Stories about convict labourers sabotaging the scaffold had subtle variations. In one account, the chaplain stood on a warped board in front of the prisoner which jammed the trapped doors. In another version, John Lee stood on a warped plank and his own weight prevented the trap-doors from opening. These revelations were said to have been the death-bed confession of an inmate who was a master joiner and had fixed the trap-doors for a joke!

Written by Mike Holgate

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