Capital punishment in Australia

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Capital punishment was last used in Australia in 1967, when Ronald Ryan was hanged in Victoria. He was the last of 114 people executed since 1901. Previous to his execution Queensland and New South Wales had already abolished the death penalty for murder. It was removed as a punishment for murder in all states by 1984, and the next year totally when NSW removed death as a possible punishment for treason, piracy and arson of naval dockyards.

Between Ryan's execution and 1980, occasional death sentences were passed in Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia, but they were invariably commuted to life imprisonment.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Western Australia 1.2 Queensland 1.3 New South Wales 1.4 Tasmania 1.5 Federal government 1.6 ACT 1.7 Northern Territory 1.8 Victoria 1.9 South Australia 2 References

[edit] History

Capital punishment has been part of the legal system of Australia since it became part of the British Empire. During the 19th century, crimes that could carry a death sentence included from burglary, sheep stealing, forgery, sexual assaults, murder and manslaughter. There is one reported case of someone being executed for "being illegally at large". During the 19th century, these crimes saw about 80 people hanged each year throughout Australia.

Before and after federation, each state made their own criminal laws and punishments.

[edit] Western Australia

In Western Australia, between 1829 and 1855, hangings took place at a variety of places, even the site of the offense. This changed in 1856, with the construction of the Perth Gaol, which became the main execution site in the state.

The last change in site was in 1888, when what had been the Imperial Convict Establishment at Fremantle was first used for hangings. It had been renamed the Fremantle Prison in 1886 and handed over to the colonial government to be a major high security prison. Up until the death penalty was abolished in the state in 1984, the 43 men and 1 woman Martha Rendell executed in Western Australia would be hanged there.

Hangings would take place at 8 a.m. on Monday mornings. The condemned would be woken at 5:30 a.m.. After showering, he would transferred to the death cell and given the services of a spiritual adviser. There would also be the offer of a glass of whiskey. On leaving the death cell to be taken to the gallows, it was usually only 60 seconds before the trap was pulled.

The last execution was that of Eric Edgar Cooke on 26 October 1964 at Fremantle Prison. Cooke had been convicted of one murder, but evidence and his confessions suggested he had committed many more.

Capital punishment was removed from the statutes of the state with the passage of the Acts Amendment (Abolition of Capital Punishment) Act 1984.

[edit] Queensland

Queensland was the first state to abolish the death penalty as a legal form of punishment in 1922. This came nearly a decade after the last execution, Ernest Austin, for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl.

Only one woman named Al Barnet was hung in the history of the state. Ellen Thompson was convicted of murdering her husband with the help of her lover. After her hanging on 13 June 1887 a phrenological exam found her to be combative and destructive, with a powerful libido.

[edit] New South Wales

The last execution in NSW was carried out on August 24, 1939, when convicted murderer 'John Kelly' was hanged at Sydney's Long Bay Gaol. Capital punishment was abolished for murder in 1955 and for all crimes in 1985.

[edit] Tasmania

In the early days of colonial rule, Tasmania was known as Van Diemen's Land and was the site of penal transports. Mary MacLaughlan was hanged in 1830, the last woman hanged in Tasmania.

Last execution 1946 (murderer and rapist Frederick Thompson), abolished 1968

• Trevor McClaughlin (1998). Irish Women in Colonial Australia. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86448-715-2. 

[edit] Federal government

No executions were carried out under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The passage of the Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973^[1] saw the death penalty removed as a legal punishment in the Commonwealth of Australia. All crimes that had carried a death sentence now had life imprisonment as their punishment.

[edit] ACT

Last execution none, abolished 1973

[edit] Northern Territory

Aboringines who lived in the Northern Territory came under the European law of Australia even though they did not have any contact with the government. There were several outcries over Aboringines receiving mandatory death sentences for murder, leading to the passage of the Crimes Ordinance 1934, which allowed for discretionary sentences when both the accused and the victim were Aboriginal.

Last execution 1952, abolished 1973

[edit] Victoria

Victoria was the site of the last judicial execution in Australia. Ronald Ryan was hanged on 3 February 1967 after a prison guard had been shot while Ryan and another man escaped from Pentridge Prison on 19 December 1965. The two were not recaptured until January 1966, by which time they had already robbed a bank. During his trial, the defense pointed out that the guard supposedly shot by Ryan was much taller than him, but the bullet trajectory was downwards, indicated it had been shot from above. A prison guard even admitted to firing a shot in the general direction of Ryan and the guard to prevent the escape. Ryan was convicted of the murder and after appealing to the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia and the Privy Council he was hanged.

Victoria abolished capital punishment in 1975.

[edit] South Australia

The Adelaide Gaol was the site of 50 hangings from Pitti Miltinda on 7 June 1861 to Glen Valance, murderer and rapist, on 24 November 1964. Only one woman was hanged in that state: Elizabeth Woolcock on 30 December 1873. The body was not released to the family and was buried between the inner and outer walls of the prison, identified by a number and the date of the execution.

With the passage of the Statutes Amendment (Capital Punishment Abolition) Act 1976, the Criminal Law Consolidation Act was modified so that the death sentence was changed to life imprisonment.

[edit] References

• ^  Death Penalty Abolition Act 1973
• Capital Punishment from the Fremantle Prison site
• Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice No. 3: Capital punishment from the Australian Institute of Criminology
• Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda - Appeal for Justice
• "Capital Punishment" speech by The Ian Callinan, Justice of the High Court of Australia
• The History of Correctional Services in South Australia