Whilst it is acknowledged that Gary at age 23, along with all his 45 sales colleagues/management, were all adults, so each personally responsible for their own actions and behaviours.

The entire sales conference from the time of departing Oracle at North Ryde, to their return and departure from the workplace, was part of Oracle’s Workplace Function.  This included the coach transfers, the restaurant dinner and the rooms stays at the Fairmont Resort; not just during the time of sales meetings on the Monday and Tuesday.

It could be argued that what individuals did after hours was in their own private time.

However, this was a workplace trip, likely demanding compulsory attendance.  Oracle Corporation Australia Pty Ltd as Gary’s employer had a duty of care to its employees to ensure their safety throughout this three day workplace function.  This should have included for each employee:

Clearly, if Gary had been affected by substance abuse or in possession of narcotics during this 3-day sales conference, he would have probably been in breach of company policy and his employment conditions.

Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has been Oracle’s only chief executive since he founded the company in 1977.  A year after Gary’s body was found, Ellison stepped down as Oracle’s CEO on Thursday 18th September 2014.  He went back on the tools to be Oracle’s CTO, Chief Technology Officer.

Two pertinent quotes from Oracle Corporation’s current website:

“Our people are our greatest assets. They make everything we do possible.

 

With nearly 160,000 employees around the globe, our culture invites diverse perspectives, inspires creativity, and enables our employees to do their best work without barriers. In fiscal year 2024, 30,137 Oracle Volunteers donated 126,369 hours of their time and talent to support 1,038 nonprofit organizations—strengthening their communities, promoting health, advancing education, and protecting the environment.

And in support of workforce development, Oracle Academy worked with more than 38,000 educators globally to prepare young people for success in technology careers.

…

 

We’re committed to the highest standards of business ethics, sound corporate governance, and transparency. Throughout this report, you’ll see data on our companywide efforts around environmental and social impact.

We also share our policies, resources, and a list of awards we earned in fiscal year 2024, including recognition on Fortune’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. And if you’d like to share your feedback, please write to us at impact_ww@oracle.com.”

 

Sincerely,
Safra Catz
2025

 

^https://www.oracle.com/au/social-impact/ceo-message/

 

Do we think Safra Catz wrote that herself or outsourced professional PR “communicators’?

 

15.  One posits denouement conclusions

 

This is not ‘The End’.

Some police report may well “have been prepared for the coroner”, but so ignored by the police and coroner – abrogatingly dismissed as ‘death by misadventure’.   Such a media cliché is but meaningless reporting, unworthy of journalism.   This article has morphed all the media guesswork and tripe.

Gary’s Disappearance Summary:

15th July 2013:  Sale Executive Gary Tweddle travels with a Oracle corporate group of 46 to the Blue Mountains for a sales conference ay the Fairmont Resort in Leura for just 3 days.

Day 1:  Arrival and hardcore sales stress – Oracle Sales Management ultimatum: Perform else you’re out and back to where you came from overseas!

Day 2:  Ditto (Day 1)

7.00pm Oracle Sales Executive pre-arranged group (46) dinner at Silk’s Brasserie

10.41 pm:  The bill is paid for this work dinner with all 46 colleagues at Silk’s Brasserie in Leura, including new recruit from the UK, Gary.

11pm:  Gary gets into a Katoomba-Leura radio cab with three colleagues. He is unsteady on his feet. The group is dropped off at the Fairmont Resort. Several people continue to drink in one of the rooms. Police say Tweddle has only a few sips of a beer before he leaves.

12am:  Police say he runs out of the Fairmont just after midnight. A short time later he rings a colleague and says he is lost. The conversation lasts 17 minutes. Police say it sounds as if he is running and jumping during the conversation.

12.15am:  A car drives past Gary as he stands in the middle of Sublime Point Road talking on his mobile phone.

July 16:  The search begins. Police and more than 1000 volunteers search for more than 10 days.

August 2:  Christopher Pambos is charged with attempting to supply cocaine to Tweddle on the night he disappeared.

August 23:  Mr Pambos appears in court.

September 2:  Tweddle’s body located on a cliff.

17. Further Reading

In chronological order:

[1]  ‘Myles Joseph Dunphy (1891–1985)‘, 2007, by Richard Gowers, published in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 17, Australian Dictionary of Biography, ^https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dunphy-myles-joseph-12446

[4]  ‘1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race‘, 1998, ^https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Sydney_to_Hobart_Yacht_Race

[5]  ‘Friends talked Gary Tweddle for 17 minutes before his phone went dead and he went missing a week ago in the Blue Mountains‘,  2013-07-23, by Ben McClellan, DailyTelegraph, ^https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/friends-talked-gary-tweddle-for-17-minutes-before-his-phone-went-dead-and-he-went-missing-a-week-ago-in-the-blue-mountains/news-story/fa5070c227c2b112719ffb4685e4ffe1

[6]  ‘Cherish every second with those you love‘: Message from heartbroken father of missing Briton, 23, lost in Australian Blue Mountains for 10 days who now fears his son is dead’, 2013-07-23, by Richard Shears, MailOnline, ^https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2378840/Father-Gary-Tweddle-23-lost-Australian-Blue-Mountains-fears-son-dead.html

[7]  ‘Have you seen Gary Tweddle?’, NSW Police Force Facebook, 2013-07-28, ^https://www.facebook.com/nswpoliceforce/photos/a.395208846184/10151597366491185/?type=3

[8]  ‘Gary Tweddle search in Australia ‘now a recovery operation‘, 2013-07-26, BBC (UK), ^https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-23462431

[9]  ‘Disappearance has community baffled  –  An extensive search has failed to find any trace of Gary Tweddle‘, 2023-08-12, by Emma Partridge, Sydney Morning Herald, ^https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/disappearance-has-community-baffled-20130810-2rovn.html

[10]  ‘Australia – GARY TWEDDLE– LEURA, NSW – 16th July 2013 *Media *Links *Timeline NO DISCUSSION‘, 2013-08-10, by Figtree (a pseudonym), ^https://websleuths.com/threads/australia-gary-tweddle-leura-nsw-16th-july-2013-media-links-timeline-no-discussion.218809/page-2

[11]  ‘Gary Tweddle’s body found in Blue Mountains, police believe’, by Alex Ivett, 2013-09-03, News, Australian Times, ^https://www.australiantimes.co.uk/news/gary-tweddles-body-found-in-blue-mountains-police-believe/

 

[12]  ‘Gary Tweddle: Body Recovered In Oz Bushland‘, 2013-09-03, by Sky News (UK), ^https://news.sky.com/story/gary-tweddle-body-recovered-in-oz-bushland-10435549

[13]  ‘Body found in Australia bushland is ‘missing British man Gary Tweddle‘, 2013-09-03, by David Mercer, ^https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/body-found-in-australia-bushland-is-missing-british-man-gary-tweddle-8795875.html

[14]  ‘Fluke find by ace rescuers gives Gary Tweddle’s family sad closure‘,  2013-09-07, by Clementine Cuneo, DailyTelegraph, ^https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/fluke-find-by-ace-rescuers-gives-gary-tweddle8217s-family-sad-closure/news-story/2401e633439fa609d63873f6631b34e6

[15]  ‘Body found in Australia during search for missing Briton Gary Tweddle’, 2013-09-13, ^https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/02/body-australia-missing-gary-tweddle

[16]  ‘Cocaine arrest sheds light on Tweddle’s fatal end‘,  2013-09-29, by Emma Partridge, Sydney Morning Herald, ^https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cocaine-arrest-sheds-light-on-tweddles-fatal-end-20130928-2ul59.html

[17]   ‘Oracle founder Larry Ellison resigns after 35 years as CEO‘, 2014-09-19, by Dominic Rushe in New York. The Guardian/Tech News, ^https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/18/larry-ellison-oracle-billionaire-resigns-ceo

[19]  ‘Drug dealer linked to Gary Tweddle death‘,  2014-12-05, by Emma Partridge, Sydney Morning Herald, ^https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/drug-dealer-linked-to-gary-tweddle-death-sent-to-jail-20141203-11zi3m.html

[21]  ‘Suburban and coke: Drug’s use rising‘, 2014, by Hills, B., Daily Telegraph, ^https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/cocaine-is-becoming-one-of-sydneys-most-popular-drugs-with-drug-dealers-reaping-up-to-35000-a-week-from-users/news-story/c2962fb86bf935a30606fa61e5b1c7c1 [Accessed 19 Feb. 2018].

