Robert David Bennett (12 September 1875 – 26 September 1932) was an Australian habitual criminal and sex offender. He was convicted of the rape of a young girl in Western Australia in 1911 and, despite receiving a life sentence for the crime, he was released in June 1914 under controversial circumstances. Bennett and another criminal named Angus Murray committed a series of offences in New South Wales and Victoria, culminating in an armed bank robbery in suburban Melbourne in 1917, for which each were sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Soon after his release from prison Bennett was again convicted of raping a young girl, a capital offence for which he received a death sentence. He was executed at Pentridge Prison in September 1932. Bennett was the first of eleven people to be hanged at Pentridge Prison after the closure of Melbourne Gaol in 1924.
Bennett was the last person to be executed in Australia for rape or for any crime other than murder.Russell Robinson, 'Dark fate for Squizzy's brutal sidekick', Herald Sun (Melbourne), 24 July 2012.
Biography
Early life
Robert David Bennett was born on 12 September 1875 at Hutchesontown in inner-city Glasgow, Scotland, the eldest child of David Bennett and Jane (née Borland). His father was a carpenter by profession.Family records (per Ancestry.com).
Bennett and his family emigrated to Australia aboard the Energia, arriving at Sydney on 4 June 1886.New South Wales, Unassisted Immigration Passenger Lists, 1826-1922 (per Ancestry.com).
Move to Midland Junction
Robert Bennett and Elizabeth Steele were married in 1897 at Fremantle, Western Australia.Western Australia marriage registration, Robert Bennett and Elizabeth Steele; reg. no.: 538, Fremantle, W.A.Of Tender Years, The Daily News (Perth), 15 March 1911, page 3. The couple had a daughter, Margaret, born in 1898 at Fremantle.Western Australia birth registration, Margaret Jane Bennett; reg. no.: 1296, Fremantle, W.A.
By 1905 Bennett and his family were living in the Midland Junction district near Perth, where Bennett worked as a painter.Sporting: Football: Australian Game, The Swan Express (Midland Junction, W.A.), 20 May 1905, page 2.Euchre Tournament, The Swan Express (Midland Junction, W.A.), 9 December 1905, page 2. He was the senior trainer of the Midland Junction Football Club in 1906 and 1907.Sporting: Football: Australian Game, The Swan Express (Midland Junction, W.A.), 29 March 1907, page 3. Bennett was also "well known in boxing circles" and managed local boxing matches at Midland Junction.State News, Western Mail (Perth), 4 February 1911, page 31.Boxing, The Swan Express (Midland Junction, W.A.), 9 December 1910, page 3.
Outrages at Midland
When Bennett was convicted of the sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl in March 1911, and following his controversial release from prison in June 1914, several instances of sexual assaults that preceded his 1911 conviction were reported in the press. It was stated that "there was strong presumption that he was guilty of tampering with little children on more than two or three other occasions" in the Midland Junction district.The Bennett Case, The West Australian (Perth), 30 July 1914, page 8. After Bennett's committal hearing the Midland Junction newspaper, The Swan Express, reported that "the present offence, the one committed three months ago, and a similar crime perpetrated about three years ago, all occurred within 100 yards of the Town Hall".The Hearing, The Swan Express (Midland Junction, W.A.), 3 February 1911, page 3. After a series of cases of interference with little children had occurred at Midland "the name of Bennett was so freely coupled with the outrages that to a large extent he was ostracised by his shop mates".An Outrage on Society, The Swan Express (Midland Junction, W.A.), 10 July 1914, page 5.
One case involving a young girl was considered to have been "far worse" than the case for which he was convicted in 1911.The Bennett Scandal, Sunday Times (Perth), 2 August 1914, page 4. In June 1910, as reported in The Swan Express, "a little girl nine years of age was attacked by a male fiend and abominably maltreated". The girl and her brother were passing through the grounds attached to the Church of the Ascension (near Midland Town Hall), "when a man approached and sent the boy away for some lollies". During his absence "the girl was savagely attacked by the miscreant". The police were unable to collect sufficient evidence to justify an arrest, but it was reported that it was "the settled conviction of the police that the inhuman perpetrator of the deed is a local resident".A Horrible Crime, The Swan Express (Midland Junction, W.A.), 1 July 1910, page 2. Statements in connection with the case were submitted to the authorities, but as the only witness against the perpetrator was child herself, the Crown Prosecutor decided it "would be useless to arrest Bennett, as, there being no corroboration, the jury could not possibly convict." Subsequent to above case, Bennett was caught trying to entice a child "away into a secluded spot" by the child's father. The father "gave Bennett a sound thrashing", and ordered him to leave Midland Junction. Bennett left for a brief period, but returned soon afterwards "to commit the revolting offence for which he was arrested."
