should the death penalty be reintroduced in the uk essay

Capital Punishment in the UK Should be Reintroduced? Essay

Introduction, arguments for capital punishment, references used.

‘Capital Punishment’ or the ‘Death Penalty’ is the judicially ordered, lawful infliction of death as a punishment for a serious crime called a ‘capital offence’ or a ‘capital crime. The issue of Capital Punishment has come under increasing global spotlight during the last 5 decades. There have been several arguments for and against Capital Punishment, with some countries abolishing it and others retaining it.

The U.K falls under the former category, albeit having being among the latter category until 1964. (Clark). It is my contention that Capital Punishment is mandatory to ensure keeping the individual and society’s faith in law and the legal system thereby making our country a better and safer living place; the U.K should therefore reintroduce Capital Punishment as soon as possible.

Incapacitation of the criminal

Capital Punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society. People like Beverley Allitt and the perpetrators of the Hungerford and Dunblane massacres do not deserve to live. Death permanently incapacitates such monsters and prevents them from committing any offences either within prison or after escaping or being released from prison (Clark). Life imprisonment , is too devoid of good sense for such evil, sick and barbaric psychopaths.

If they are not executed, they will use every possible escape route to get off (e.g. plea bargaining, citing grounds of alleged psychiatric disorders, intimidating key witnesses). Even life without parole sentences will only incite prisoners to kill staff or inmates or take hostages in a bid to escape. Moreover, there is no guarantee that future governments will not liberate such offenders (Clark).

Joseph de Maistre, a French diplomat hit it absolutely right even as early as the eighteenth century when he said: “All grandeur, all power, all subordination to authority rests on the executioner: he is the horror and the bond of human association. Remove this incomprehensible agent from the world and at that very moment order gives way to chaos, thrones topple and society disappears” (Studyworld.com).

Capital Punishment is economically correct

Life imprisonment is expensive. By helping to reduce the social costs of criminal activity as well as the apprehension and conviction costs for crime, Capital Punishment saves the money of the State and its taxpayers – such money that can be used on the more genuinely needy. In the U.K, it costs £ 700 a week at present for an ordinary prisoner, which works out to more than £ 500,000 for a typical 15-year life sentence. Similarly, life without parole (LWOP) only increases the expenses of the State (Clark).

Just retribution is delivered

The present justice scenario displays more allegiance for condemned convicts than it does for their victims. By adopting Capital Punishment, the fundamental principle of justice, namely, ‘the punishment should fit the crime’ is upheld (Messerli). Society still views murder as a particularly heinous crime that should justify the most severe punishment. Capital Punishment is a just punishment based on the vengeance principle of “lex talens” – one that is also advocated under Leviticus in the Bible. A criminal has taken the life or lives of other human beings, and it is only just and proper that his or her life be taken away in retribution (Clark). Aristotle also echoes this view advocating “giving each his due”, interpreted as “that the worst crime be punished with society’s worst penalty” (Morley).

Deterrence is created

Capital Punishment serves as an active deterrent to others. Crime would grow wildly and unchecked, blossoming into an uncontrollable menace if there is no way to discourage people from perpetrating crimes. Life imprisonment is a soft deterrent; for most hardened criminals, more is needed. For those criminals who already in prison, the threat of their sentence being upgraded to Death Row will deter them from committing murder while in prison or if they manage to escape and engage in an extravagant crime/murder activity (Messerli)

The victim’s family feels vindicated

Capital Punishment provides a sense of finality, of at last coming to terms with a bad experience to the victims’ families who undergo a tremendous amount of suffering and anguish. These family members have been made orphans, widows and childless all due to the barbaric action of a psychopath. It may even take decades for some of them to get over the sudden, powerful and intensely distressing loss of their loved one; for some of them, full recovery may never take place. Capital Punishment brings closure to an extremely unpleasant experience in the lives of the family members of victims (Messerli).

Life imprisonment is worse than Capital Punishment

From convicts’ point of view, the quick death provided by Capital Punishment is often much better than the long term of life imprisonment characterised by hard labour. This feeling is particularly strong if the convicts are young; they face the daunting prospect of spending year after interminable year in a literal living tomb, carrying out extremely difficult and monotonous labour with no hope of let up or reward for their efforts (Morley). There is also the danger of physical harm from fellow vicious prison inmates including beating, mugging and rape.

Good effect on society

Capital Punishment makes people realise that it is not easy to get away with crime in general and high profile crime in particular. The long arm of the law is definitely around to catch them, the justice system is there to convict them and Capital Punishment is waiting to execute those that deserve that punishment. The tremendous amount of media coverage for such executions, plus the tendency of people turning up in large numbers to witness executions (Clark).

Documents of authority implicitly or explicitly allow for Capital Punishment

Many documents guaranteeing the right to life either directly or indirectly make allowances for Capital Punishment. The Christian Bible recommends Capital Punishment for crimes of murder, kidnapping and witchcraft (Clark). The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights declares: “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. In countries that have not abolished the Death Penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes” The American Convention for Human Rights states: “Every person has the right to have his life respected. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of life (emphasis added)”, signifying the document does not prevent all taking of human life by the government, just that which is arbitrary (Morley).

There is no possibility of mistake

Pro-Capital Punishment advocators refute allegations that innocent people are frequently executed by saying that the trails and appeals system is so careful that the chances of convicting innocent persons are virtually non-existent. Secondly, DNA testing can now scientifically and officially remove any doubts about whether a person is innocent or guilty. Even after the above two precautions, there is a third safeguard: the jury; it is mandatory for a jury of 12 members to unanimously pronounce a person guilty (Messerli).

