Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the execution of Ronald Ryan. Just before 8 o’clock on the morning of February 3, 1967, Ryan declined a sedative but took a sip of whisky and walked calmly to the gallows trapdoor at Pentridge Prison.
Ryan addressed his executioner directly, “God bless you, please make it quick.”
Ryan’s supporters and opponents of the death penalty observed a three-minute silence. Protesters assembled outside Pentridge Prison in vigil.
The circumstances of his death at the hands of the state have led to great myth-making about Ryan. He has been variously painted as a bit of a larrikin, driven to crime by circumstance and little worse than a kite flyer (passer of bad cheques).
The truth is he was a career criminal and his crimes before his penultimate arrest, included what we would call today aggravated burglary and robbery in company.
His arresting officer on that occasion was Bryan Harding. I’ve known Harding for many years. He was an outstanding police officer and at various times headed up the Fraud and Homicide squads in Victoria. Harding is retired and now in his 80s; he remembers Ryan as a hardened criminal who showed little or no remorse for his crimes and gave nothing away under questioning.
Full column here.
I can only go on my experience of being brought up in the U.K in regard to the death penalty, the hangings of Timothy Evans in 1950, Derek Bentley 1953 and Ruth Ellis in 1955 had left a bad taste in the mouth for many. It took until 1965 to abolish the death penalty for murder but I don’t think it was removed from the statute books until the late nineties.
As I get nearer to the end myself I find I am much more sanguine about capital punishment than I was in my youth. Now I’d make an exception for terrorism (and those with no understanding of punctuation).
Ruth Ellis. I have read a couple of books about her. Its a horrible thing to mention but the British executioners had discovered that hanging women with the long drop method could have the horrific effect of spilling organs from – there is no way to make this sound any better that it was – a lower orifice. As a result female prisoners were forced to wear a large diaper for their hangings. Female prisoners were often drugged heavily as well, at least in the modern era. Prior to that the practice at Tyburn was to push people off the back of a cart (the suspension/strangulation method) – giving rise to the phrase “to be turned off”. Incidentally, the bailiffs and religious ministers who attended death penalty prisoners during the day before and the day of their executions were required to keep extensive notes. As a result hundreds of years of first hand accounts of hangings in london (and the events immediately before and after these executions) is available for reading, if anyone is interested. I have read some of these records and i think some are available on the internet now. They make grim reading, especially because the crimes involved are often, to our modern conception, trivial.
On another note it’s surprising that Ryan gave nothing away ‘under questioning’ in that era!
What technique would you guys have used Guv’nor?
Wasn’t around then JB.
Phone book. waste paper basket. I did some work for the police union when I was an articled clerk. I couldnt work out whether they were joking about that stuff.
Great story Jack, by carbon dating I was thirteen at the time of Ryan’s execution, and being dragged up a Catholic boy it had a major impact on me.
This was only 3 years after the last hanging in WA, when Eric Edgar Cook went to the gallows after conviction for eight murders of young women, with whom he had had his way. Police recon there were more unsolved, and he single handedly had sleepy old Perth in a state of panic. My cousin by marriage, an Irish copper, couldn’t wait to get his hands on him but was never part of the final sting.
So the question begs, at what point does society say we are above the brutality the crims display, and by some strict rationale say off with his/her head?
Sure the coppers were often complicit fifty years ago, but with recent abhorrent murders I can’t get away from thinking the death penalty really does have its place. Bryant’s murderous effort at Port Phillip is a case in point. We pay around $500k a year to keep the mad bastard in divine isolation.
Lou and JTI, I remember this vividly as my parents discussed Ryan and Walker late at night thinking I wasn’t listening. My father who was born in inner Sydney and brought up in Parammatta in an Irish Catholic family hated Bolte and didn’t believe that Ryan should hang. My mother, whose parents both came out from England and whose father was a Church of England minister ( he was defrocked later but that’s another story) loved Bolte and believed Ryan should face the death penalty. Their arguments were quite funny because they had to be whispered so that (they thought) we couldn’t hear what was going on. I still can’t support the death penalty, but can see where you are coming from Lou o TOD.
