Last man hanged: 50 years in Australia without an execution

[TomSea]

Last man hanged: 50 years in Australia without an execution

Ronald Ryan was the last man to hang in Australia
Fifty years ago, Australia carried out its final execution amid a swirl of protest and political pressure. But as Jamie Duncan reports, capital punishment remains firmly in the nation's consciousness despite the abolition of the death penalty.

Ronald Joseph Ryan was a robber with a long criminal record.

On 3 February 1967, Ryan was hanged for the murder of prison warder George Hodson as he escaped Pentridge Jail, in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg.

As the guards took turns to attend a staff room Christmas party on 19 December 1965, Ryan and accomplice Peter John Walker scaled a 5m (16ft) wall, with blankets attached to a hook.

They overpowered a guard, stole guns and forced the guard to open a gate.

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Many Australians wanted the Indonesians responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings executed

Continued: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38837092

[mountaineer]

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