Empirical evidence

In the modern day scenario, empirical evidence points to the fact that Capital Punishment is the only real and effective way to combat the rise of crime. In the U.S., the murder rate dropped from 24,562 in 1993 to 18,209 in 1997 and 15,600 in 2003. In Singapore, which also practises Capital Punishment, the number of people executed dropped from 7 in 1995 to 4 in 1996, 3 in 1997 and just 1 in 1998.

On the other hand Britain, which abolished the Death Penalty in 1964, has witnessed a steadily rising murder rate which increased by more than 100 percent from 0.68 to 1.42 per 100,000 of the population. The rate was 300 before 1964, rose to 565 in 1994 and 833 in 2004. Ominously, between 1965 and 1998, 71 murders were committed by people released from prison after serving life sentences. Most significantly, the overall public view in the U.K is strongly in favour of reinstating Capital Punishment (Clark).

Capital Punishment is not a new phenomenon in the U.K. It existed as far back as 1500 when it was used to punish criminals committing murder, theft, rape, arson and treachery. After a decade and a half following the passing of the Waltham Black Acts in 1723 advocating Capital Punishment for capital offences, the following century witnessed nearly 9,000 civilian executions in England and Wales.

In current times, the U.K is being hampered from reintroducing Capital Punishment by two restraints: the first is the European Union, which does not have member nations that practice Capital Punishment, and does not permit members to adopt the practice; the second is the fact that reinstating an abolished practice is always harder than introducing a new practice or measure (Clark). Robert Matthews, a journalist for ‘Focus’ magazine wrote: “Some people argue that the absence of Capital Punishment in this country is the mark of a civilised society. I believe we are rapidly becoming uncivilised. Some of the things that happen on our streets and in people’s homes certainly do not constitute civilised behaviour” (Studyworld.com).

In the light of the above arguments and the supporting empirical evidence, Capital Punishment should be reintroduced in the U.K. We should prepare the framework in society from grass roots level to support Capital Punishment, starting by introducing stricter rules to first instill proper disciple in wayward children at school and on the streets, and then moving on to tackle young ruffians , and finally going on to tackle older thugs.

We can thus spawn a generation or two of people who adhere to socially acceptable patterns of behaviour. It is noteworthy that Singapore, which uses Capital Punishment, has strict disciplinary regulations at all levels of society ; as a result, it boasts of one of the lowest crime figures in the world (Clark).

Reintroducing Capital Punishment in the U.K would not only be effective in deterring the most heinous crimes against humanity, but also in deterring the most feared modern day criminals: international terrorists. International terrorism, spearheaded by the dreaded Al Qaeda headed by Osama Bin Laden, has burst onto the international scene as never before since the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. Since then, it has wrecked havoc in different parts of the world .

Members of Al Qaeda and its network of international terrorist organisations deserve the strongest possible punishment from all countries, and there can be nothing better, nothing that will send a stronger message to these dastardly criminals, than Capital Punishment.

• Clark, Richard. “Arguments For and Against Capital Punishment.” Capitalpunishmentuk.org. (N.d). Web.
• “Debate over Capital Punishment – A Pro Stance.” Studyworld. 2004. Web.
• Messerli, Joe. “Should the Death Penalty be banned as a Form of Punishment?” Balancedpolitics. 2007. Web.
• Morley. “At the Edge of the Oath”. Princeton. 1998. Web.
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2021, October 31). Capital Punishment in the UK Should be Reintroduced? https://ivypanda.com/essays/capital-punishment-in-the-uk-should-be-reintroduced/

"Capital Punishment in the UK Should be Reintroduced?" IvyPanda , 31 Oct. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/capital-punishment-in-the-uk-should-be-reintroduced/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Capital Punishment in the UK Should be Reintroduced'. 31 October.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Capital Punishment in the UK Should be Reintroduced?" October 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/capital-punishment-in-the-uk-should-be-reintroduced/.

1. IvyPanda . "Capital Punishment in the UK Should be Reintroduced?" October 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/capital-punishment-in-the-uk-should-be-reintroduced/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Capital Punishment in the UK Should be Reintroduced?" October 31, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/capital-punishment-in-the-uk-should-be-reintroduced/.

• “The Great Cosmic Mother” by Barbara Mor
• Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished in China?
• Sexual Violence. Explaining Serious Offences
• The Death Penalty in the United States
• The Death Penalty, a Matter of Morals
• Is Punishment Best Justified by a Utilitarian, Retributive or by a Mixed Theory?
• Lethal Injection as Cruel and Unusual Punishment
• Capital Punishment in the US Analysis

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Death Penalty — Should the UK reintroduce the death penalty

Should The UK Reintroduce The Death Penalty

• Categories: Death Penalty United Kingdom

About this sample

Words: 885 |

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 885 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof Ernest (PhD)

Verified writer

• Expert in: Social Issues Geography & Travel

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1212 words

2 pages / 760 words

4 pages / 1959 words

2 pages / 1085 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

In conclusion, the ethical considerations surrounding the death penalty for murderers are complex and multifaceted. The arguments for deterrence, retribution, and justice are countered by concerns about the risk of wrongful [...]

Capital punishment, or the death penalty, has been a contentious issue in the United States for decades. The history of the death penalty in the US is fraught with controversy, and its current state continues to be a subject of [...]

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, has been a contentious issue around the world for centuries. This form of punishment involves the judicial execution of a convicted individual for committing a serious crime, [...]

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a highly debated and controversial topic. While some argue that it serves as a deterrent for heinous crimes and provides justice for victims and their families, others [...]

