Footage of the crowd of protesters outside Pentridge Prison on the day of Ronald Ryan’s execution, 3 February 1967.

In a dramatic re-creation Ronald Ryan (played by Colin Friels) is hanged in Pentridge prison. Radio journalist Brian Morley recalls being a witness to the hanging.

This excerpt features part of a press conference with Mrs Ryan, Ronald’s mother, who was being cared for by nuns.

When Ronald Ryan was sentenced to death in 1966, it sparked debate across the community with politicians and religious authorities making statements for and against capital punishment.

Ronald Ryan was the last man hanged in Australia. Narration and black-and-white stills tell the story of his upbringing and early life.

Father John Brosnan, priest to hanged man Ronald Ryan, compares the Ryan hanging to that of Ned Kelly in that both were political.