Ronald Ryan
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Ronald Joseph Ryan (c. 21 February 1926 - 3 February 1967) was the last man to be legally executed in Australia.
He was a forestry worker, champion cyclist and small-time criminal with no recorded history of violence. His social standing improved when he married the daughter of the Mayor of the middle class suburb of Hawthorn, with whom he had three daughters. He was sent to prison in 1964 for shop-breaking and weapons offences with a 13 year sentence.
On 19 December 1965, Ronald Ryan and fellow prisoner Peter Walker escaped from Pentridge Prison. Prison guard George Hodson was killed during the escape, after Ryan overpowered a guard and took his rifle. Forensic evidence later indicated that the fatal bullet entered Hodson's body at such an angle, that Ryan would have had to have been 12 feet above where he was, when Hodson was shot. He was standing on the footpath outside the main gate of Pentridge, trying to stop a car in which to escape. There was, however, one guard at that angle high above on the perimeter wall. Twelve months later, the guard took his own life.
At the time, Victorian law included a felony murder rule so whether Ryan actually did or did not fire the weapon that killed the warder was legally irrelevant.
Ryan and Walker were captured in Sydney after 19 days on the run, and extradited back to Melbourne. Walker was charged with Manslaughter for the pre-meditated execution style shooting of an accomplice and Ryan was charged with the murder of Hodson. He was found guilty, convicted and sentenced to death.
Philip Opas QC, Ryan's counsel, has said that the 12-man jury may have thought that the death sentence would be commuted as had happened in the previous 36 death penalties since 1951. According to one jury member's later account of the discussions in the jury room, not one member of the jury thought that Ryan would be executed. They were so sure that the death sentence would be commuted to life imprisonment, that they did not even discuss the manslaughter angle. When it became apparent that Bolte intended to proceed with the execution, eleven jury members sent a letter to the governor-in-council, stating that in reaching their verdict, they had believed that capital punishment had been abolished in Victoria and requesting that the sentence be commuted.
Last legal execution in Australia
18,000 people took to the streets in protest against the death sentence and 15,000 people signed a petition against the hanging. Appeals even came from seven of the jurors regarding the severity of the sentence. Despite this and an appeal to the Privy Council, Premier Henry Bolte (later Sir Henry) refused to commute his death sentence. Bolte's comments in public and private records show his obsession to set an example of Ryan and show that the "authority" must prevail. Bolte announced that: "There is no possibility of the decision to hang Ryan being reversed. It is quite definite and final".
Ryan was hanged at Pentridge Prison at 8 a.m. on Friday 3 February 1967. He was almost 41 years old.
The hanging produced much protest in Australia. At the time of Ryan's execution the Australian Broadcasting Corporation suspended broadcasts of Radio for two minutes in protest. There was doubt about Ryan's guilt in Hodson's death, and shock to find that the death penalty would still be carried out. It is often claimed that the execution was used by then Premier of Victoria Henry Bolte (Liberal Party of Australia) for political gain. At the next State Election, Bolte's government was returned to power, with an increased majority, but no more death sentences were carried out.
References
- The Last Man Hanged (The Documentary Film on Ronald Ryan - Guilty or Innocent?) [Bill Bennett - released 1993 by Ronin Films]
- Who Hung Ronald Ryan? (A Documentary Film on The Execution of Ronald Ryan [Australian Broadcasting Corporation - released 1987]
- The Last Of The Ryans (A movie based on the story of Ronald Ryan) [Richard Brennan - released 1997]
- Hanging of Ronald Ryan (A Book on Capital Punishment and The Victorian Community) [Bernard and Deirdre Slattery - released 1994]
- Remember Ronald Ryan (A play based on the story of Ronald Ryan) [Barry Dickins - released 1994]
- Guts and Pity (The Hanging that ended Capital Punishment in Australia) [Barry Dickins - released 1996]
- Odd Man Out (The Life and Death Story of Ronald Ryan) [David Lowe - released 1993]
- The Hanged Man (The Life and Death of Ronald Ryan) Mike Richards, [ISBN 0908011946]
External links
- [Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty (The story of Ronald Ryan - Last Man Hanged in Australia)]
- [Ronin Films (The Last Man Hanged)]
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