On another matter if I can just quickly say that I am horrified that Donald Trump hung up on Malcom Turnbull and behaved in such a boorish manner. I don’t suffer from depression thankfully, but my mood over the last few weeks has definitely been dark when I read what is going on in Trump’s America and I despair about what is going to happen to Muslim colleagues working at the various Universities in the US.
There was definitely a sectarian split over Ryan’s execution, Penny. The RC Church took a dim view of it and the execution brought more pressure on the old Australian religious fault lines.
Apparently Bryant has attempted suicide more than once since the massacre.
There were many who thought that life imprisonment was a more fitting punishment than the quick release execution would have provided for him. Let him stew over what he has done for the rest of his was the emotion. Today he sits in isolation under constant surveillance, probably completely crazy. Hardly ever utters a word. And costing the taxpayer a lot of money. He probably gets treated badly.
I’m not sure how I would feel about that if I were a relative of one of the innocent people slaughtered at Port Arthur – or perhaps the mother of a three month old baby who was murdered in the Bourke Street mall the other day.
I think I would want my pound of flesh. I am certain I couldn’t live with myself carrying that burden of grief. I remember reading of a case in Germany, I think it was, many years ago, where the mother of a murdered daughter pulled out a gun and shot the accused right there in the courtroom. I could relate to her grief and empathise.
It’s a thorny one for sure.
Shakespeare was eloquent ; ”the quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven”.
Lou, above, raises the question – at what point does murder become unacceptable/unbearable. I don’t think one can classify the degree of murder. But I do think then that murder deserves life imprisonment. It worries me when convicted murderers emerge from prison – it must be diabolical for the victims of that crime who lost a loved one.
ADX Florence in Colorado is full of them. Given who they are, I don’t really spend a lot of time worrying over it.
Where in god’s name did I get Port Phillip from? Anyway, you knew I meant Port Arthur.
Oh, you meant Arthur? Bummer, we already hanged Phillip.
Lou O tod. Just a correction – Eric Cook was a murderer but he was not, as far as I can recall, a rapist. One of his murders was carried out by running a young girl down with a car. That was one of two of Cook’s murders that resulted in wrongful convictions and two innocent men jalied for many decades before being exonerated. It’s now known that Cook had confessed to both of those murders. If he hadnt been hanged those wrongful convictions would probably never have occurred.
Anyone interested should read Robert Drewe’s fantastic book, The Shark Net, which covers these events in Perth at the time. There is a miniseries based on the book but the book is far better, Anyone from Perth should read that.
Well to be specific Darren, he murdered five women and three men, all with different MO’s which confused the cops.
However in one case he did actually have sex with the corpse, enough said. He also fessed up to no less than 14 attempted murders. However he was also an intrepid peeping Tom, and this alone scared the women of Perth no end.
He confessed to the murders of Jillian Brewer and Rosemary Anderson the day before his execution, swearing on the bible. Not sure of your timing, as the wrongful convictions had occurred well before he fessed up. The retrial of Darren Beamish was a saga in Perth.
Interesting that lawyers wanted to pursue the arguement that he was not guilty due to insanity, but Cook refused, saying he deserved to die for his crimes.
I well remember my cousin, well armed, on permanent night patrol, who would drop in on the family just to make sure we were all right. It truly was a city under siege.
Seems we’re the same vintage Lou. I remember the whole episode being a big deal. The main memory though was my Dad’s comment that Ryan would ‘happily kill’ any of the protesters outside the gaol the day he was hanged, if it meant that he could get away. But the whole world’s black and white to my Dad. He still thinks there no such thing as a crooked cop.
I’d be interested to know how many death sentences we were carrying out during those times and whom proposed it (the jury, the prosecution, the judge or whatever)? And which cases would most likely attract it? Certainly killing a cop or a prison warden would demand stiff action.
