The George Witton Petition and What Public Opinion Is Now About Pardon For Breaker Morant!

A Plea for George Witton

In 1902, Lieutenants Morant, Handcock and Witton were tried by British courts martial.

On 21 December 1901, Morant, Hancock and Witton, were charged with offences that occurred between 2 July and 7 September 1901.

Morant and Handcock were sentenced to be executed;

 Witton was sentenced to be executed, but his sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life.

Release of Witton.  Witton’s case was reviewed by Isaac Isaacs KC, MP in 1902 (destined to become Chief Justice and Governor General). This review led to a storm of protest from Australians and representations from the Australian, South African Governments and British politicians, including Winston Churchill for Witton’s release. Finally, a petition signed by 80,000 Australians supported a petition for mercy sent to King Edward VII.  On 11 August 1904, Witton was released from prison and returned to Australia.

The consideration in 2010 of the petitions seeking pardons for Morant, Handcock and Witton, should be guided by the eminent opinions of Isaac Isaacs.    There is a need to finally address the matters identified by Isaacs – procedural fairness, respect for the rule of law, appropriate sentences commensurate to the circumstances and degree of criminality. 

The existence of the Witton petiton must send a very strong message to the British government as it discusses the principles that support pardons for the accused.

In 2010, public opinion is again at work, sending clear , message to government that after 108 years, the public in Australia and else where expects a review of the case for pardons.

Australians have long believed that Morant, Handcock and Witton were the victims of “rough justice”, a sentiment supported by 80% of respondents to a 2009 newspaper poll in Melbourne’s The Age newspaper.

The 60 minutes program, ‘Justice Denied’  aired on 5 July 2010 generated considerable public discussion about the case for pardons.

• The on line poll returned a 62% vote in favour of pardons:
• The telephone / SMS survey conducted by 60 minutes returned an 82% vote in favour of pardons;

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Web Site:  www.breakermorant.com reveals:

• an online poll  has a vote of  72 % in favour of pardons
• the on line petition at, http://www.gopetition.com.au/ has recorded 256 signatures in favour of pardons for Morant, Handcock and Witton

The voting trend will continue until pardons are secured and justice delivered after so many years of denial.  The convictions and sentences in this case were flawed, the men denied fair trials according to law and the public expects the miscarriage of justice to be addressed.  The time for more debate by historians must cease and an inquiry to determine the facts of the case must be convened to settle the public doubt over the lawfulness of the arrest, investigation, trial and sentencing of these men.

In addition to the views of the public, the Australian Parliament has spoken,  The Petitions Committee that convened a hearing on 15 March 2010 is continuing to represent the interests of the Australian electorate by pressuring the British government to conduct a fair and transparent hearing into the petition sent to the Queen.  One of the members of the Committee, Mr Alex Hawke, appeared before Parliament on 15 March after the hearing had  finished and reported to the Parliament. Some of his comments as reported in Hansard included:

 ‘ I think in an examination of this issue the current debate regarding a pardon for Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant, Peter Hancock and George Witton stirs passion amongst many Australians one way or the other, throughout our community and my community of Mitchell. There is in my view serious and compelling evidence that some form of redress should be given all these years later to those men executed by the British.’

And finally, from the words of Major Thomas, the officer who defended the men at courts martial has been an inspiration to seek justice.  My motivation is to achieve what Thomas couldn’t.  In March 1902, the Bathurst National Advertiser newspaper published a letter that was written by Major James Thomas to George Witton’s father. The letter contains intriguing insight in to the opinion of Thomas about the manner in which his clients had been treated.  The letter stated in part:

 ‘Your son has been sent a prisoner to England and I think it will be  wise to defer any active steps concerning him till the Australian government is in possession of the facts. The defence maintained was that under the customs of war the shooting of these Boers was allowable as they were merely running bandits or marauders. It was proved that in other cases exactly the same procedure was adopted and approved of by other officers. Consequently, you will see that from a soldiers’ point of view at any rate the crime was not so dreadful as might appear. I only regret that poor Morant and Handcock did not receive a sentence of penal servitude, but poor fellows they were shot at 18 hours notice. As counsel for your son and the other officers I should like to see that all the facts from the prisoners’ point of view are fairly brought forward.’

In Thomas’ words, it is time for the facts to be ‘brought forward’!

Copyright © James Unkles 2010