Today there are over 50 countries around the world which continue to use the death penalty … It is only a decade since capital punishment was finally removed from British law. Timeshift: Crime and Punishment: The Story of Capital Punishment, BBC 2018
For over 200 years a moral battle raged about whether the state has the right to execute. ibid.
But it was in the late 18th century that the death penalty was applied most widely. ibid.
The participation of the crowd itself which appeared to revel in a macabre party atmosphere. ibid.
Between 1770 and 1830 over 35,000 people were sentenced to death. But only 1 in 10 were actually executed. ibid.
The Victorians were still committed to retaining the death penalty for those convicted of murder. ibid.
The Victorians began to build large prisons across Britain as place of both punishment and reform. ibid.
[Albert] Pierrepoint became a familiar face to British audiences through numerous television interviews. ibid.
There was still widespread support for capital punishment. ibid.
In 1969 parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of permanently abolishing the death penalty for murder … Hanging only remained for treason and piracy. ibid.
Gary Gilmore became the first person to be executed in the US for ten years … by a firing squad in Utah. ibid.
Many people are familiar with the campaign to abolish the death penalty. In fact, it has already been abolished in most countries. Even the staunchest advocates of capital punishment acknowledge the fact that the death penalty faces serious challenges. Few people find life without the death penalty difficult to imagine. Angela Davis, Are Prison Obsolete?
He had no barrister to represent him ... This was probably his last view of daylight. He was hanged for his crime. John Smith was a boy of just fifteen. The Strange Case of the Law III: The Story of English Justice: Presumed Innocent BBC 2012
A rather crude and biased legal process was remoulded to give us what we have today – the fair trial. ibid.
More than 200 offences were punishable by death. ibid.
William Garrow, the son of a Scottish schoolmaster, Garrow was called to the bar in 1783 ... His lasting impact came from the time he spent at the Old Bailey. ibid.
Garrow was famed for his aggressive style of cross-examination. ibid.
Innocent until proven guilty ... a hallowed concept. ibid.
Thomas Hardy and two other members of the London Corresponding Society were to stand trial for High Treason ... The government had another 800 arrested warrants waiting to be executed. ibid.
The adversarial trial was perhaps England’s best and most benevolent export. ibid.
Forging a banknote was a capital crime ... The Forgery Act: 120 statutes were transformed into one. ibid.
With consummate skill Robert Peel did more to reform the criminal justice system than almost any other Home Secretary. ibid.
Governments relied on the Riot Act. ibid.
Sir Edward Marshall Hall whose career spanned the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. It is thought he may have helped more people to escape the noose than any other barrister. ibid.
This new court showed that English law was strong enough to acknowledge and deal with its mistakes. ibid.
The common law currently faces a serious challenge ... Judges once the creators of the law have largely had the role taken from them by parliament. ibid.
Since the 1970s government seem to have become increasingly addicted to enacting new laws ... I call it legislative diarrhoea. ibid.