[22]  ‘Social cocaine use more harmful than you think‘, 2014, by Print, K., of The University of Sydney, ^http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=13410 [Accessed 23 Feb. 2018].

[23]  An Oracle Corporation Review,  ^https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Oracle/reviews?fcountry=ALL&fjobtitle=Sales+Representative&ftopic=culture&start=20

[24]   ‘Sydney is the cocaine capital of Australia‘, 2019-07-05, by SWL-Admin, ^https://drugsafe.com.au/sydney-cocaine-capital-australia/

[25]  ‘Australia the highest per capita cocaine user in the world‘, 2021-06-20, by journalist Natalie Brown, News Ltd, ^https://www.news.com.au/national/australia-the-highest-per-capita-cocaine-user-in-the-world/news-story/c91869d4e2b2adeef266917d82f705e0

[26]  Workplace definition of relevant terms, SafeWork NSW,  ^https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/about-us/glossary

[30]  ‘Former Lake Illawarra police officer Stephen De Jong found guilty of assaulting teen‘, 2023-08-22, by Grace Crivellaro, ^https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/8318218/i-couldnt-breathe-justice-for-teen-assaulted-by-cop-in-shellharbour-park/

[31] ‘Speed Distance Time Calculator‘ (a free website tool), ^https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/math/speed-distance-time-calculator.php

[32]  ‘Grams to Teaspoons Converter‘, ^https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/cooking/grams-teaspoons.php

[33]  ‘Sweet Dreams‘ (climbing cliff walls), The Crag, ^https://www.thecrag.com/en/climbing/australia/blue-mountains/main-area/route/15317245

https://www.news.com.au/national/australia-the-highest-per-capita-cocaine-user-in-the-world/news-story/c91869d4e2b2adeef266917d82f705e0

Cocaine is the drug of choice for Australia’s C-Level executives

https://thebanyans.com.au/cocaine-executives/

 

So to young people, perhaps run a short-attention span mile, else of you smart ones, stay the distance with us on this.

Our article is not about us nor personal.  It is about a circumstantial local tragedy of a young visitor to our Blue Mountains back in 2013.  But the timing matters not.

One commenced drafting this story soon after, but left it for a time (a decade in fact) due to other commitments and life stuff, but currently back at the drafting; it’s evolving into a unexpected thesis of sorts.

One has collated research, local knowledge, subsequent ground-truthing, and one’s career bent for analysis/investigation – well, we’ve started putting it all to paper so to speak.

Out of our respect to share the truth about a locally significant Blue Mountains tragedy that should never have happened.  But it did.

This topic might become one’s first foray into writing a webbook.  May be we are one alternative to Kindle, yet one’ll never seek or charge a cent.  One’s just learning from one;s personal local unique experience, then realising this story as a passion for one to learn to comprehend, then a need to share with others to grow from, hopefully.

This particular issue is local to the Blue Mountains where we live.  This case well may have occurred back in 2013, currently some 12 years ago; yet the scenario of lost visitors to our Blue Mountains perpetuates and so the sad trauma resonates with this author as being a tour operator in the Blue Mountains.

Up front, this author did not personally know Gary Tweddle, nor even of Gary.  Rather, this story about this – yet another ‘missing person’ in our neck of the woods in Katoomba was first learned by this author off the local Blue Mountains ‘grapevine’ the same day – Wednesday 17th July 2013.

It was in the days immediately after Gary Tweddle, apparently some young male corporate IT sales executive, had been last seen at 12:15 am (just after midnight) on Wednesday 17th July 2013 as reported by a motorist driving along Sublime Point Road in nearby Leura.  Then media report came in that just 15 minutes later his mobile went dead and that was last anyone had heard from him.

Bizarre!   Bizarre for the Blue Mountains.

Leura is a country village rather close by to this author in Katoomba situated in the Blue Mountains; their joint adjoining townships situated roughly 100km west of Sydney on a high plateau at around 1000 metres above sea level.  See red-dot icon below.

Steve recalls that back in the midst of this very cold winter in 2013, incoming news of the sudden and bizarre disappearance late at night of some corporate conference young 23 year-old male guest who had been staying at well-known local Fairmont 4-star luxury resort hotel.

This sudden unexplained disappearance quickly caught the widespread emotive concerns of many Blue Mountains locals.  Conditions were freezing mid-winter at the time.

So, local immediate search response to find Gary ASAP, before he could perish from almost certain hypothermia, became a shared human instinct and a committed focus.  Led by Police Rescue (Katoomba), with auto-support from allied State Emergency Service volunteers and unconditional support of thousands of other volunteering locals, our local Blue Mountains community galvanised in a massive foot, abseiling and helicopter combined search to find Gary quickly.

It mattered not the cause of Gary’s disappearance, but locals knew that the winter weather being freezing at the time made it imperative to find Gary quickly at all costs ASAP!

This was a Blue Mountains-wide humanitarian mission, and one values sharing this tragic story and dedicated instant local community reaction with readers.  The search for missing Gary actually became the largest missing person search effort in Blue Mountains history in terms of numbers of search personnel contributing.

As media updates about the circumstances and search operating were circulating through the Blue Mountains, this author began capturing a lot of the reported content and collating the missing person story material including a copy of one poster on a street pole.   At the time, Steve also drove at night along Sublime Point Road from the Fairmont to the Sublime Point Lookout car park.  One recalls it was a very dark small highway type road that lead to a dead end on a clifftop headland.  At the car park it was freezing when Steve got out of the car.  No-one was around – no cars.  One knew the area though not in pitch blackness.  It was no time to go hiking in at night without proper kit, solo and in freezing conditions.

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[An aside:  Our author then sat in his car at the Sublime Point Lookout car park alone in the remote feeling pitch blackness with no-one around and wound down the car window.

One wanted to sample a tad of Gary’s experience just a week prior.  The search had been called off from finding him alive.  It was freezing, pitch black.  Steve was alone but rugged up in a warm car, but not in the mood for death wish midnight hiking.

Since about 20 years or so prior, in his late 30s with a local bushwalking club group, Steve had climbed up the steep ragged goat track of historic Copeland Pass up the near cliff off the end of Sublime Point Lookout just 175 metres ahead of where one had now parked in the lonely gloom.

It emerged as an obscure side track from similarly historic and treacherous Lindeman Pass which skirts the Jamison Valley cliff-line half way up for a considerable hiking distance.  The hike had started from near Kiah Lookout near ‘The Rooster’ restaurant down via the Linda Falls hiking track route, but diverting east (with warning signs) before Leura Forest.  (It’s not recommended).

Well, we made it only as a group one reckons, since the track route was old and vague, so mandating recent familiar knowledge of the track’s quirks.  One recalls that upon ‘reaching’ Sublime Point Lookout and walking to the car park and beyond that the presence of urban settlement along Sublime Point had invaded as a saturating scourge upon that so wild landscape].

Our author after his above contemplation then drove away slowly and quietly back home, reflecting what had happened to Gary?   In hindsight, on his way back Steve unbeknownst passed within 200 meters of where Gary lay dead and no-one then knew, yet the official search had been just called off, and it was so investigatively logical of where he may likely have been all along.

Lots of evidence would later filter through to put this missing person jigsaw together.  Gary had had no idea of where he was, nor of the surrounding chasm nor of existential risk to his life.

