Being just old enough to remember the furore over the execution of Ronald Ryan, the last person to be hanged in this country, in 1967 I have always had strong views on the death penalty.

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Ryan, for those who came in late, was a petty crook with a gambling addiction who was in Melbourne's notorious Pentridge Prison in 1965. He took part in a successful escape attempt which resulted in the fatal shooting of George Hodson, a prison guard.

Despite conflicting witness statements over who had actually fired the deadly shot, Ryan was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

Appeals for clemency by the clergy, in newspaper editorials and even by members of the jury were to no avail. The then Victorian premier Sir Henry Bolte, a strong law and order advocate, had an election coming up.

Ryan was hanged on February 3, 1967, and Bolte went on to win his election convincingly on April 29. My schoolboy memories of the event - we debated the rights and wrongs of the matter in the morals class - resurfaced following the botched execution of Christa Pike by the state of Tennessee on September 30.

Regardless of what one may think of the hideous crime she was convicted of, what happened to Pike was unconscionable. After 30 years in custody, most of it on death row, the execution squad spent more than an hour trying to find a suitable vein to insert the needle.

This possibility had been raised well in advance by Pike's legal team but the state went ahead anyway. Forget what you saw in Dead Man Walking; this was a train wreck from start to finish. Even after a blood vessel was found and two supposedly fatal doses of pentobarbital were administered, Pike did not die.

After she went into a coma the decision was belatedly made to attempt to save her; presumably so the state could have another crack later on. Days later, when Pike woke from her coma, she was "angry and confused," her attorneys said.

I suspect that might be one of the greatest........

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