The dilemma of whether or not the Death Penalty is ethical is major problem facing society today. The death penalty is given to those who commit crimes deemed by society and government as deserving the infliction of death with [...]

Definition of lethal injection Overview of its use in the death penalty Controversy surrounding lethal injection How capital punishment is initiated Waiting period on death row The execution process, [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Album review
• arts and culture
• Film Review
• Blogs and Lifestyle
• entertainment
• Festival Feature
• In The Middle
• Lifestyle & Culture
• Leeds Internation Film Festival
• Live review
• Anniversary
• Single Review
• Music Features
• Musical Theatre
• Online Exclusive
• Street Style
• Uncategorized

Capital punishment and the UK – should it be reintroduced?

In response to the recent sentencing of Sarah Everard’s killer, Wayne Couzens, debate around the death penalty has risen to new heights, with the question being asked: should it be reintroduced in the UK?

The death penalty was banned under UK law in 1998 through the Human Rights Act. It stated that all humans have a right to life and the right to freedom from torture and inhuman treatment, and capital punishment is regarded as a violation of both. However, the cruel actions of Couzens, and the tragic and brutal nature of Sarah’s death, has led some to question whether every person has the privilege to maintain these rights. 

Morally, there are two sides to the argument. It all boils down to whether you believe that the saying ‘an eye for an eye’ is correct. People who argue against capital punishment state that if killing someone for killing someone is legal, then this legitimises the very behaviour they are seeking to repress; it is itself a counterproductive punishment in the moral message it conveys. However, on the other side, supporters of the death penalty argue that someone who has murdered has forfeited their own right to life. They also state that it is a just form of retribution – people must be punished for their wrongdoing, and their punishment should be in proportion to the severity of their crime.

Supporters of capital punishment also tend to use the argument of deterrence. They claim that the law has a uniquely potent deterrent effect on potentially violent offenders, for whom the threat of imprisonment is not a sufficient restraint. However, this argument is usually disregarded as there is no research to suggest this is true, and nothing to demonstrate that life or long-term imprisonment is less of a deterrent. In response to this,  John McAdams at Marquette University states that even if no one is deterred by the death penalty, “… we have killed a bunch of murderers”, and this is still a positive deed.

Singapore is a stark defender of the death penalty; at times they are reported to have had the  highest per capita execution rate . Not only can you be sentenced to death for murder in Singapore, but also for drug related crimes and manslaughter. But is this working as an effective deterrent? The simplistic answer to this question appears to be yes. The crime rate in Singapore is extremely low compared to other developed nations and the world in general, and according to the  Economist Intelligence Unit 2019 Safe Cities Index , Singapore was ranked as the safest city in the world. But to what extent can the death penalty be given the credit, and would the results be the same in such a vastly different country such the UK, which has a much larger population and significant cultural differences?

There is also a practical argument for capital punishment. According to  statistics , in 2019/20, the average cost of a prison place in England and Wales was 44.6 thousand GBP a year. Since 2015/2016, the annual cost of one prison place has increased by around 9.45 thousand British pounds. Therefore, a whole-life sentence, such as in Couzens’ case, could cost the taxpayer and government a huge amount of money. If you are sentencing them to life without parole, you are arguably already taking away their right to life, so why not save some money while doing it? 

The greatest evidence against this ‘saving money’ argument is found by looking at America. In the USA, studies show that states such as Indiana, Kansas, California, Tenessee, Texas, and more, are spending millions on death sentences. For example, in Texas, the Dallas Morning News reported that each death penalty case costs taxpayers about $2.3 million, roughly three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years. Another example is the Performance Audit Report in Kansas, which found that the cost of a capital punishment case was a median of $1.26 million, whereas non-death penalty cases were found to cost a median of $740,000. All this suggests that if capital punishment was to be implemented in the UK, the taxpayer would actually feel the burden a whole lot more. But in the case of such cruel crimes like Couzens’, is it about the money? Could the taxpayer look past the costs when faced with such intense emotions after reading about such an upsetting case?

Public support for capital punishment in the UK is reported to hover around the  50% mark , and this percentage has a tendency to increase when when a notably heinous crime captures the nation, such as Sarah Everard’s case. However, while the debate around the death penalty will continue to be brought up in the face of particularly emotional and shocking cases, it is ultimately unlikely that we will ever see its reintroduction in the UK. There will always be strong opposition, and each argument in favour of the death penalty will face serious scrutiny. The nail in the coffin for many people is that the death penalty leaves no room for error. In the US, cases have been reopened once a person has already been put to death after new information has appeared, only to prove they were not the perpetrator. Furthermore, once someone is sentenced to death in the US it is notoriously difficult for them to appeal, meaning the likelihood of killing someone for no reason is arguably too high. We should be wary of making huge decisions about our justice system off the back of one case, and many people argue that we cannot reintroduce a system that pursues retributive penalties which have little evidence of preventative results. Therefore, the reintroduction of the death penalty would most likely face huge uproar and protesting.

Desmond Tutu’s opinion on the subject is probably the strongest felt throughout society in the UK today, he stated that “to take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice”; and does revenge bring sufficient closure to the victim’s family? Furthermore, one might question whether the whole-life sentence is more fitting to a horrific crime such as Sarah Everard’s case. A whole-life sentence means you have no chance of parole, and you will live out your years in prison (which for Wayne Couzens, could be another forty years) in the knowledge that you will die there. That is arguably worse than dying quickly – a whole-life sentence is effectively a death penalty, just a slow, lingering one.

Image Header Credit: Unsplash

Ruby Winter

Opportunities, internal links, external links.