A death sentence for the murder of a police officer or proson guard but these were almost invariably commuted by the courts and/or govt. The history of this is pretty clear. Premier Bolte was keen to see Ryan hang for political puposes and admitted as much later.
punishments were prescribed in the relevant state’s criminal code, Milton. Every state in Australia has a criminal code initially copied from the “model” criminal cod of QLD, now heavily amended over the years. Smaller offences are dealt with in the various Police Acts (its here you find the fun stuff: like the illegality of firing cannons after sunset and flying kites near airfields).
Appeal Courts wouldnt have the power to amend those sentences unless the relevant version of the criminal code specified alternative punishments for the offence, which I think some (and probably all) did by the time the death penalty was abolished in each state. Other than that the government was the only party that could commute a sentence.
that would be every State except New South wales, Victoria and South Australia that haven’t codified the criminal law. Only WA, Qld and Tassie (and I think NT and ACT) have codes Darren.
Correct.
What a fascinating interesting read your column is Mr Insider, as you say you were 4yo and I just 17yo but do remember the Ryan hanging clearly as it drew so much press in the day. Interesting as you say how Sydney crim McPherson became involved as a Police snitch but as you further say he was always like this. What can one say about the Death Penalty that hasn’t been said. I personally don’t have the stomach for it then again I haven’t been on the receiving end of any terrible crime. Certainly some desperados in my day deserved the noose, like Alan Baker and Kevin Crumb who brutalised and murdered Virginia Morse, to name just two.
Dismal you keep gobbing off about satellites required for 5G
Suggest you read carefully the following links that should put you on the right track
First one is a clash in the spectra of 5G and satellite comms
http://advanced-television.com/2016/07/15/satellite-concerns-over-5g-decision-in-us/
#2 is a proposed system by Boeing that will be in direct competition to terrestrial 5G
Either system will doom NBN
Sigh. Selective comprehension eh robin.
https://www.esoa.net/cms-data/positions/5G%20infographic%20final.pdf
DOUBLE sigh dismal.
They are talking about the spectra available for 5G which may clash with satellite comms.
Your comprehension of anything outside of left wing false news opinion pieces is abysmal
From that link there is no mention of 5G being a satellite system
I cut and paste what they said on that site so you can perhaps comprehend something, i know it is a big ask but read it and not just imagine things that you agree with.
http://www.esoa.net
Sustainable & Viable Spectrum Access for all components of the 5G ecosystem
5G will require large blocks
of contiguous spectrum,
not available in frequencies
below 31GHz
5G will require > 1GHz per carrier
on a globally harmonised basis
Above 31GHz
significant
bandwidth already allocated to
mobile could accommodate 5G
The best opportunity for 5G lies in bands
above 31GHz
,
subject to sharing studies with other services
The 5G ecosystem cannot be accommodated in new bands
identified for IMT below 31GHz
Triple sigh
5 G will be a cellular system operating from cellular towers .
Satellites will be buzzing above our heads not transmitting 5G to us but transferring data like they do now with4G
After all that you were parroting what was in the link posted. I am glad to see you agree with me. I will let your abuse pass this time. Next time old girl Will be different. So again I am glad you now agree 5G uses satellites.
Apologies to go off topic momentarily Jack. Just tailing off on a thread from previous:
Driving home in the traffic (yes, can you believe it, Hobart has traffic these days!), was listening to Turnbull stammering his way through an interview after the Trump tweet.
I actually felt sorry for him. This is unprecedented stuff. Of course the shadow Immigration minister, who was also on RN Drive, was being highly critical of Turnbull whilst simultaneously saying they supported the refugee deal.!
With all due respects, I doubt very much if our Bill would have handled Trump any better – probably more disastrously I’d say.
The tragedy is the refugees stuck in the middle of it all. Turnbull is now in no man’s land – and it could be disastrous for him politically. A no win all round. If he backs down and allows the detainees in here he’s done for. The right wingers will go beserk and that’s the end of him. Not sure what it will do to Shorten either. What a CUFU one might say. And this is just the beginning of Trump’s tenure.
