Effects Of Richard Parker Trial On The Brooks

An English yacht with a group of four men; Tom Dudley, Edwin Stephens, Edmund Brooks, and Richard Parker sails from Southhampton to Sydney, Australia on May 19th, 1884. Unfortunately, after 48 days (July 5th, 1884) on the sea, the yacht sank about 1600 miles off the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. The four men were able to get on an open lifeboat, but had no supply of fresh water and had only two 1 pound cans of turnip. The four desperately tried to survive with all there were available, but after 17 days of being lost in the middle of the sea, they reached their breaking points. On the 18th day, Dudley, Stephens, and Brooks discussed the possibility of sacrificing one person for the rest of the group, and they all had the same person in mind; Richard Parker. Parker was incoherent and unconscious most of the times, so he did not participate in any of this conversation. On the 19th day, Dudley only with the knowledge of Stephens (Brooks refused the plan), cut Parker’s throat while Parker was unconscious. The three consumed Parker’s body and and after 4 days since Parker’s death, the three men were found.

When the three men returned back to England, they truthfully confessed everything that has happened on the boat, and their story instantly became controversial

The panel of judges did not find enough necessity for the killing, and they were worried that giving an exception for this case might set a controversial precedent for the future. The issue remained unresolved, but Dudley and Stephens received sympathy from many people and in response, the queen Victoria used “Royal Prerogative of Mercy” to change the men’s sentence to time served in prison, which by that time was six months. I would have the same final decision as the