Accessibility

All popular browsers allow zooming in and out by pressing the Ctrl (Cmd in OS X) and + or - keys. Or alternatively hold down the Ctrl key and scroll up or down with the mouse.

Line height

• Amnesty International UK / Issues

Why we’re working to end the death penalty

At Amnesty International, we firmly believe that no one – including any government – has the right to take away someone else’s life. We’re working to end the use of the death penalty around the world, and won’t stop until every country in the world has abolished it.

What is the death penalty?

The death penalty (also known as capital punishment) is the premeditated, judicially sanctioned killing of an individual by a state. It’s an irreversible and violent punishment that has no place in any criminal justice system.

We oppose the use of the death penalty in every single case. No matter what the crime, who the alleged criminal is, or the method proposed to execute them – we will always stand against it.

Why are we against it?

There are many reasons that the death penalty is an unacceptable punishment. Here are six:

1. It’s the ultimate denial of human rights

First and foremost, sentencing someone to death denies that individual two vital human rights guaranteed under international law, as established by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):

• the right to life (Article 3)
• the right not to be tortured or subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment (Article 5).

Our aim at Amnesty is for every person on the planet to enjoy their human rights, as enshrined in the UDHR and similar international human rights standards. The death penalty violates basic human rights in every case.

Full List Of Your Rights In The UDHR

2. It doesn’t deter crime

People in favour of the death penalty often say that it’s a useful deterrent for the most abhorrent crimes in society – but evidence shows that this isn’t the case.

A 2012 report by independent researchers at America’s National Research Council of the Academies found that US states using the death penalty have a similar murder rate to states that don’t use it: the threat of capital punishment did not appear to prevent homicides.

3. It’s irreversible, and mistakes happen

Execution is the ultimate, irrevocable punishment: the risk of executing an innocent person can never be eliminated, and such mistakes cannot be unmade.

Since 1976, 195 US death row prisoners have been exonerated completely for their crimes. Who knows how many have been executed for a crime they did not commit? The flaws in state systems that dole out the ultimate irreparable punishment have been documented in the One for Ten film project . Furthermore, the United States accounts for a fraction of global executions, with 93% of known 883 global executions in 2022 being carried out in the Middle East and North Africa. This number does not include the potentially thousands of executions that are not reported in China, Viet Nam and North Korea. For more statistics on the death penalty, visit our Death Penalty Report for 2022 .  

4. It’s often used within unfair justice systems

The countries executing the most people are often the same countries about which we have serious concerns regarding the fairness of their judicial systems.

‘Top’ executing countries such as – China, Iran and Saudi Arabia – are all guilty of issuing death sentences under circumstances that are far from transparent.

China is the world's most prolific executioner. But use of the death penalty in the country is regarded as a state secret; we suspect, based on all the evidence we have, that thousands of people are executed in China every year, but without credible information from the Chinese state government, we cannot know how many death sentences are issued and executions carried out every year.

In both Saudi Arabia and Iran, death sentences are sometimes issued after convictions relying on ‘confessions’ from prisoners that have been obtained by force, often through torture in detention. Furthermore, in 2022, drug-related offences caused a significant portion of death penalty sentences , while some were executed publicly. Some were also executed for crimes that occurred when they were below 18 years of age.

OUR LATEST DEATH PENALTY REPORT

5. It discriminates

You are more likely to be sentenced to death if you are a member of a minority group within a state that executes. The death penalty disproportionately affects members of racial, ethnic and religious minorities, as well as those living in poverty.

In the US, there's extensive evidence of racial bias on death row . The race of the victim remains the single most reliable factor in determining whether a defendant will be given a death sentence. For example, a 2007 study in Connecticut showed African American defendants to be three times more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants, where the victims are white.

Serious mental health issues are also common in defendants sent to death row. At least one in ten prisoners executed in the US between 1977 and 2007 had experienced severe mental health problems that meant they were literally unable to comprehend the crime they were alleged to have committed, and unable to understand the terms of their sentence and imminent execution.

"It’s often those from disadvantaged backgrounds that are disproportionately affected by this callous punishment."  Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

6. It can be used as a political tool

You are more likely to be sentenced to death if state authorities see you as a threat.

Authorities in Iran, Sudan and Saudi Arabia all have a track record of issuing death sentences to opposition activists or potential threats to those in power.

Where is the death penalty used?

A small number of countries around the world continue to sentence people to death. The number of states carrying out executions is steadily decreasing, year on year: we have charted a worldwide trend towards abolition since we began campaigning for it.

Thousands of people remain on death rows awaiting execution in prisons around the world, and many hundreds are still executed in a minority of states every year.

• Death Penalty Report - 2022 Global Trends of Executions & Death Sentences
• More about our work on the death penalty
• 2023 World Day Against Death Penalty

While you’re here…

Like you, we are horrified by the violence and the civilian death toll in Gaza, Israel and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We’re calling for an immediate ceasefire by all parties in the occupied Gaza Strip and Israel to prevent further loss of civilian lives. Amnesty International is investigating mass summary killings, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, hostage-taking, and siege tactics.

As ever, our mission to protect human rights remains. Please donate today to help expose war crimes and protect human rights. Thank you.

• TOP CATEGORIES
• AS and A Level
• University Degree
• International Baccalaureate
• Uncategorised
• 5 Star Essays
• Study Tools
• Study Guides
• Meet the Team
• English Language
• Writing to Argue, Persuade and Advise

Should capital punishment be reintroduced in Britain?

This is a preview of the whole essay

Document Details

• Subject English

Related Essays

Should Capital Punishment be brought back to the UK?

Should we bring back capital punishment?

I believe that capital punishment should be banned throughout the world.

Capital Punishment

Should the death penalty be reinstated?

