Did Gollum deserve death?

Originally Posted by Folwren

Gandalf didn't say that Gollum didn't deserve to die! He said Gollum did deserve to die. However, he told Frodo not to be eager to deal out death in judgement. Death is final, and it's too final for a hobbit like Frodo to deal out. It wasn't Frodo's place to judge people unto death, that's what I think Gandalf was saying.

Where the plague did Gandalf say Gollum did deserve to die?? It seems much more like he is making a case that Gollum deserves a chance to see if he could recover & recapture his former self.