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Authors: Alan Shadrake
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riots the detainees had earlier confronted Dutton and protested about the alleged discrimination shown in the release of certain detainees without regard to the period of their detention. Liew said, 'Mr Dutton replied to them: "If you were to help me, I would recommend your early release". By this time, I understand that Mr Dutton was asking them not to attack him. The detainees reacted by saying: "It's too late for us to help you'". He said Chan smashed the wooden roof and Sim set the building ablaze. Dutton collapsed when slashed with a parang by Chia and hacked with an axe by Lim. Liew also implicated several other accused men. When cross-examined by a defence counsel he denied that he had falsely identified all the accused named in his evidence because they belonged to a rival secret society. Earlier Liew said he had heard various views from the rioters on how to deal with Dutton. One suggestion was that he should be buried under the jetty. Another rioter opposing this said: 'Just kill him and set fire to him. There is no need to trouble ourselves further', Liew claimed.
With its sensational revelations, the trial made compulsive reading in newspapers all over Malaya, in Singapore's Straits Times and back in Britain. Readers followed the grim reports which were published under such garish headlines as 'Dutton Was In Flames When He Was Cut Down'. At the trial the Public Prosecutor, Francis Seow said Dutton had died a terrible death having 'blundered' by underestimating the size of the uprising which he said was a 'quite sizeable section' of the 316 detainees on the island that day were involved in the rioting.
While the horrors of the trial were related in court and published in newspapers across Malaya and Singapore, there was one man who had a special interest in the outcome of the case. Darshan Singh, then aged 30, had been in the job as chief executioner for the British only four years. Although he was by then quite experienced having been taught the textbook way of hanging, he did not know exactly how many he would be obliged to execute. Most observers guessed that only the ringleaders would get the death sentence, about six in all. So it came as a surprise to everyone - especially to the young prison officer Darshan Singh who was present in court throughout the trial - when he heard Mr Justice Buttrose deliver the sentences. The news to the general public came on the morning of Friday 13 March 1964 just after he had carried out two more executions in Changi Prison where the Isle of Ease prisoners were also being held. The front page headline in The Straits Times screamed: 'Senang Revolt: 18 To Hang'.
Although he would be provided with a team of assistants to control the men, shackle arms behind backs and legs together, then help lead them to the gallows, it was still an awesome responsibility for Darshan Singh. He must, according to the English Table of Drops, carry out the executions as quickly and humanely as possible. To ensure this the prisoner was dropped an exact measured length according to his or her weight and height and modified if required to take account of their physique and muscularity, especially the neck. The force of the drop combined with the position of the knot below their left ear was designed to cause instant unconsciousness, then rapid death. The prisoner is weighed prior to execution and the weight in pounds - less an allowance of 14 pounds for the head - divided into 1,020 to arrive at a drop in feet. It takes between half and three quarters of a second for the prisoner to reach the bottom of the drop, once the trap is sprung. A heavy person would require a short drop and a light person a longer drop according each individual weight. This method was also Britain's legacy and Darshan Singh was quick to ... er ... 'learn the ropes' - as he often quips - from the rule book. He says Seymour was not always careful enough when he carried out an execution and things often went wrong. He was the
With its sensational revelations, the trial made compulsive reading in newspapers all over Malaya, in Singapore's Straits Times and back in Britain. Readers followed the grim reports which were published under such garish headlines as 'Dutton Was In Flames When He Was Cut Down'. At the trial the Public Prosecutor, Francis Seow said Dutton had died a terrible death having 'blundered' by underestimating the size of the uprising which he said was a 'quite sizeable section' of the 316 detainees on the island that day were involved in the rioting.
While the horrors of the trial were related in court and published in newspapers across Malaya and Singapore, there was one man who had a special interest in the outcome of the case. Darshan Singh, then aged 30, had been in the job as chief executioner for the British only four years. Although he was by then quite experienced having been taught the textbook way of hanging, he did not know exactly how many he would be obliged to execute. Most observers guessed that only the ringleaders would get the death sentence, about six in all. So it came as a surprise to everyone - especially to the young prison officer Darshan Singh who was present in court throughout the trial - when he heard Mr Justice Buttrose deliver the sentences. The news to the general public came on the morning of Friday 13 March 1964 just after he had carried out two more executions in Changi Prison where the Isle of Ease prisoners were also being held. The front page headline in The Straits Times screamed: 'Senang Revolt: 18 To Hang'.
Although he would be provided with a team of assistants to control the men, shackle arms behind backs and legs together, then help lead them to the gallows, it was still an awesome responsibility for Darshan Singh. He must, according to the English Table of Drops, carry out the executions as quickly and humanely as possible. To ensure this the prisoner was dropped an exact measured length according to his or her weight and height and modified if required to take account of their physique and muscularity, especially the neck. The force of the drop combined with the position of the knot below their left ear was designed to cause instant unconsciousness, then rapid death. The prisoner is weighed prior to execution and the weight in pounds - less an allowance of 14 pounds for the head - divided into 1,020 to arrive at a drop in feet. It takes between half and three quarters of a second for the prisoner to reach the bottom of the drop, once the trap is sprung. A heavy person would require a short drop and a light person a longer drop according each individual weight. This method was also Britain's legacy and Darshan Singh was quick to ... er ... 'learn the ropes' - as he often quips - from the rule book. He says Seymour was not always careful enough when he carried out an execution and things often went wrong. He was the
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