With the current soaring figures in violent crime in the UK and our prisons bursting at the seams is it not time a serious (non bias) debate is had on reviving the death penalty?

It seems in the UK once a law is passed it is never revisited to see if the change in statute has been for the better, even if it is clear as in this case it has not.

By not having a Death Penalty deterrent do we not create more victim deaths?

Many people who are anti Capital Punishment as it is known in the UK, constantly refer to the rare miss-carriages of justice that have occurred, leading to the death of innocent people. However, I would argue, how many more people are being murdered as a result of there being no such deterrent?

It also cannot be ignored that as more people migrate here from poorer less civilised societies crime has risen substantially. While both Government and media have clearly tried to suppress the facts. A clear example being the perpetrators of knife crime in London which has increased year on year.

Human Rights and the Death Penalty

In the UK it cannot even be discussed without left wing liberals crying it is against the murderers Human Rights, but it seems to me these Rights have already been ignored once a murder has taken place, so why should the perpetrator have more rights than their victim/s? Let alone the rights of those who are left behind.

When you consider the amount of violent crime per capita that took place when the death penalty was legal compared to the rates of present day crime it would seem a no brainer that it should be reinstated.

The Hard Facts

But of course there are more things to consider before we rush off and change this, so first let’s look at the facts:

In 2018 it is estimated that 66,573,504 people live in the UK compared to 50 million in 1950 (worldometers) when the death penalty was in force. Which means that the population has grown by a third since that time.

Sidenote: I am aware the death penalty continued well into the 1960s before it was abolished in the UK but rather than take a period where many were campaigning for it to be abolished and which might have had some effect on decisions of the judiciary I’ve chosen 1950 as a comparable yardstick instead.

So now we know how many people were living in the country at these times how do the violent crime figures compare?

The official figure for convicted murderers in 1950 is 346 whilst the latest figures (for the year 2016/17) is 723.

Clearly over double the amount of convicted murderers compared to 1950 whilst the population increased by only a third.

Violent crime in general is also on the increase up by 13% in 2016 to 2017 alone! Retired Labour MP for Birkenhead, Frank Field, stated in his speech to Leicester University in late 2008 that;

“Britain was at its best in the 1950s”,

“The 1950s were the peak years for Britain being a peaceful and self-governing kingdom. We only have to look at the levels of crime, particularly violent crime, to register just how dramatic a change has occurred.”

He also added,

” There were now more violent crimes recorded by the police in the past 12 months than between 1900 and 1977.”

It’s worth noting that according to the Daily Telegraph more people were beaten up or stabbed in his Birkenhead constituency in one year than in the whole of the country a century earlier.

Crime in General

General crime has also increased but is harder to break down as the Police and Politicians find better ways to manipulate the figures, changing the ways crimes are reported, but one way you can gauge this is in the increase of prison inmates, but even here as more criminals are now receiving suspended sentences (meaning they are only jailed if they break the law again and which was only introduced in 1967) probably in an attempt to stem the flow, the figures I suggest will be lower than what they should be.

In 1950, 20,474 UK citizens were incarcerated. A rate of 47 (per 100,000 of national population) whereas in 2000 the rate had increased to 124 giving a figure of 64,602 clearly a substantial increase per capita.

Data courtesy of  www.prisonstudies.org

Many people will give many reasons for this and some might be valid but it doesn’t detract from the fact that since 1950 crime has risen substantially. I personally feel that re-enacting the Death Penalty is just one of many measures that need to be introduced if we are to become as Mr Fields puts it;

“a peaceful and self-governing kingdom”

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

Related posts.

Daily Express – The New Left Wing Newspaper

The Battle for Free Speech in the UK

Stephen Lawrence Day

UK Immigrant Court Cases Hushed Up

Diversity within the UK – What do we know?

Leave a comment cancel reply.

Pros & Cons of Capital Punishment

• Behind Bars

‘ I Am A Killer ’ the compelling series praised for its intimate and humane study of Death Row prisoners is now back for a second season which explores themes of repentance and redemption. As an introduction to the new series this article looks at the controversial subject of capital punishment, both presently in the United States and its existence in the UK before the mid 1960’s.

The second series of I Am A Killer allows prisoners serving life sentences the opportunity to tell their story from an individual perspective but contrasted with views of the victims and their families as well as the detectives involved in such disturbing cases. Despite many countries around the world and some US states such as Californian revoking the death penalty , the subject of capital punishment, in a world of terrorism and mass shootings, is still a pertinent topic for debate.

Facts about the death penalty in the USA 

Ever since the death penalty in the UK was abolished in 1969 the topic of capital punishment still fuels diverse opinion and debate, particularly when crimes of a heinous nature occur, such as the sexual assault and killing of a child or the horrors of mass murder and terrorism. At the height of England’s ‘Bloody Code’ during the early 1800’s, where over two hundred crimes could be punishable by death, these included committing theft while being ‘masked’ or ‘blacked’ as part of a disguise. Such liberal employment of execution (usually by hanging), even for poaching, petty theft and stealing goods worth more than 12 pence, contributed to England gaining a notorious reputation for prescribing the death penalty for a vast range of non violent offences.

Somewhat ironically it was the development of the ‘Gibbet’ in Halifax, West Yorkshire during the 17th century, a unique for the time crude machine enabling quick decapitation which inspired infamous Guillotine during the bloody French Revolution. The gibbet in Halifax (a non-working replica was installed in the town’s Gibbet Street) beheaded petty criminals until the mid 17th Century, mainly for theft. Eventually reforms led to the ‘Judgment of Death Act in 1823’, allowing judges to commute the death penalty to a lesser punishment of incarceration or deportation.