Gary’s disappearance occurred within an hour from where he was staying.  This was not an Agatha Christie style complex twist and turn ‘who-done-it’ mysteries, rather just poor police work, frankly.  His Oracle sale colleagues knew his motive and were last to communicate with him.  The police investigation and missing person search effort should have been a ‘no brainer’ to connect the druggie dots!

In that prior year of 2020, Steve also managed to meet up with a local community group of established residents of Sublime Point Road on a different topic to by happen-chance learn about the circumstances of Gary’s demise.

About this Article

 

This article seeks to be comprehensive about this story which is mostly tragically sad, but also complex, revealing of cultural problems, of systemic failings by officialdom, and is yet another episode of another unnecessary ‘death by misadventure’ in our Blue Mountains.

This article seeks to recognise the backstory through research (online) and by applying ground-truthing – give this author being familiar with the location as a long-time local) and by contributing our insightful analysis with an unbiased desire toward exposing and publicising the untold backstory and truth of what ultimately happened.

1. Gary Tweddle goes to a work dinner at Silks Brasserie in Leura (Blue Mountains) with 45 sales colleagues/management from Oracle (Corporation Australia). The bill is paid at 10.41pm.
2. Mr Tweddle gets into a Katoomba Leura Radio Cab (taxi) with three work colleagues about 11pm (outside Silks presumably).  He is helped into the taxi and Gary is observed as being unsteady on his feet by the driver.  The sales group is dropped off at the Fairmont Resort (Leura, Blue Mountains).
3. Several people (Oracle sales team colleagues of Gary’s of the Oracle sales conference) continue to drink in one of the rooms at the (Fairmont) resort. Police say Mr Tweddle only has a few sips of a beer before he leaves to go to the reception/foyer area.  (This contradicts the taxi driver’s account that the oracle sale team with Gary were off their faces, heavily intoxicated/if not drugged by narcotics as well.)
4. Tweddle runs out of the Fairmont main entrance about midnight. A short time later he rings a colleague and says he is lost. The conversation lasts 17 minutes. Police say it sounds as if he is running and jumping during the conversation.
5. A car drives past Mr Tweddle as he stands in the middle of Watkins Road talking on his phone at 12.15 am. The car does not stop.
6. At 12:30 am Mr Tweddle’s (mobile) phone battery dies or is switched off and no one has heard or seen him since.

So, why are we writing about this tragic story?

(4)  Also, because of the lack of any investigative journalism in this case to try get to the backstory and causation of Gary’s bizarre sudden disappearance, of his state of mind from the Oracle sales conference (ultimatum) from the Fairmont Resort and what happened to him around midnight in freezing conditions wearing light clothing; 

 

(6)  The NSW Coroners Court conducted no inquest, didn’t report its coronial findings. All it said was “death by misadventure”.  So what was the point of the hackneyed meaningless cliché:  “a report will prepared for the coroner” ?  It’s about as silly as saying, “there will be a funeral”.

(8)  So how can folk involved in the Blue Mountains great outdoors learn from such tragedies to try to best avoid repeats?   This is why we critique on such.  No one else in charge seems to do so or give a damn.  But we do as a professional tour operator.  We’ve taken an interest in learning from the mishaps/tragedies of others who have lost their lives in the great outdoors of the Blue Mountains wild region.   We’ve had forced time to contemplate such during the pandemic lockdown regime.  

Anyone is free to blog their own blog, but not to try to censor free speech, particularly that which seeks to expose the truth about what is wrongly happening repeatedly in our Blue Mountains World Heritage Area tragically time and again.

 

Gary’s disappearance story begins with a backstory about this young, smart and ambitious man from England who had gained skills and experience in information technology (IT) in London.  Gary Tweddle was a London lad from Reading in the home county of Berkshire.

Having likely graduated in IT there, he was likely attracted to the finance district of The City in London, England.  His family will know.  By age 23, Gary had managed to secure a career job opportunity working abroad in Australia in corporate IT in Sydney as a young computer salesman for U.S. global software giant Oracle Corporation; at the time the third largest in the world.

Gary departed the UK by himself.  His father David Tweddle remained living in their home town of Reading and worked as vice-president with Oracle in London.   Media reports reveal that his mother had divorced his father and was due to remarry to her new partner, ‘Clive’ in Australia.   So, with his mother based in Australia, Gary would have had an additional incentive to go to Australia.

Young Gary was certainly clever, yet still very young in a corporate sales perspective, so perhaps naive yet keep to prove himself.  Presumably thanks to his father’s internal connections within Oracle, Gary landed a junior sales role with Oracle in Sydney Australia being on the other side of the world from London.

This is all according to media reports.  We point out in advance that us having researched online the many media accounts, some information is contradictory and subsequent accounts have revealed that what was initially reported early on has since proven to be incorrect.  This includes where Gary was last seen, heard from, what he was wearing, where those connected to him lived, witness accounts, etc.  Also, over the months following Gary’s disappearance, new information came forward, but then also much information has been omitted.

We put this down to the lack of central record keeping by the police search command with detective investigation and the reporting that (one version of the known truth) by way of centrally controlled press releases to the media.   Some of the media reports were lazy copy/paste plagiarism of other media stories, some making unfounded assumptions.  There was no indication that there was any experienced investigative journalist dedicated to this missing person story, yet that very story evolved into a number of larger thematic side stories:

The Gary Tweddle case ended up having broader implications.   With the benefit of hindsight, this would have been gold for investigative journalism like ABC’s Four Corners.

This story centres around Oracle Corporation Australia, missing person Gary’s employer.

At the time in 2013, Gary had rented a flat in Sydney’s wealthy lower North Shore leafy precinct in the suburb of Cremorne.  This location providing him with a convenient 11 km commute to work to Oracle’s Australia Headquarters located at 4 Julius Ave, North Ryde NSW 2113 via the M2 toll motorway.

Renting in Cremorne also positioned Gary in a plush elite suburb and convenient to Sydney’s appealing harbour-waterfront lifestyle and to Sydney’s CBD nearby.

Gary was a new recruit to Oracle, new to Australia and wholly dependent upon his new employer Oracle Corporation Austraia for his work, income, and welfare, like survival – everything.  Young Gary (at just 23) was beholden to Oracle.

High profit corporates demand high expectations of their sales force, which in turn imposes high pressure to perform or else be fired.  This is especially so by the multinational corporations on Sydney’s north shore like North Sydney, Artarmon, Chatswood and North Ryde (from this author’s own software consulting experience); and indeed in the finance district of The City in London, England.

Notably, media records at the time (2013) showed that Oracle’s sales results had been down of late:

4. Oracle’s Sales ultimatum conference at a distant mountain retreat

During a cold wintry July of 2013, Gary, along with Oracle’s Australian sales force (team), were required to attend Oracle sales ‘team’s fully-paid mid-week conference at the 4-star Fairmont Resort and Spa in Leura in the famous Blue Mountains 100km west of Sydney.

It was a compulsory work function for Gary.

QUESTION:  Why did Oracle choose to direct its sale team to attend a sale conference at a location distant from its North Ryde headquarters in Sydney?   It was containment control and they could not escape.  It was a secret ultimatum pressure during a time of plummeting  sales and profits for the organisation to achieve sales with good profits else  be terminated.  ‘Larry’s way or the highway’ culture.  Am I close to reality?

Media reports state there were 46 of them, so a sizeable group and likely the entire Oracle sales ‘team’ in Sydney, perhaps with a few managers from its global headquarters, then situated in Austin, Texas (though since 2024, currently in Nashville, Tennessee, USA).

Perhaps Oracle’s extreme pressure upon its young sales team had been ramped up to an anxiety threatening ultimatum crescendo?   So, instead of Oracle’s sales pep-talk conference mid-week in July 2013 being a reward to the team, perhaps Oracle’s underlying message staged at this rather isolated sales conference in the Blue Mountains was always a pre-staged ‘do-or-die’ sales performance ultimatum to this young team, if not a last supper?

