Death Cell at Darlinghurst

The arrest in 1895 of George Dean, one of the most popular of the famous Sydney lifesavers, for the attempted killing by poison of his attractive young wife created a sensation. When he was found guilty and received the then mandatory death sentence, a storm of protest swept through New South Wales. His counsel, Richard Meagher, led a campaign for the appointment of a Royal Commission which eventually reported by a majority that Dean had been wrongly convicted. This led to his pardon.But Meagher had known all along from Dean himself that Dean was guilty; and, when the facts of his death cell confession to Meagher came out, both men were charged with conspiracy and Dean with perjury.The extraordinary events which followed form the basis of this well-documented story which has no parallel in legal and political annals. The author, a retired Supreme Court Judge, has written this full account of an astonishing drama which convulsed the N.S.W. Parliament and legal profession and which made and broke reputations.