Don’t feel sorry for Turnbull Yvonne he’s created his own mess and it began the day he deposed Abbott. He looked like a deer in the headlights last night with Stan Grant on the ABC, a complete dill.
Hey, forget Dill Shorten. Hold your breath for a sec and can imagine the spray Trump would have got from Keating if he had been on the other end of the phone line…AAAARRRRKKK.
Then again, Keating would not lower himself to ask another country to do our dirty work for us. On the other hand I guess Turnbull should be grateful Trump didn’t threaten to nuke us.
Get away with you! Keating was all over the Queen like devils, or angels, on horseback. Keating also followed the Reagan, Thatcher economic models like a shadow. I’m sure Trump would have enjoyed a chat with Abbott far more than the husk Turnbull. Abbott said he’d turn around the boats and he did. He walked the talk, saving God knows how many lives and then went on to remove the thousands of children in detention that, whilst none at the end of Howard’s tenure, had risen exponentially under the failed Rudd, Gillard, Rudd tenure.
It is somewhat perverse, and passing strange, how the Left not only loves a victim but defy common sense in creating so many of them. The hand that rocks the cradle…..?
one word for that myth mate..
MAHATHIR.
keating couldn’t roll quick enough
Interesting comment on the dodger being recruited early JTI. I spoke some years ago with a partner of Rogers in the early days the late Arne Tee’s. We were doing a job together. Arnee was adamant that Roger only became corrupt later in his Service. Arne stated Roger had an old fibro house in Bankstown and was struggling financially. He said Roger just got sick and tired of kicking in the doors of crooks in good houses and with plenty to spend while has was going back every afternoon to that little house. He then turned.
I don’t know if this was true or not but old Arne had no reason to lie to me.
There were a few concerns about Tees, too. It was Aarne by the way. Called Arnie in the force. Roger himself told me he was out with Kelly investigating the murder of Robert ‘Pretty Boy’ Walker. That was 1963. McPherson and Stan Smith were the killers and both had substantial motive and opportunity. Smith had been shot by Walker a fortnight earlier though suffered only minor injuries. I don’t think they were even spoken to.
Sorry about the spelling of the first name but it was a long time ago 1989 in fact. I liked Aarnie and he never did anything that I saw that wasn’t 100% above board and I spent a lot of time with him and the other Detectives from Sydney who were working on our joint job. Our dearly departed mutual acquaintance RJD always spoke well of him.
He was listed as a person of interest in the murder of Chris Flannery but denied any involvement and was said to be furious about it. Tees became a barrister after leaving the force and was a good one apparently. He died suddenly in 2002 of a heart attack is my memory of the cause of death. The last item on this link describes the colourful attendees at his funeral:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/13/1039656220829.html
I am STILL waiting for Rent O Kill’s wife to talk/be interviewed or his kids. I am sure they know a lot.
She might but not the kids. They were too young. She accused all and sundry at the time but clearly had no solid evidence. Last I heard of Kath she was renting out cars in FNQ.
He certainly did die of a sudden heart attack. He got his law degree while a working Detective Sergeant at the Homicide Squad. No mean feat. I didn’t attend his funeral as I had a trial from memory. Detectives and crooks build interesting relationships with not all being corrupt. The trick is to know the boundaries. We must have that beer and a yarn one day JTI. I’m sure we could tell each other a few very interesting stories.
By gosh, the contentious issue of the death penalty!!
Obviously no honour amongst thieves up in cockroach country. I dips me lid to the Mexicans (well the old school ones – keeping business in house and the family and us square heads out of it).
JTI,
In a previous life I had an opportunity to interview Philip Opas the Barrister who defended Ryan. The subject was not about Ryan but in the course of the interview Opas made it very clear that he believed the conviction was legally ‘unsafe’ and that Bolte, for political purposes, was intent on hanging Ryan and quickly.
The link provides access to Opas’ Oral History done for the Victorian Bar (not my interviews).
http://oralhistory.vicbar.com.au/opas_transcript_edit9.asp
There is no doubt Bolte pursued the death penalty for political purposes. He said as much in an off the record with journos years later.