From this author’s corporate team event experience, following standard corporate procedure presumably Oracle’s sales conference took place from arriving from Sydney at the Fairmont Resort likely by chartered coach on the Monday 15th July 2013.

The first day of the sales conference after arriving by coach from North Ryde (allow 2 hours), after room check-in, would have been in-house at the Fairmont Resort utilising a very private team unifying U-shaped seating arrangement say in the Fairmont’s smaller Blaxland function room which accommodates 46 seated guests.

Only those 46 Oracle sales staff and managers in attendance know what was discussed on Day 1 (Monday 15th July 2013) of the Oracle sales conference.

Given what Gary decided to do the following night, maybe the discussion wasn’t a so rewarding a celebration by the corporation, but instead, Oracle management’s threatening dressing down ultimatum in light of its 2013 zero sales growth results?

What took place at the Oracle sales conference on Day 2 in the Fairmont Resort private function room, the day of Gary’s sudden walk-out after a workplace dinner event is not known.

On that second night of Oracle’s internal sales conference on Tuesday 16th July 2013, Gary attended an outside pre-booked dinner as part of the 46 work colleagues/managers from Oracle.  It was from 7 pm at this up-market Silk’s Brasserie in retail Leura Mall, situated about 3 km west of the Fairmont Resort.

[Note:  This author, as a former coach captain with Australian Pacific Touring (APT, 1991-1992) and others including Blue Mountains Bus Company (of local Leura,  2012-2015), one surmises that in 2013, Oracle rather than utilising distant Sydney-based Murrays Coaches, Oracle would have been instead chartered the only local Leura-based Blue Mountains Bus Company (a Mercedes Benz coach) to locally transfer its sales group from the Fairmont Resort to the restaurant and back that Tuesday night.  One has done similar such corporate transfers for the same company locally (including from the Fairmont Resort to The Carrington Hotel in nearby Katoomba and return).

However, those dinner attendees who chose to ‘party on’ at Silk’s after the restaurant bill was paid and on their own time and expense, notably including Gary, would have been advised by Oracle management attending and departing that the group would be responsible for paying their own separate way back to the Fairmont by local taxi.

Of relevance, the urban backstreet route between Silk’s in Leura Mall, on the high street, and the location of the Fairmont Resort on the south-eastern cliff edge of the village is not straight forward, but its a rather complicated route for visitors to navigate, especially at night.

Being a Tuesday and normally closed (Mon-Tue), Silk’s Brasserie would have specially have hosted this corporate dinner as a pre-booked dedicated private function for the whole restaurant, re-setting the tables to suit the Oracle sales ‘team’ seating layout specifications.

[SIDE NOTE: Some seven years hence in 2020 (pandemic lockdown regime), locally renowned ‘Silks‘ copped its landlord hiking up the rent, so prompting the restaurant owner Stewart Robinson to relocate well away from Leura Mall (high street) to nearly 6 km away to lesser know exclusive Silvermere Guesthouse at 1 Lake St in Wentworth Falls. 

Presumably all 46 of the Oracle sales staff (being a large a coach load) would have had their Oracle Corporation Australia workplace management pre-arrange their chartered coach (typically Murrays Coaches) transfer directly from Oracle’s North Ryde headquarters in north-shore Sydney to/from the Fairmont Resort in Leura in the (upper) Blue Mountains.  This is a motorway/highway journey distance of about 100km each way, taking about 90 minutes each way outside peak hours.

Materially in this case, Leura village is quite distant from Sydney (north-shore wealthy  suburbs of North Ryde and Cremorne).

Similarly, the transfer from the Fairmont Resort to Silk’s Brasserie in Leura Mall (a 3 km driving distance through residential backstreet Leura village) may also have been by Murrays Coaches.  However, due to the varying departure times of sales staff from Silk’s back to the Fairmont, local taxis were to be utilised for the 3 km return to they stay.

Materially again, both the 3 km distance and the confusing backstreet route (Silk’s return to Fairmont) would not have been feasible on foot, because it was late (after 11pm), very dark and mid -winter so freezing conditions outdoors at the time, and the sales team would have been mostly intoxicated from an indulgent corporate dinner night.

[Note:  Had Gary been intoxicated or under the influence of substance abuse before the restaurant?  During this work dinner event, just how many times did Gary (and likely with his mates) retreat to the restaurant’s rest room?   Did he/they snort cocaine?  This is surmising so based upon the two independent witnesses accounts in the media.]

Then upon Gary’s departure from the restaurant the taxi driver from Leura-Katoomba Radio Cabs told Fairfax Media he remembered Gary’s colleagues having to help Gary get into the passenger seat of the taxi and then dropping Mr Tweddle with three of his work colleagues back at the Fairmont Resort.   

The taxi driver, who did not wish to be named, says he remembered well the 10-minute trip to the hotel. ”He was wasted, seriously wasted,” the driver said.   The driver dropped the group off back at the entrance of the Fairmont Resort.

This is a telling observation, which we shall elaborated on.  How was Gary observed so “wasted” according to two such unrelated independent witnesses?

It means that Gary would have missed the scheduled return coach charter from Silks Brasserie (we calculate pickup at 10:45 pm) back to the Fairmont Resort and instead elected to stay on at Silks with a few selected work colleagues.

So, this meant the smaller group relying upon a taxi return trip as their only sensible option for the 3km backstreet twisting journey back to the Fairmont Resort.  It was mid-winter, near midnight and freezing temperatures.

Upon return to the Fairmont Resort, Gary’s work colleagues account that he went to his room where he spent a short time with a few of them.  They claimed that Gary spoke about him going to get drugs (and presumably return).   Apparently, Gary was on a mission to keep the party going.

So was Gary at the time under the influence of drugs but not alcohol or both?  If so which drugs?  If so he would have had them in his possession before departing Sydney.  This will be explained later in this article.

Soon after Mr Tweddle was dropped off back at Fairmont Resort security footage captured him running out of the Fairmont reception (photo of the entrance below).

Media reports falsely stated that he was wearing only his red checked shirt (below) without his jacket or glasses.   However, police had formally stated that Gary Tweddle at the time had been described to police as:

“being of Caucasian appearance, 165-170cm tall, medium build, brown eyes with short brown hair.  At the time of his disappearance he was wearing blue jeans, a black jacket and checked shirt.“

They pleaded with him to stay where he was and to look in a letter box to find out exactly where he was.   Police said he finally told his colleagues he was then running and sounded as he was jumping or leaping over things as he spoke to them.

Gary then told them he was heading towards “a light on a hill” before his phone battery died.  It was 12:30 am actually on Wednesday 16th July 2013, not the Tuesday night as misreported by some media.   That was the last contact anyone had with Gary.

After some three hours, Mr Tweddle’s girlfriend Anika Haigh received a phone call at 3.30 am on the Wednesday 17th July 2013 at the couple’s Cremorne flat from one of Gary’s male work colleagues at the Fairmont Resort.

So at 3:30 am Gary’s colleague told Gary’s girlfriend that Gary was missing and that she needed to file a missing person’s report to the police so that an immediate search could be formally initiated.

This Anika promptly did, to her credit.  She must of wondered what was going down up the Mountains – in more ways than one.

The next morning daylight of Wednesday 17th July 2013, an immediate and extensive search was officially sprung into operation.   This was ultimately co-ordinated by local Blue Mountains Police Rescue (nearby Katoomba-based) with the assistance of volunteers from the NSW State Emergency Service, Rural Fire service volunteers and experienced local bushwalking clubs’ members familiar with the area.

NSW Police Senior Constable Stephen De Jong (41) from the riot squad took charge of the land and air search for Gary Tweddle.  Gary is still out there waiting for us, there are 200 people looking,” he posted on his Facebook page.

Also, Mr Tweddle’s girlfriend Anika Haigh quickly initiated a dedicated Facebook page entitled “Have you seen Gary Tweddle?“

Gary’s father David Tweddle on Gary’s girlfriend Anika Haigh Facebook page said the family, along with hundreds of State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers and police, were still scouring more than 14 sq km of rugged bushland near the Fairmont Resort in Leura where the British-born IT salesman, 23, went missing.

