Lewsyn yr Heliwr is later reprieved when…

Lewsyn yr Heliwr is later reprieved when one of the police officers who had tried to disperse the crowd testified that the former had tried to shield him from the rioters; but the British government, led by Lord Melbourne, is determined that at least one rebel should die as an example of what happened to rebels.

The people of Merthyr Tydfil are convinced that Dic Penderyn, a twenty-three year-old miner, had not been responsible for the stabbing, and eleven thousand people sign a petition demanding his release.

The government refuses, and Penderyn is hanged at Cardiff market on August 13, 1831; his last words “Oh Lord, what an injustice!” Hanging, regarded in this era as being a cruel and barbaric act, is an uncommon punishment, as transportation has become more popular. (It will be discovered in 1874 that another man named Ianto Parker, not Dic Penderyn, had stabbed Donald Black and then fled to America fearing capture by the authorities. In addition, rebuttal witness James Abbott, who had testified at Penderyn's trial, will later admit that he had lied under oath, under the orders of Lord Melbourne, in order to secure a conviction.)