19
One notable opponent of the death penalty for Ryan was Victorian Supreme Court Judge Sir John Stark, who presided over the case. Despite his reservations about the prosecution and his personal opposition to capital punishment, he felt compelled to impose the mandatory death sentence for murder. This decision faced significant resistance, yet the then Premier of Victoria, Sir Henry Bolte, remained unmoved and did not reconsider the sentence, even after a previous execution had been halted just before it was to take place. Ryan’s impending execution sparked a nationwide dialogue on the ethics of capital punishment in Australia. Ultimately, this movement led to the abolition of the death penalty across all states and territories by 1985.