“I do not think there are enough words in any vocabulary to say thank you to the hundreds of volunteers that have given their weekend to find Gaz.  The police have been unbelievably amazing and the Fairmont Resort could not have done more, it is truly breathtaking to see and experience all the help and support we are receiving.”

Gary’s girlfriend’s Facebook page ended up attracting more than 4,500 likes, such was the mystery and community intrigue in both the Blue Mountains and back in Sydney about his sudden unexplained disappearance.

The above aerial photo is more for media drama telling copy-pasted from Google Maps.

It is irrelevant, and only contradicts the known evidentiary reality of Gary’s eyewitness accounts of Gary’s last movements that police had at the start of their search operation.  Essentially, Gary didn’t go here where the above photo shows, instead he was sighted running along Sublime Point Road, situated well of southwest (left) of this photo.

As an aside,  this particularly wild edge of the Jamison escarpment is pitch black at night and inaccessible.  It is the site of historic but failed Gladstone Colliery (1885-86).

Some local experienced hikers will be aware of the Gladstone Pass track that was a walking link between the mine from defunct Gladstone village where the miners lived around what became Gladstone Road.  However, Gladstone Pass is an old unmaintained and extremely difficult graded track with exposure risk.  Gladstone Pass starts behind the Fairmont Resort off Fairmont Place along Lillian’s Bridge Track and from an non-signposted  narrow bush track off to the south.

Here’s what used to be at the old Gladstone village where the miners lived:

”My best friend has been taken from me and it’s so hard. It’s horrible, I just miss him so much. My heart aches, it hurts, I didn’t even know I had these emotions. ‘He is one of the most kind, caring, loving, and passionate person that I know and he is extremely determined,” Ms Haigh said. “He is a very loved person and we are touched and overwhelmed by all the friends an family that have come and helped in this situation.”

In a post on Facebook written earlier, his father David Tweddle said the family had still not given up hope. He also thanked the hundreds of people involved in the search.

He wrote: “These people have risked their health to work on this, abseiling 200m (650ft) cliff faces, going places that no human has been for tens of years.”  His father cited a previous case where bush walker Jamie Neale was found after being missing in the same region for 12 days.  But he said that was in “very different” circumstances and his son did not have the same resources.

“The New South Wales police will continue to search forever if that is what it takes, we will never give up hope,” he added.

After ten straight days of extensively searching the surrounding area around the Fairmont Hotel and into thick bushland including by foot, vehicles and by helicopters, Police Senior Constable De Jong decided to transition the missing person search into a (body) recovery operation’ on Friday 26 July 2013.

The Calendar of 2013:

So the search for Gary was a complete failure.

The search had failed to find Gary alive nor his body, nor work out what happened to him  – where he was still alive, dead or had taken off elsewhere for some reason.  Then search command just gave up.

Blue Mountains Police closed the search effort from Wednesday 17th July after just ten days, deciding to transition and downgrade the search to a recovery effort on Friday 26th July.   A further seventeen days later, Blue Mountain Police officially called of the search altogether.

Some questions we posit:

Of course, we at Nature Trail are not trained police detectives, nor experienced search and rescue experts.  The police did not disclose their investigative report, nor at the time provide public updates to the enquiring media reporters, who basically sought updates by simply asking the basic questions of police in charge of the search.  So we rely upon media reporting at the time.

However, senior police would have interviewed each of Gary’s colleagues, his family (who turned up in the Blue Mountains, his girlfriend, as well as all associates – the restaurant owner, taxi driver, hotel staff, local residents along Sublime Point Road such as the driver who last saw Gary (through a public police appeal), and later the drug dealer.

The Fairmont Resort’s CCTV footage clarified what Gary was wearing, yet the media reports are contradictory about whether he was wearing a black jacket.  The CCTV would have verified this, so the police and media have conflicting accounts.

Police wrongly stated that he was wearing dark jeans, which contradicts Gary’s girlfriend’s poster that stated blue jeans.  It would seem that the police wrongly restricted their description of Gary to the resort’s CCTV camera, which at night would rely upon its infrared camera, that shows images in black and white, not in colour as during daylight hours.  This author can attest to this since he has four infrared cameras at his home 24/7.

Police would have known the many places where NOT to search, such as by replaying the video recordings from midnight of known CCTV locations in Leura Mall, Leura Railway Station and (much further away around adjoining  Katoomba and along the Great Western Highway).

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As a side, one recalls a separate missing person search that was undertaken more recently in 2016 for an 80-year-old man with dementia around Katoomba, who around 6:30pm on Saturday 1st October had gone missing from the Anita Villa nursing home (now named Katoomba Views).

The following day, Sunday, the police helicopter flew low over our house more than 1 km away and had a loud speaker manual broadcast asking residents to look out for the old man missing. It flew over bushland and locals were asked to search bushland to assist officers from Blue Mountains Local Area (police) Command, and volunteers with the State Emergency Service and the Rural Fire Service.

That seemed misguided at the time, rather more likely the missing man was much closer by Anita Villa in someone’s nearby backyard seeking a place to sleep, not wandering in the cold exposed bushland ‘woop woop’.  It seemed logical.  We suggested this to a searching volunteer at the time.

Sure enough, later on that Sunday, the missing man was located in a nearby back yard by the home owner around 8.35am and was treated for scratches and bruises.

Hopefully, in 2025 search and rescue approaches, standards, skills and technology has become the specialised profession it warrants, especially in places like the Blue Mountains.

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Gary’s mobile phone would have had a GPS record held by the telecommunications company to identify the route Gary had taken.

Nature Trail undertook subsequent ground-truthing of Gary’s route in 2020 following Steve’s conversations with Sublime Point locals who had generously provided insight into Gary’s demise and show us Gary’s memorial plaque on the escarpment.

We also followed up again very recently this month (May 2025) based upon all the evidence that we had gathered that had been reported in the media.  We are now semi-retired and have time on our hands to complete the research and to compile this article.  It’s a way of us giving back to the local community as one approaches one’s 61^st birthday.

We’ve logically used the last conversation that Gary had had on his mobile phone with his colleagues around midnight, who had had their mobile phone on speaker (so that many  of them could hear and contribute to helping Gary’s desperate predicament).

Along with the local driver’s eyewitness sighting of Gary around 12:15 am, the evidence confirms that Gary’s location would have narrowed down the search area to being on the Sublime Point headland – a dead end cul-de-sac either still on Sublime Point Road, else nearby just 15 minutes later at 12:30 am when his phone cut out as he had said he was scrambling through scrub.

[An aside:  ‘Ground-truthing‘ is a research data-collection methodology of physically collecting empirical information in the field/on site by direct observation, photography, measurement, retracing evidence on the ground as it were to verify the reported statement and claims in order to verify those as factually and legally true.

This is our interpretative definition anyways, and we have applied it previously, and  we didn’t come down in the last shower.]

SOURCE:  ^http://www.truebluemountains.com.au/galleries/sublime-point-leura/

Choosing to depart suddenly near midnight in dark freezing conditions with rather light clothing and choosing to walk in an area he had no familiarity with and no glasses to even attempt to use a map on his phone or take a taxi, confirmed that Gary’s state of mind was not compos mentis.   This was a key factor in his disappearance – he was unprepared, desperate and lost in a outdoors environment he had no knowledge of.   This meant that he was prone to make uninformed illogical decisions as to where he was going, of what to expect and what not to expect.   He chose not to book another taxi for instance, despite him being completely unfamiliar with where he was.

 

Human “running” speed is typically and conservatively 15kph, certainly not an Olympic pace of course.   But Gary presumable on a cocaine drug high and if keeping up such a pace, would be consistent and quite feasible with Gary being able to travel by running in 10 minutes about 2.5 km along a road.

