By Christopher J. Holcroft

On Thursday, 27th August 2009 Mark Holcroft died while being transported in a New South Wales Department of Corrective Services prison van to a minimum security jail.

Almost 70 years before Mark took his final breath, the last man to be legally hanged in the State met his fate for a vicious crime. Was he the last person in NSW to die by capital punishment or was it Mark?

Mark had been found guilty of drink driving offences and was on his way to begin his sentence on a prison farm - instead he died in the 'care' of the State.

Corrective Services never contacted the family about Mark's death. Police only made contact with Mark's surviving relatives after a State Government employee told them to 'go look for him.'

How was it the family knew graphically how Mark died long before Police evidence was made available? How did the family know the outcome of the subsequent Inquest almost a year before it took place?

Mark left a lasting legacy that prisoners throughout NSW toast daily. What pushed the Government to usher in a new cultural change throughout Corrective Services?

Hear My Roar! How The State Killed My Brother will be published in 2013.

   Hear the author Christopher J. Holcroft  read part of  Hear My Roar! How The State Killed My Brother

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