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Abolishing the death penalty in Australia

Mar 08, 2017

I think it only fair to say at the outset that, to me, the death penalty is anathema. There are many arguments against it, legal, ethical and moral. I believe most are pertinent.

What aroused this was buying a January release, a book on the hanging of Ronald Ryan half a century ago on 3 February 1967. The book, Last Words by Barry Dickins, is quick reading despite the subject matter. It relates the story of the jailbreak by Ryan and his accomplice, Peter Walker, and the death of prison guard, George Hodson. The pair is caught in Sydney three weeks later then extradited to Melbourne to stand trial, Ryan found guilty of murder and Walker manslaughter.

The entire issue was conjectural at the time and remains so.

On scaling the bluestone walls of Melbourne’s Pentridge prison, Ryan stole a rifle from a guard.
While Walker hot-wired a tired old Simca Aronde as a getaway vehicle, shots were fired.
At the trial, a witness said he saw a puff of smoke come from the muzzle of Ryan’s weapon.
The carbine Ryan held was not a weapon that emitted smoke when fired, especially on a piercingly bright, piercingly hot December day.
According to investigating officers, Hodson was hit from above and behind, while Ryan was at ground level and to his front.
The only ones above and behind and able to inflict the mortal wounds were fellow guards. This may so: it was just a few days before Christmas. Prison staff had been celebrating with a few drinks; their aim may have been impaired, thus causing a partner’s death.

Why, then, impose the death penalty, especially in a case with questionable evidence? (The last hanging in Victoria had been fifteen years earlier, in 1951. Jean Lee and two male accomplices hanged for the robbery and murder of an elderly bookmaker ‘Pop’ Kent). It was opportunism, pure and simple. The government of the day was facing potential annihilation at the upcoming 1967 state election. Conservative governments are big on issues of ‘law and order’. Victorian Premier, Henry Bolte, saw this as a vehicle towards electoral salvation. Sad to say despite continuing protests, including an impassioned plea from Carol, Hodson’s daughter, Bolte proceeded; he correctly interpreted public sentiment, and his party was re-elected months later with an increased majority.

Another paradox related to which of the two escapees committed the more grievous crime: Ryan, who may or may not have killed a prison guard (something we will never know for certain) or Walker, who pitilessly murdered tow-truck operator Arthur Henderson by shooting him in the head while they were in a Middle Park toilet. Surprisingly, Walker was sentenced to a term of 19 years for manslaughter.

Petitions and protests and calls for clemency were to no avail, falling on deaf ears. Indeed, the Premier was so determined his law should go ahead he advised Her Majesty to not keep an appointment with Ryan’s lawyer. Phillip Opas, who flew all the way to London with an appeal, was left twiddling his thumbs and not granted the designated meeting. Later, just a day or two before the execution was to take place, prison chaplain Father John Brosnan travelled into Spring Street with the elderly Mrs Ryan. An 11:00am appointment with Bolte to discuss the case was also cancelled.

In the case of criminal enterprise, the taking of human life is frequently cold-blooded and certainly both callous and heinous. When done by the state, and for whatever reason, can it be considered any less so? No, in fact, it draws everyone from legislators all the way to those who pull the lever (press a trigger, squeeze a syringe, flick a switch) in to its performance. Take that argument far enough and it includes us, the electorate; we vote in the government of the day. So, then, instead of an act by one or a few, it effectively involves the entire community.

A number of well-known public figures were negatively affected, including a loudly protesting Clyde Holding, unceremoniously dumped into a black maria and carted off. Phillip Opas finished up almost certainly suffering what we now call PTSD. One other who became physically sick over the hanging was Barry Jones. To quote from Dickins’ book, “(He) fought to a standstill to save Ronald but it’s no use, and he just has to bear it.”

Thankfully, now, every Australian jurisdiction excludes the death penalty. I, as will most, heave a sigh of relief.