That distance happens to be beyond the distance between the Fairmont Resort and the southerly dead end of Sublime Point Road car park, just before track to the lookout to overlook the chasm of the Jamison Valley 650 metres below.

Why did police not to these known maths?

The initial distance on foot between the hotel building main entrance and the intersection of Sublime Point Road is just 400 metres.   We offer sequential Google Maps street level photos of Fairmont Place leading eastward at this stage to the property entrance at Sublime Point Road as follows:

Yes, this road looks rather substantial to a stranger to the area, so seems worth following as if it is a major road.  Note, that to Gary around midnight it was pitch black.  Also, note our compass bearing insert – he’s heading southward.

Instead, Gary continued ahead in the direction of this ‘main’ road heading south.

Recall the last sighting of Gary had been by a motorist at reportedly 12:15 am (just after midnight) on Wednesday 17th July 2013 walking along on Sublime Point Road.  This would have confirmed placing Gary on Sublime Point Road heading southward just past Orchard Lane.  [See maps below]

The intersection of Sublime Point Road and Orchard Lane is shown below, we presume roughly the location where a local driver last reported witnessing Gary walking along Sublime Point Road just after midnight with his mobile phone in the blackness.  Clearly the driver at midnight in this dead end road was a local.

Calculating the Likely Locations Scenario

 

Upon further analysis, we revisit the three key pieces of known evidence at the time of Gary’s disappearance:

1.  Gary’s running departure from the Fairmont entrance captured on CCTV – it is ABOUT midnight, but we are not told the accurate time, and the electric clock on the CCTV computer may not  have been accurately set  (one knows this from personal experience with one’s own setup)
2.  The local car driver sighting Gary along Sublime Point Road at 12:15 am  (but this timing may not be exact either, and we are not told where exactly the driver saw Gary “standing on the road” (or more likely him actually running given the fair distance he managed to travel in such short durations)
3.  Gary’s final words to his work colleagues on his mobile phone as he is heard running and jumping (in hindsight presumably in the scrub located off the end of West Street.

Also, recall the supplied evidence that Gary’s conversation with his colleagues lasted about “17 minutes”.  This would have been verifiable by Police investigation checking the call duration on that particular colleague’s mobile phone – so likely accurate.   Since Gary was sighted talking on his phone during this time, that would place him 17 minutes from his running and jumping through that dense scrub location at the end of West Street.

Given the time of night and the driver likely alone, it makes sense not to have stopped on that dark lonely isolated section of road for a young  male stranger.

Gary was not talking on his mobile phone when he ran out of the Fairmont entrance, rather only after he had become lost.  What along Sublime Point Road (which we know from hindsight that he was on) had triggered him to realise that he was lost and so call for navigation guidance to his colleagues?

The overall road distance between the Fairmont entrance and the western end of West Street is 1.8 km.  (See map below)

This author, through research and from obtain local knowledge has subsequently managed to clarify what Gary meant by “light on the hill”.   His continued walking along Sublime Point Road southward for 1.7 km found him reach the junction of West Street, a short dead end street heading westward.

At night, distant residential lights can be seen way beyond westward from this road junction.

We note that one media photo of Gary (probably from his Facebook page or his girlfriend’s) prior, during an Oracle work function showed Gary in corporate office attire wearing glasses (photo reproduced below).

 

Instead, this confirms that Gary had short-sightedness (myopia) which is a physical condition where distant objects appear blurry, while nearby objects are seen clearly.  The glasses he is shown wearing here would have certainly been optometrist prescriptive glasses.

This is a significant factor in Gary’s disappearance, and we can’t find any publicised records that anyone in the police search investigation or the media picked up on this key evidence.  It is significant in this case because it was reported later on in the media:

“Security footage captures Tweddle running out of the Fairmont without his jacket or glasses”

[Source]

This confirms that his glasses were NOT for reading since he is wearing them not for close reading but to see in normal conversation and over distances. His work colleagues for starters could have attested to this to Police on the morning of Day 1 BEFORE the search commenced.    Without his glasses, Gary is sight handicapped and especially on foot in an area he has know familiarity with, alone, at midnight in almost pitch blackness.

 

 

The street sign for West Street (left on photo above) includes a secondary sign beneath reading ‘No Through Road’, however it was dark and Gary was not wearing his glasses.  Gary did not know the area at all and he was not thinking straight due to his substance abuse at the time.

So despite his last comments on his mobile at about him seeing a ‘light on the hill”, he must have missed noticing the ‘No Through Road’ sign on the street corner.

Back in 2020 when we ground-truthed West Street both by day and then by night, from the Sublime Point Road intersection, the native vegetation at the western end was less grown than it is in 2025.   So at night in 2020 and likely moreso in 2013, a distant light on a hill could be readily seen from that spot.

On 7th May 2025, during out night ground-truthing lay investigation, we walked the short 150 metres westward to dead-end of West Street where the bushland starts and we took the following photo westward at around dawn (See bellow).

Yes, a light on a distant hill on the western horizon can be readily seen at a gap in the trees.   It is directly west of West Street but over two km away on a map, and there are other street lights visible there as well.  It is Katoomba, but with a blackened 650m deep chasm called the Jamison Valley in between.

This was Gary’s ‘light on the hill” that he saw that night.

We aligned the direction of West Street, a short 150 metres long ‘No Through Road’ (due to a 650 metre drop chasm cliff edge located about 100 metres down slope through thick bushland further west.

Using a Google Maps aerial photo, We orientate from what was Gary’s “light of the hill” obviously westward, since it was many metres down off the cliff at the end of West Street. [See our explanatory illustration below).

Subsequent field research conducted by the author confirms that the lights would be those of the Katoomba High School which is perched on a hill back from the escarpment cliff top on the other side of this chasm on the northern side of the Jamison Valley and which is lit up and back in 2013 would have been very distinguishable from this West Street junction with Sublime Point Road.  The bushland at the western end of West Street has long since grown, so blocking the view.

We can categorically confirm this was Gary’s “light on the hill”, since six weeks after his comment of this on his mobile phone, Gary’s body was discovered slumped in a gum tree about 50 metres down a cliff face immediately below the western end of West Street.

9. Gary’s body found weeks later by fluke

Blue Mountains crime manager Mick Bostock said police rescue officers would not be able to retrieve the body until dawn on Tuesday.   (Ed:  No, the pilot required the sun to see the cliff site, and it was in shadow until midday, so try the next day, Tuesday afternoon with appropriate safe sunlight).

Police said there was a good chance the body was Mr Tweddle but could not be certain until tomorrow. “The area can only be reached by abseiling down the rock face,” Inspector Bostock said. “The body appears as though its wearing clothing,” he said.

Tweddle’s father David posted on Facebook that he hoped the body was his son, adding it would be a “long day ahead”.

The body was later that week identified and confirmed to be that of Garry Tweddle. The police handed their brief to the coroner, with the belief his death was accidental.

Superintendent Darryl Jobson:

“Please know that nothing has been confirmed at this stage but I hope in a few hours we will have an answer either way.

“One thing I know for certain is that Gary will come home one day – his fight, determination & ‘never give up’ attitude that we all loved so much about him will guide him. Your time of hide & seek needs to end now though please. Time to come home where you belong. I love you.”

(Ed:  The Coroner did no inquest, no report was released to the public, just a quick “death by misadventure“, end of story, next…)

Gary’s 25 metre fall down the cliff and crash-landing into the canopy of that big tree meant that his death was likely (hopefully) quick, if not instant.  That could be the only positive.

It is a dark tale that he lay there for almost seven weeks before his body was discovered. Other missing persons have never been recovered.

The ‘darkness’ also extends to many of the heartfelt feelings of the many search and rescue personnel, and particularly to the contributory unpaid local volunteers, both during the search having little information (in light of no results), and then afterwards reading about Gary’s sad connection with narcotics, that likely contributed to his demise.