The last executions in England by hanging took place in 1964, followed by total suspension of capital punishment for murder in 1965. At the time a gradual realisation that miscarriages of justice could result in innocent defendants being wrongly executed influenced the decision to abandon the practice for life-tariffs instead. But with the advent of DNA technology in the early 90’s and a belief that forensic evidence is today largely incontrovertible, the principle of execution as a fitting punishment for ‘evil’ and heinous acts of violence against citizens, is as passionately discussed today as it was in the 1980’s when the emotive subject was often touted as a voting winner for right wing politicians.

Today capital punishment’s restoration in the UK is currently prohibited by the 13th Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, enshrined in law in 2004. Ideologically such a law can be revoked if the UK is no longer party to the Convention.

Welshman Timothy John Evans, famously portrayed by late actor John Hurt in the 1971 movie ’10 Rillington Place’, was falsely convicted of the murder of his baby girl in 1950 and hanged at HMP Pentonville, London. The twenty-five year old who had learning difficulties was living as a tenant with his pregnant wife, Beryl, at the time of their child’s death. Three years after the execution it was discovered that Evan’s ground floor flat neighbour, John Christie, was in fact a serial killer and necrophile, who had murdered Evan’s wife Beryl and her baby. Due to Evans’ being wrongly convicted and hanged, Christie was free to kill three more women in the early part of 1953 and his own wife Ethel, who he strangled in bed a year earlier. Christie had acted as a ‘respected’ principal witness during Evans’ trial in 1950, encouraging a negative view of the accused by informing the court of Evan’s quarrels with his wife.

Had the police carried out a thorough search of Christie’s garden and wash house they would have found the remains of his earlier female victims. The police, believing Christie to be a truthful and reliable witness (despite having a formidable criminal record) contributed to Evans’ being seen as the prime suspect. During his trial in January 1950 Evans was found guilty of the murder of his own child despite a lack of forensic evidence. A ‘false’ confession made by the accused, possibly under pressure during police interviewing, convinced the jury that Evans was guilty.

Controversy over Evans’ tragic and wrongful hanging after John Christie was found guilty of all murders fuelled debate surrounding the death penalty. Other controversial cases during the 50’s in England contributed to public debate about capital punishment.

28 year-old-club hostess Ruth Ellis, immortalised as the ‘last woman to be hanged in England’ (1955) was executed for shooting her lover, the hard drinking racer David Blakely, in a Hampstead pub. Despite the fact Ellis had suffered a miscarriage three months before the shooting and was the victim of domestic violence the jury took only 20 minutes to find Ellis guilty of pre-meditated murder. A petition for clemency was signed by 50,000 people but Ellis, resigned to her fate, refused to have any part in a campaign to reprieve her.

Bentley was sentenced to death over what is now believed to be a misunderstanding...

In 1953 the hanging of 19 year old Derek Bentley, a youth with a reading age of a four-year-old, learning difficulties and prone to epileptic fits, eventually saw him receive a posthumous pardon in 1993. Bentley and 16 year old accomplice Christopher Craig (who was armed with a revolver) took part in a botched robbery to burgle a warehouse. After police officers arrived, chaos ensued with the legally underage Craig fatally shooting a police constable. Bentley was sentenced to death over what is now believed to be a misunderstanding of his words ‘Let him have it’ to his teenage accomplice. Such cases at the time became a cause celebre and garnered headlines and debate in the country about the rightful use of the death penalty.

Even with the development of DNA forensic technology, mistakes are believed to be still possible, at either the source where evidence is collected and collated or through contamination during laboratory investigations. These actions may be the result of accidental or deliberate falsifications. Biology experts such as American Professor Greg Hampikian, believes that ‘heightened sensitivity’ with DNA testing can create false positives. Such a scenario led to the conviction and imprisonment for four years of American student Amanda Knox, who with her Italian boyfriend, was found guilty of the murder of fellow student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy in 2007. Knox’s conviction rested on a ‘vanishingly small amount of DNA’ found on a knife at the scene of the crime. Knox was freed in 2011.

Even when the most heinous crimes have taken place which cause public outrage and national repulsion, leading to calls for the death penalty to be reinstated by certain quarters of society, it could be argued that such a move is retrograde and only serves to satisfy a sense of ‘revenge’ with the danger of dehumanising society. Justice, it can be argued, should be applied in a civilised country through a combination of denying freedom to the guilty, while acknowledging the potential of rehabilitation in future years.

The reality is that the law cannot bring back to life someone who has been wrongly executed. Even with an evolved and state-of-the-art DNA process of investigation, the possibility of mistakes at forensic level or through the tampering of evidence still present a risk when determining whether the accused is guilty or innocent. In the case of the Birmingham Six, six Irishmen wrongly imprisoned for life in 1975 for their presumed participation in terrorist attacks on mainland Britain were released after 15 years of incarceration. The unearthing of vital evidence proving the men’s innocence would have been a lost cause had the prisoners been executed years before.

Ted Bundy is one of America’s most notorious serial rapists and killers who confessed to more than 30 homicides that he committed between 1974 and 1978, although the true number of his victims is still unknown. The psychopathic killer endowed with good looks and the kind of gregarious, superficial charm associated with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and its sociopathic tendencies, carried out his sadistic attacks on women that involved him feigning injury, disability or pretending to be an authority figure in order for him to lure his victims to their terrifying deaths. His clinical targeting of mostly young girls involved sexual grooming, rape and murder (usually through strangulation) but also in some case bizarre acts of necrophilia. Bundy also decapitated some of his dead victims in order to retain macabre trophies and mementos of his obscene and cowardly handiwork. Originally sentenced to death in 1980 by electrocution, Bundy’s execution dates were subject to constant rescheduling due to his manipulative tactics of holding back details of further murders and then offering confessions. After three death sentences Bundy was finally sent to the electric chair, nine years later on January 24th, 1989. The very moment of his execution was celebrated by hundreds of revellers, including twenty police officers, outside the prison at Florida State Prison. Bundy’s notoriety as a remorseless, sadistic killer beyond redemption is the kind of killer whose destructive and horrific actions against innocent citizens are seen as justifiable reasons for the death penalty to exist.

