EXECUTION IN SIDNEY.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 221, 19 September 1888, Page 5

EXECUTION IN SIDNEY.

Robert Hewart was executed at Darlinghurst Goal at 9.10 a.m. on September 1 Ith. The mutilation of Thomas' Park, which took place in one of the cells of the central Police Court on the afternoon of May 25 last, was the crime, for which Hewart; forfeited his life, and seeing-that the concurrence of opinion as to his sanity is unanimous on the part of all who have seen him since his arrest it will stand out) as one of the most inexplicable deedg of senseless cruelty perpetrated dm. ing these later years of the colony _ history." Canon Rich (gaol chaplain) attended assiduously upbn the prisoner to the very last, and* Mr Bowmaker, city missionary, .also afforded tim spiritual consolation in his extremity and followed him to the scaffold. The history; of the -man shows that he was a sailor," a native of the county of Durham, arid Hhat for the last seven years, he .had been' ; em* .ployed in the, intercolonial'trade as asea. man. In spite of all warningtothe contrary, ■*,he lentertained-a*;livelyihope of reprieve until the morning 6£ the execution^ when he fairly faced his approaching fate and met death with mingled sensibility 'and courage. Though very pale, he bore himself firmly inthe dread processionthrough the corridors and gallery leading to the scaffold, which he reached without assistance^ as Canon Rich -recitedl in aloud voice the last solemn words of the burial service. Standing beneath the bean-, HewarC aßked those standing hear him to wipe the tears from;, his eyes, as his arms . were pinioned, and upon this being done he gazed upon the officials arid reporter for the press in the yard below, carried his eyes on to the eight or nine spectators beyond tlie palings, and then devoted .his attention to .those standing around him. Shaking hands with the two clergymen and those of the warders that he knew, he uttered with coherence, but in a; low and agitated voice, several. sentences, which were "only imperfectly'audible' in the yard, below. ''1 hope the Lord wiir forgive me; I am not deserving this death, but the, jf.ord : will sayo'1 my soul." Then recognising;,,.... Dr. Maurice O'Connor (the jgaol Burgeon), who was standing below, he called out "Good-bye, doctor." After a pause he added, " May the Lord have mercy on me j I have written as statement;, allwill see it; after my death it W-^V be made,: public." In a trembling voice he added, ■ ' VOood ■: bye ;; good - bye to C.all ;;that V know me and. V give them my. best ; respects." He did not shrink when ' the cap was .placed over his head, and fortunately stood perfectly still,during the .* five or six seconds in which the assistant hangman was neglecting hiß.duty of pulling'tihe lever. Finding the man incap* able of understanding the Bignal to - draw the bolt, the (Nosey Bob) oried, " Let go 1" in a loud voice. Still the assistant hesitated, and bad the Erisoner struggled*or fainted a scene of orror might have resulted. Ac it was, » the hangman rushed to the lever with an oath, and instantaneous; death followed upon the more than usually i long drop of 8 feet. The condehihbd man did not move a ilimb, and there ■; can be no doubt thiat the sentence of the law was mercifully , carried out. The body was cut down at half-past 9 'o'clock and conveyed to the morgue, where the Coroher's jury, consist- , ingof six prisoners and six free men, brought in the usual verdict*. The - prisoner's statement is a positive assertion ctf,J^,inne* cence.