Gary’s personal situation discovery then became a new and unusual scenario for a Blue Mountains missing person search and rescue.  Such a criminal connection thus also contributed another angle of ‘darkness’ to this whole case.

Then by fluke, a training rescue helicopter crew, off scheduled track, but diligently considering this popular ‘Sweet Dreams’ cliff wall climbing site as a potential new place to conduct a future rescue of an injured climber.

One is getting spiritual here, or was this by-chance  diversion and discovery not from a different kind of ‘light’?

So, not that long after the official search for Gary was officially all called off and so outwith foresaken, exactly 3 weeks to the day this discovery literally ‘out-of the blue’ is more than one can fathom, and probably by all the rescuers who had committed to finding Gary.

It was for his faithfully praying loved ones.  And the more than 1000 souls committed to searching and saving Gary must have somehow made a difference beyond our tangible understanding.   Like who’d have thought?  This is one’s only explanation, and we’re not exactly religious, but we respect faith.  Sweet Dreams indeed.

Gary’s loving girlfriend, Ms Anika Haigh, upon learning about Gary’s fate shared with close friends and family:

“A body has been found in the area of Gary’s disappearance and today it will be retrieved and identified. Please know that nothing has been confirmed at this stage but I hope in a few hours we will have an answer either way. 

One thing I know for certain is that Gary will… come home one day – his fight, determination & ‘never give up’ attitude that we all loved so much about him will guide him. 

It is time to come home where you belong”.

‘Pambos’ is a Greek Cypriot surname – Greeks bearing gifts?

So did police recover the cash as well, and if so what happened to the cash?

Such a marketing brand would have had sympathetic appeal to sales executives.

Dec 5, 2014:

Gary Tweddle fell to his death in the Blue Mountains in 2013

Media Notes are yet to be applied/edited:

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13.  Sydney: world’s cocaine capital 

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https://www.news.com.au/national/australia-the-highest-per-capita-cocaine-user-in-the-world/news-story/c91869d4e2b2adeef266917d82f705e0

Cocaine is the drug of choice for Australia’s C-Level executives

https://thebanyans.com.au/cocaine-executives/

With a large disposable income, high stakes, long working hours and an intense social scene, it seems that cocaine is often the substance of choice for Australia’s wealthiest and most influential business executives.

The corporate culture of drug misuse is growing among C-level professionals – especially in the banking and finance sector, the construction field, the legal profession and Australia’s mining industry[i].

According to a report by The Daily Telegraph, one cocaine supplier admitted to spending most of his time in Sydney’s wealthiest eastern suburbs[ii], where the average income is $200,015 per year[iii]. Similarly, Sydney-based police are also noting a steady rise in drug-related incidents in the higher earning suburbs[iv].

Dr. Christian Rowan is an Addiction Specialist and the Medical Director at The Banyans Health and Wellness Residence. He attributes the particularly high prevalence of cocaine use[v] to its stimulating effects. “People often take cocaine over other drugs because it is perceived to be low risk, and effective for making you feel awake and energized.” Whether professionals are misusing the drug to increase their productivity or “let their hair down”, it is often the increased energy or release of tension that initially captures their attention.

Dr. Rowan also believes that cocaine’s reputation as a status symbol is also contributing to it being a drug of choice. “Because the substance [cocaine] is expensive to obtain, it carries a sense of glamour and elite exclusivity.” He relates it to being similar to purchasing an expensive bottle of wine at a restaurant.

However, Dr. Rowan highlights the inaccurate perception of cocaine being “less addictive” or “not as bad” as other illicit drugs. “Usually executives and business people are initially using cocaine recreationally in a social setting. Because of this, people may be unaware of their developing drug dependency.” With cocaine being widespread and prevalent within these elite circles, “social use” could still mean that people are using the substance multiple times a week[vi].

Reports published by The University of Sydney in 2013 conveyed similar observations.

Research suggested cocaine-users reporting significantly higher average incomes considered themselves “social users, rather than addicts”. These people were often misusing the drug in conjunction with alcohol.

In an article by The Sydney Morning Herald, one cocaine user confessed that cocaine was preferred over other drugs because of the very few physical symptoms or consequences, unlike methamphetamines or marijuana[viii]. However, Dr. Rowan explains that this notion is a misconception, and cocaine is just as harmful as any other drug. A dependency can develop after a very short period of use, and may go unrecognized for a long time[ix].

Common signs of cocaine use include disrupted sleeping patterns, erratic behavior and dramatic mood swings. Dr. Rowan suggests that behaviors associated with greater desperation to attain cocaine, or feeling unable to function without it, can lead to an increase in time or money spent in obtaining the drug. “In turn, this may lead to a deteriorating physical or psychological condition, a key indicator of a developing dependency or addiction.”

“Many of the individuals misusing cocaine in the C-Suite level of businesses are very intelligent, articulate people who are driven to achieve outcomes. These people may not even be aware of their dependency issues, as they will feel like they are keeping their head above the water, so to speak.” Dr. Rowan says that this can make it very difficult to approach a loved one or colleague who may be misusing cocaine.

Peter Hayton, the Clinical Director and Senior Psychologist at The Banyans Health and Wellness Residence has over twenty years of experience in the field, and explains that planning the conversation is one of the keys to success. “It is important that you consider some of the personality traits of your loved one or colleague, and how they might respond to your concerns.” He reminds people to try and approach the topic with as much gentleness and understanding as possible.

If you are concerned about a colleague, Peter notes that the workplace may not be the most effective environment to raise the issue.

“There is not a one-size-fits-all technique with these things. But often, it is necessary to involve their family and wider support network.”

The Banyans Health and Wellness Residence has an extensive team of medical and wellness professionals who are experienced in drug addiction recovery and rehabilitation. Dr. Rowan and Peter Hayton work alongside other professionals to help guests overcome their addictions and return to a healthy, balanced state of living. Dr. Rowan explains that this would entail complete abstinence, along with physical wellness, stabilised mood and healthy relationships.

These are the main goals of the tailored programs offered at The Banyans Health and Wellness Residence. Together with psychiatrists, counsellors and psychologists, guests are able to work through a variety of underlying challenges and misconceptions that are limiting their ability to access the fullness of life. Guests partner with exercise physiologists, personal trainers and nutritionists to improve their physical wellness, including a diet and program. Onsite chefs, registered nurses, and wellness coaches also help you along your journey to make sure you achieve effective, long lasting results.

The medically supported program at The Banyans is a comprehensive, integrated approach to health and wellness that equips people with the skills they need to overcome their drug addiction and co-occurring conditions.

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The Alarming Cocaine User Demographics in Sydney

June 15, 2017

Many of us make a fatal assumption when it comes to drug users.

Most people still assume that drug addiction is a problem mainly found with lowly-educated, marginalised people in Australia’s lower socio-economic suburbs.

However, a recent article written by Rachel Olding for the Sydney Morning Herald shows the opposite is true.

A growing cocaine drug trade is hiding in the underbelly of some of Sydney’s most affluent suburbs.

In her article, Olding reports of two 30 year old men who had been operating a syndicate that delivered drugs to thousands of people across the eastern suburbs and city. Equally astonishing is how invicible these men appaerantly felt running their operations.

Round-the-clock drug deliveries

Based in Homebush Andrew Hadi and Beau Greentree ran their cocaine operations from home. Buyers would text the men for “rock show tickets” or “beers” – code for a 0.5 gram bag of cocaine for $200.

The pair employed six drivers, each working 12-hour shifts to make deliveries to customers around the city. During a shift a driver would deliver up to 50 bags of cocaine each to customers. The drivers earned anywhere from $150 to $200 for every six bags delivered.

The drivers also did little to keep their illicit drug running around the city discreet. Bondi model and entrepreneur George Gerges was known to make deliveries using his black Lexus, while another man apparently used his father’s cab to make a delivery in Woollahra.

Under surveillance

plastic bag of cocaine

Rising cocaine use in Sydney’s most affluent neighbourhoods

Authorities estimate that between May and September 2015 alone, the drivers involved in the arrest were supplying cocaine to nearly two thousand customers.