You might also be interested in:

I am a killer 2: episodes.

In some situations a sense of retribution and justice for the victim is reached when a convicted murderer is executed. A feeling of ‘justice being done’ was experienced by Oklahoma resident Carol Anderson whose young daughter was brutally murdered by sadists after she and a friend were kidnapped and then burned alive in the trunk of a vehicle. Anderson attended the execution of one of the killers, stating later in a TV interview that it was ‘an eye for an eye’ and that she wished her daughter had died as quickly and peacefully as her ‘evil’ killer. But extensive studies on the subject have revealed that there is little or substantial evidence indicating that families and loved ones of a murder victim experience long-term relief or emotional catharsis after a victim’s killer has been executed.

It may appear at first glance that keeping an inmate on death row is hugely expensive taking into account their keep (for decades) and lawyers' fees over a considerable amount of time. However, some statisticians in America state that is more costly to execute a prisoner than keep them alive due to legal fees accrued during death row stays, plus the actual cost of the execution itself involving staff, equipment, lethal substances and the employment of lawyers and other official bodies to attend such an event.

An adjunct to this viewpoint is also the certainty that an executed prisoner, found guilty of murder or rape, will not be able to repeat their behaviour and actions to harm other innocent victims. Critics of the death penalty argue that no manner of rightful retribution for horrific crimes guarantees guilt on the part of the accused and where such a notion as infallible proof is still debatable even in today’s world of state-of-the-art technology. Deliberate tampering of evidence, human error and clinical mistakes, as well as DNA mishandling, can frame an innocent person. But how ethical is the idea of execution being a ‘deserved punishment?’ Earlier this year California revoked the death penalty shutting down its execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison. The west coast state’s governor Gavin Newsom, who initiated the move, called the death penalty a failure saying ‘It has provided no public safety benefit or value as a deterrent and has cost billions of taxpayers’ dollars’. Over seven hundred inmates on the state’s death row received a stay of execution, the largest temporary reprieve in the Western Hemisphere. Newsom argued that government endorsed killing of prisoners was morally unjustifiable and that ‘we can do better’ Richard Bevan

Get true crime stories in your inbox

Sign up to our newsletter to receive email updates on new series, features, and more from your favourite Crime+Investigation shows:

Should the death penalty be reintroduced in all cases of murder?

Full question.

Would you support or oppose the reintroduction of the death penalty for the following crimes? All cases of murder

about this tracker

• Bimonthly tracker
• 1627 - 1817 GB Adults per wave
• Methodology
• Download full data set

Explore more data & articles

Death Penalty

Should the death penalty be reintroduced for the murder of a child?

Should the death penalty be reintroduced for terrorist murder acts, should the death penalty be reintroduced for cases of multiple murder, john humphrys - does your lanyard really matter.

Voting Intention: Con 20%, Lab 47% (15-16 May 2024)

Should pupils be taught about gender identity in schools?

Public tends to disapprove of pro-Palestinian marches in London

Most have a favourable view of Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, as she becomes a more active royal

John Humphrys - Online safety: Who should make the rules?

Dean Dunham 9pm - 10pm

Andrew Castle

Now Discussing

Dean Dunham is Leading Britain's Conversation.

Use the Global Player app to listen to live radio for LBC & LBC News

Why The UK Should Not Bring Back The Death Penalty

4 November 2018, 07:36 | Updated: 4 November 2018, 17:48

A Tory MP has called for the government to consider bringing back the death penalty, but Andrew Castle explains why capital punishment is not an option.

Former minister John Hayes suggests that capital punishment 'should be available to the courts' in cases such as that of Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood.

But while seeking the death penalty for Masood wouldn't be an issue for Andrew Castle , the LBC presenter said he wouldn't be in general support of the punishment.

"What if an innocent man dies?" he asked.

"And what if you are poor, what is your representation like?

"If you don't have the money to defend yourself properly?"

In a written parliamentary question, Mr Hayes asked the justice secretary to “make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to reintroduce the death penalty to tackle violent crime”.

In response, the justice minister Edward Argar said the government “opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances and has no plans to reintroduce it”.

Capital punishment in the UK was outlawed in 1965, and the option of the death penalty was completely abolished in 1998.

Latest News

See more Latest News

Who is Ebrahim Raisi?: Iran's President nicknamed 'The Butcher of Tehran' feared dead after helicopter crash

Number of migrants arriving in uk in small boats nears 10,000 - 2,600 higher than this time last year, d-day parachute jump scaled down due to lack of aircraft, as raf bosses scramble to fill gaps, missing iranian president's 'life at risk' after helicopter crash 'caused by bad weather', scammers target victims of devon water crisis, as south west water boosts payouts after backlash, 'how many victims are there' asks mum of teen taught by sex predator rebecca joynes after she groomed two boys, teen boy dies after 'jumping in river to rescue friend who fell into water while playing on rope swing', 18-year-old in 'life threatening condition' after stabbing in streatham common playground, wes streeting vows to create 2 million more nhs appointments in first year of labour government to cut backlog, 'the world needs to know': grant shapps urges israel to reveal plan for gaza after war with hamas ends, best of lbc.

