diff --git a/server/database.go b/server/database.go
index 838d251..97e2961 100644
--- a/server/database.go
+++ b/server/database.go
@@ -3,9 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"asink"
 	"database/sql"
-	"errors"
 	_ "github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
-	"strconv"
 )
 
 func GetAndInitDB() (*sql.DB, error) {
@@ -38,11 +36,19 @@ func GetAndInitDB() (*sql.DB, error) {
 	return db, nil
 }
 
-func DatabaseAddEvent(db *sql.DB, e *asink.Event) error {
+func DatabaseAddEvent(db *sql.DB, e *asink.Event) (err error) {
 	tx, err := db.Begin()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	//make sure the transaction gets rolled back on error, and the database gets unlocked
+	defer func() {
+		if err != nil {
+			tx.Rollback()
+		}
+	}()
+
 	result, err := tx.Exec("INSERT INTO events (localid, type, status, path, hash, timestamp, permissions) VALUES (?,?,?,?,?,?,?);", e.LocalId, e.Type, e.Status, e.Path, e.Hash, e.Timestamp, e.Permissions)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -61,43 +67,8 @@ func DatabaseAddEvent(db *sql.DB, e *asink.Event) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func DatabaseUpdateEvent(db *sql.DB, e *asink.Event) error {
-	if !e.InDB {
-		return errors.New("Attempting to update an event in the database which hasn't been previously added.")
-	}
-
-	tx, err := db.Begin()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	result, err := tx.Exec("UPDATE events SET id=?, type=?, status=?, path=?, hash=?, timestamp=?, permissions=? WHERE id=?;", e.Id, e.Type, e.Status, e.Path, e.Hash, e.Timestamp, e.Permissions, e.Id)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	rows, err := result.RowsAffected()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	if rows != 1 {
-		return errors.New("Updated " + strconv.Itoa(int(rows)) + " row(s) when intending to update 1 event row.")
-	}
-	err = tx.Commit()
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-func DatabaseRetrieveEvents(db *sql.DB, firstId uint64, maxEvents uint) ([]*asink.Event, error) {
-	var events []*asink.Event
-
-	tx, err := db.Begin()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	rows, err := tx.Query("SELECT id, localid, type, status, path, hash, timestamp, permissions FROM events WHERE id >= ? ORDER BY id ASC LIMIT ?;", firstId, maxEvents)
+func DatabaseRetrieveEvents(db *sql.DB, firstId uint64, maxEvents uint) (events []*asink.Event, err error) {
+	rows, err := db.Query("SELECT id, localid, type, status, path, hash, timestamp, permissions FROM events WHERE id >= ? ORDER BY id ASC LIMIT ?;", firstId, maxEvents)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -110,10 +81,5 @@ func DatabaseRetrieveEvents(db *sql.DB, firstId uint64, maxEvents uint) ([]*asin
 		events = append(events, &event)
 	}
 
-	err = tx.Commit()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
 	return events, nil
 }