In her article Olding cites that cocaine use in New South Wales has been steadily rising at 22 per cent annually in the last five years.

Even more alarming are the statistics in the eastern suburbs, with Woollahra’s use and possession rate being 12 times higher than the state average. This puts the suburb second only to rates in the CBD.

Are Your Employees Really Safe?

When you think of drug users, the image of a professional, gainfully employed adult isn’t what usually comes to mind.

But given the statistics of where most of the cocaine in the state is used, we have to rethink that image. It is obvious that cocaine use is prevalent and increasing among affluent white-collar professionals.

This was further illustrated in the highly publicised arrest of Lisa Munro, the solicitor from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who pleaded guilty to drug possession earlier this year.

Given the prevalence of drug use today, you really cannot be certain just how many of your own employees or colleagues could be suffering from addiction and drug dependency.

It’s a very real problem that requires tangible intervention. If you’re concerned about this problem and want to do something about it, give us a call today.

Related Posts:

Sydney is the cocaine capital of Australia

Aussies Pay More For Cocaine

Drugs: Like Ordering A Pizza!

May Madness 5

TAGS: drugs in the workplace, news about drugs

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Sydney is the cocaine capital of Australia

July 5, 2019

New South Wales is making the headlines again relating to illicit cocaine use.

This after recent operations targeting the supply of cocaine in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. In this case, Police apprehended a total of 55 people for either buying or selling cocaine. What’s shocking is the brazen way buyers and sellers act on the streets of Sydney’s eastern suburbs. It is definitely unsettling.

In an article by Lucy Cormack in The Sydney Morning Herald, she details efforts and worries of the authorities that are working to contain cocaine use in the country.

In the past two years, the Bureau of Crime and Statistics saw a 7.7 increase in the number of criminal cases involving the possession and use of cocaine.

What’s clear is that Sydneysiders have a big appetite for the drug. According to the state’s chief crime statistician Don Weatherburn, “There is no doubt Sydney is the cocaine capital of Australia.”

A growing acceptance of cocaine use

The acceptance of the drug likely contributes to the growing base of cocaine users.

For some, it’s a weekly habit, and for others, an occasional treat. Furthermore, its reputation as an elite drug is also not helping. Drug user demographics show cocaine has become the drug of choice of the affluent.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott says that the elite are not protected from the reality of a cold jail cell. He added: “The use of any illicit drug is unacceptable, regardless of the demographic or reason and I’ll be backing our police 100 percent in their battle to rid this poison from our community.”

Record production of cocaine

cocaine packets

According to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the number of cocaine users in the nation continues to grow.

Mr. Weatherburn worries that if occasional users become daily or weekly users, it may lead to a rise in other crime.

Cocaine seizures this year gives you an idea of the supply that makes its way into the country. For instance, law enforcement yielded 68kg of cocaine in April and just this week, another 30kg was discovered in a Southern Tablelands lab.

According to Shane Neilson, ACIC’s head of determination high risk and emerging drugs, “the world is inundated with cocaine at the moment.”

There is record production of cocaine in Colombia, where a kilo of the coca plant costs $200, and on the streets of Sydney, costs $300 a gram. However, despite the high price tag, the user base of the illicit drug is expanding.

The Broadened User Base of Cocaine

The perception of cocaine has changed significantly over the past two to five years. According to the latest data, the user base is no longer limited to certain sections of society. In fact, many now view cocaine as a party drug and do not see an issue with using it.

As per Police Minister Elliott, cocaine is a curse to society. And law enforcement needs continued support to fight the war.

In the absence of stigma (unlike heroin), tackling growing cocaine use takes more than just seizing the drug. We need to be clear that cocaine abuse really is a curse on society.

Enforce Random Drug Testing For Cocaine At Work

What the recent reports show is that no demographic, industry or profession is safe from illicit drug use. It is an unfortunate truth that many drug users in our country not only are affluent, but belong to the workforce.

Without knowing who among your employees use cocaine, how can you take action against growing drug dependency and maintain workplace safety?

This is where drug testing for cocaine comes in. Random drug testing has shown to be very effective in curbing employee drug use.

By making random drug testing part of your comprehensive drug safe workplace programme (along with cocaine awareness programme), you can deter your employees from using and the drug.

Drug-Safe Australia will help you develop the most effective drug policy and tailor it to meet your company’s needs.

Find out who among your employees is abusing cocaine — get in touch with us today.

Related Posts:

The Alarming Cocaine User Demographics in Sydney

Aussies Pay More For Cocaine

Smashed Trafficking Ring Highlights Size of Ice Problem In Australia

Setting New Drug Records

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[2]   ‘Sydney’s cocaine blizzard‘, 2011, by Meares, J. Score, Chop, Snort, in The Sydney Morning Herald, ^http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/score-chop-snort-sydneys-cocaine-blizzard-20111025-1mhpt.html  [Accessed 23 Feb. 2018].

[3]  ‘Snapshot of the Australian Cocaine User‘, 2011, by Mediscreen, ^https://www.mediscreen.net.au/snapshot-of-the-australian-cocaine-user/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018].

[18]  ‘Cocaine arrest sheds light on Tweddle’s fatal end‘, 2013-09-29, by Emma Partridge, Sydney Morning Herald, ^https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/cocaine-arrest-sheds-light-on-tweddles-fatal-end-20130928-2ul59.html

[20]  ‘Drug dealer linked to Gary Tweddle death sent to jail‘, 2014-12-10, by Emma Partridge, Western Advocate, ^https://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/2754733/drug-dealer-linked-to-gary-tweddle-death-sent-to-jail/, also ^https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/drug-dealer-linked-to-gary-tweddle-death-sent-to-jail-20141203-11zi3m.html

[27]  ‘Substance Use and Substance Use Disorder by Industry‘, 2015, [online],  Lipari, R. and Bush, D., Samhsa.gov. Available at:  ^https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report_1959/ShortReport-1959.html [Accessed 19 Feb. 2018].

[28]  ‘Sydney’s eastern suburbs house the nation’s top income earners‘, 2016, by Ong, T. , ABC News, ^http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-18/tax-office-report-shows-sydney-east-dominates-taxable-income/7258860 [Accessed 19 Feb. 2018].

[29]  ‘The Impact of Drug Abuse in the Construction Industry‘, 2016, by Confirm Biosciences, ^https://www.confirmbiosciences.com/knowledge/blog/industry-news-construction-industry-affected-drug-abuse/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2018].

[34]   ‘How can I tell if someone is using drugs?‘, Positive Choices (website), ^https://positivechoices.org.au/parents/how-can-i-tell-if-someone-is-using-drugs

[35]  ‘Cocaine withdrawal often has no visible physical symptoms, such as the vomiting and shaking that accompany withdrawal from heroin or alcohol‘, ^https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000947.htm

[36]  ‘Does Cocaine Cause Vertigo?‘, 2022-04-26, by Camille Renzoni, The Recovery Village, (medically Reviewed By Dr. Conor Sheehy, PharmD, BCPS, CACP), ^https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/cocaine-addiction/does-cocaine-cause-vertigo/

[37]  ‘Chronic, Heavy Cocaine Use Associated With Long-Lasting Impaired Function‘, 1999, Science Daily. “>“Chron[…] Function.” 1999. Accessed May 14, 2019.

[38]   ‘What are the long-term effects of cocaine use?‘, 2016, National Institute on Drug Abuse, by Guido R. Zanni.

[39]  ‘Vertigo: Is Your Patient’s Head Spinning?‘, Pharmacy Times, 2012. Accessed 14 May 2019.

[40]  ‘Australia the highest per capita cocaine user in the world‘, 2021-06-20, by Natalie Brown, News Corp, ^https://www.news.com.au/national/australia-the-highest-per-capita-cocaine-user-in-the-world/news-story/c91869d4e2b2adeef266917d82f705e0