Closing Hell's GatesIn October 1827, nine convicts who had endured years of unimaginable cruelty at the hands of the system opted for 'state assisted' escape. Five terrified witnesses their hands and feet boundwere forced to watch as the chained convicts seized Constable George Rex and drowned him in the tannin stained waters of the harbour. When the sentence of death was pronounced upon them, the condemned prisoners uttered just one word in reply: Amen. For twelve long