See more Best of LBC

Tory voters are 'on strike' and Sunak needs to be 'honest' to keep them on side, Robert Jenrick says

11 days ago

'Hero' father who fought off Hainault 'sword killer' posts update from hospital bed , thanking NHS for 'keeping me alive'

16 days ago

HSBC fields anger from pensioners amid plans to scrap bankers’ bonus cap

Download lbc podcasts, how to listen, how to listen to lbc: fm, digital radio, tv, online, mobile.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

student opinion

Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?

In its last six months, the United States government has put 13 prisoners to death. Do you think capital punishment should end?

By Nicole Daniels

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

In July, the United States carried out its first federal execution in 17 years. Since then, the Trump administration has executed 13 inmates, more than three times as many as the federal government had in the previous six decades.

The death penalty has been abolished in 22 states and 106 countries, yet it is still legal at the federal level in the United States. Does your state or country allow the death penalty?

Do you believe governments should be allowed to execute people who have been convicted of crimes? Is it ever justified, such as for the most heinous crimes? Or are you universally opposed to capital punishment?

In “ ‘Expedited Spree of Executions’ Faced Little Supreme Court Scrutiny ,” Adam Liptak writes about the recent federal executions:

In 2015, a few months before he died, Justice Antonin Scalia said he w o uld not be surprised if the Supreme Court did away with the death penalty. These days, after President Trump’s appointment of three justices, liberal members of the court have lost all hope of abolishing capital punishment. In the face of an extraordinary run of federal executions over the past six months, they have been left to wonder whether the court is prepared to play any role in capital cases beyond hastening executions. Until July, there had been no federal executions in 17 years . Since then, the Trump administration has executed 13 inmates, more than three times as many as the federal government had put to death in the previous six decades.

The article goes on to explain that Justice Stephen G. Breyer issued a dissent on Friday as the Supreme Court cleared the way for the last execution of the Trump era, complaining that it had not sufficiently resolved legal questions that inmates had asked. The article continues:

If Justice Breyer sounded rueful, it was because he had just a few years ago held out hope that the court would reconsider the constitutionality of capital punishment. He had set out his arguments in a major dissent in 2015 , one that must have been on Justice Scalia’s mind when he made his comments a few months later. Justice Breyer wrote in that 46-page dissent that he considered it “highly likely that the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment,” which bars cruel and unusual punishments. He said that death row exonerations were frequent, that death sentences were imposed arbitrarily and that the capital justice system was marred by racial discrimination. Justice Breyer added that there was little reason to think that the death penalty deterred crime and that long delays between sentences and executions might themselves violate the Eighth Amendment. Most of the country did not use the death penalty, he said, and the United States was an international outlier in embracing it. Justice Ginsburg, who died in September, had joined the dissent. The two other liberals — Justices Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — were undoubtedly sympathetic. And Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who held the decisive vote in many closely divided cases until his retirement in 2018, had written the majority opinions in several 5-to-4 decisions that imposed limits on the death penalty, including ones barring the execution of juvenile offenders and people convicted of crimes other than murder .

In the July Opinion essay “ The Death Penalty Can Ensure ‘Justice Is Being Done,’ ” Jeffrey A. Rosen, then acting deputy attorney general, makes a legal case for capital punishment:

The death penalty is a difficult issue for many Americans on moral, religious and policy grounds. But as a legal issue, it is straightforward. The United States Constitution expressly contemplates “capital” crimes, and Congress has authorized the death penalty for serious federal offenses since President George Washington signed the Crimes Act of 1790. The American people have repeatedly ratified that decision, including through the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 signed by President Bill Clinton, the federal execution of Timothy McVeigh under President George W. Bush and the decision by President Barack Obama’s Justice Department to seek the death penalty against the Boston Marathon bomber and Dylann Roof.

Students, read the entire article , then tell us:

Do you support the use of capital punishment? Or do you think it should be abolished? Why?

Do you think the death penalty serves a necessary purpose, like deterring crime, providing relief for victims’ families or imparting justice? Or is capital punishment “cruel and unusual” and therefore prohibited by the Constitution? Is it morally wrong?

Are there alternatives to the death penalty that you think would be more appropriate? For example, is life in prison without the possibility of parole a sufficient sentence? Or is that still too harsh? What about restorative justice , an approach that “considers harm done and strives for agreement from all concerned — the victims, the offender and the community — on making amends”? What other ideas do you have?

Vast racial disparities in the administration of the death penalty have been found. For example, Black people are overrepresented on death row, and a recent study found that “defendants convicted of killing white victims were executed at a rate 17 times greater than those convicted of killing Black victims.” Does this information change or reinforce your opinion of capital punishment? How so?

The Federal Death Penalty Act prohibits the government from executing an inmate who is mentally disabled; however, in the recent executions of Corey Johnson , Alfred Bourgeois and Lisa Montgomery , their defense teams, families and others argued that they had intellectual disabilities. What role do you think disability or trauma history should play in how someone is punished, or rehabilitated, after committing a crime?

How concerned should we be about wrongfully convicted people being executed? The Innocence Project has proved the innocence of 18 people on death row who were exonerated by DNA testing. Do you have worries about the fair application of the death penalty, or about the possibility of the criminal justice system executing an innocent person?

About Student Opinion

• Find all of our Student Opinion questions in this column . • Have an idea for a Student Opinion question? Tell us about it . • Learn more about how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning .

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Nicole Daniels joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2019 after working in museum education, curriculum writing and bilingual education. More about Nicole Daniels