Sexual assault of a minor
On the evening of Saturday, 28 January 1911, Bennett was observed to accost a young girl, aged 10 years, in the vicinity of the Town Hall at Midland Junction. His actions were witnessed by Walter Hodges, the local postmaster, whose bedroom overlooked the Town Hall.Criminal Court, The West Australian (Perth), 16 March 1911, page 3. As the child was passing Bennett called out to her, "Come in here, dear, and I'll give you sixpence". The child took no notice and continued on her way. Later, as she was returning home past the Town Hall, Bennett called out to her again. This time she stopped; he took her by the hand and, resting his other hand on her shoulder, led her in the direction of the lavatory in the church reserve near the Midland Town Hall. Seeing this occur, the postmaster immediately telephoned the nearby police station and Constable Walker hastened to attend. When he reached the reserve, Walker jumped the fence; as he approached the lavatory he heard the child "making a sound between a cry and a moan", followed by a man's voice saying, "Shut up, or I'll shoot you". The policeman pushed against the door but was only able to open it a little way. However, he saw enough to leave little doubt that the man "was trying to ravish" the young girl. Walker called out, "Get up, you dog", and pushed with renewed force against the door. Eventually he succeeded in gaining entry to the lavatory "and saw that Bennett was fully exposed". When the policeman seized hold of Bennett, he pleaded for mercy and asked "to be allowed to adjust his clothing", but Walker refused to allow it. During the scuffle the young girl ran away. Walker took Bennett to the gateway where he asked a passer-by to note his prisoner's undressed condition.Bennett's Beastliness to a Mentally Afflicted Child, Truth (Perth), 18 March 1911, page 9.A Horrible Crime, The Swan Express (Midland Junction, W.A.), 3 February 1911, page 3.
Later that evening a doctor examined the young girl and "found signs of interference". The doctor claimed the child was "mentally weak, and it was doubtful if she was in a mental state to distinguish right from wrong". Despite the medical assessment the young girl later gave evidence at Bennett's trial. A newspaper report of the trial noted that "the child is undoubtably afflicted mentally, but nevertheless she gave her evidence very well", adding that "even those used to daily attending courts of law, could hardly repress a shudder as the girl told her story in her simple way".
Bennett was tried on 14 and 15 March 1911 at the Criminal Sessions, charged with having had unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 13 years. After the witnesses for the prosecution gave their evidence, Bennett took the stand. He stated he was a painter and in about 1898 he had a serious accident when a block of wood fell on his head. Subsequently, he underwent seven separate operations "for various bodily troubles". On the day of the offense he claimed to have "taken a quantity of drink" and could not remember what he had done. A doctor giving evidence for the defence stated he had examined the accused and concluded Bennett was insane "due to a thickening of the skull, contributing causes being the large number of operations performed upon him". The judge, in summing up, gave special instructions to the jury on how to regard the evidence regarding the defence of insanity. After retiring for twenty minutes the jury returned a verdict of guilty "on the full count". Bennett was remanded until later in the week for sentencing.
Bennett was sentenced on March 17. In passing sentence the judge, Justice Robert McMillan, commented that the prisoner was "guilty of a horrible offence" and was "not a person who ought to be at large". He passed "the maximum punishment possible", that of imprisonment for life with hard labour. Justice McMillan then added that he was required by law to pass a further punishment under a recent Act of Parliament called the Criminal Code Amendment Act. Bennett had committed an offence under section 185 of the Criminal Code for which the Act required the judge to pass an additional sentence of whipping. Justice McMillan described this as "a repulsive obligation" as he was sure a flogging would tend to increase Bennett's "mental infirmity". However, the law allowed the judge to use his discretion. McMillan had looked through the records for the past 10 years and nine strokes of the cat-o'-nine-tails had been the minimum sentence he could find, so the judge directed that in this case the number of strokes should be limited to nine. Bennett listened to the sentencing in silence, "and at the close of his Honour's address had to be assisted out of the dock".A Horrible Crime Terribly Punished, West Australian (Perth), 18 March 1911, page 6.
In 1913 Elizabeth and Robert Bennett were divorced.Elizabeth Bennett v Robert Bennett, Divorce Files: Item 1913/0022, State Records Office of Western Australia. It was disclosed in a later newspaper report that "Bennett's wife sued him for divorce on the ground of his adultery" with the young girl he had sexually assaulted in January 1911, "and relied on practically the same evidence submitted at the criminal trial".
While he was imprisoned in Fremantle Gaol, Bennett met another prisoner named Henry James Donnelly (alias Angus Murray), with whom he was to maintain a close relationship in the years ahead. Donnelly had been convicted in Perth in April 1909 on a burglary charge, receiving a sentence of seven years' hard labour.The Murray-street Burglary, The West Australian (Perth), 24 April 1909, page 3. Donnelly was discharged from prison in February 1914. Within four months Bennett was also released from prison.
Controversial release