Botched Execution - Any sympathy?

[Lady Whistledown]

A length of hemp and a trap door is an excellent deterrent

It absolutely isn't, and as I think has already been said, there are countries which have the death penalty where murder rates are far higher than here.

People who commit heinous crimes don't tend to give any thought to the idea that they may get caught, they tend to be rather hoping to get away with it (or sometimes are in too much of a distressed/confused/disturbed mental state to even consider the possibility), therefore you could threaten all murderers with disembowelling by means of a red hot poker, and it would have no impact whatsoever on murder rates.

What this man did was clearly vile, and it's difficult to have a lot of sympathy, I grant you that. But, while I frequently feel that serious offenders in this country don't get long enough sentences, that's not enough for me to wish for the return of the death penalty. I think we're more civilised than that. I'm quite happy to contribute a few pennies a year to ensure someone like Michael Adebowale spends the rest of his days languishing in a small cell, and it would be nice to think that, at some stage in the next forty or fifty years, he might come to feel some sort of regret and even remorse for his actions. I wonder if executing him might be his easy way out.

Incidentally: I find myself wondering, as a result of this, what the prison staff are supposed to do if a prisoner goes into some sort of cardiac arrest immediately prior to his execution? Do they attempt to revive him? Leave him to it? I'd guess they'd have to try and save him, which would be slightly ironic.

 

[Husty]

It absolutely isn't, and as I think has already been said, there are countries which have the death penalty where murder rates are far higher than here.

America, for starters.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

It absolutely isn't, and as I think has already been said, there are countries which have the death penalty where murder rates are far higher than here.

People who commit heinous crimes don't tend to give any thought to the idea that they may get caught, they tend to be rather hoping to get away with it (or sometimes are in too much of a distressed/confused/disturbed mental state to even consider the possibility), therefore you could threaten all murderers with disembowelling by means of a red hot poker, and it would have no impact whatsoever on murder rates.

What this man did was clearly vile, and it's difficult to have a lot of sympathy, I grant you that. But, while I frequently feel that serious offenders in this country don't get long enough sentences, that's not enough for me to wish for the return of the death penalty. I think we're more civilised than that. I'm quite happy to contribute a few pennies a year to ensure someone like Michael Adebowale spends the rest of his days languishing in a small cell, and it would be nice to think that, at some stage in the next forty or fifty years, he might come to feel some sort of regret and even remorse for his actions. I wonder if executing him might be his easy way out.

Incidentally: I find myself wondering, as a result of this, what the prison staff are supposed to do if a prisoner goes into some sort of cardiac arrest immediately prior to his execution? Do they attempt to revive him? Leave him to it? I'd guess they'd have to try and save him, which would be slightly ironic.

Small cell? Is there any truth in the whole TV in room, pool table, time to work out/exercise, 3 meals a day that you hear about? Doesn't sound like much of a punishment to me..

 

[symyjym]

Well, this...
If we had the death penalty, we could well have executed at least 10 innocent people, Birm 6, and Guild 4....

Those cases were always under appeal so I don't think they would have been executed.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Small cell? Is there any truth in the whole TV in room, pool table, time to work out/exercise, 3 meals a day that you hear about? Doesn't sound like much of a punishment to me..

I suspect after a few months, playing pool & going to the gym would get pretty dull. It's not like you can say "it's a lovely evening out. Let's go and sit in a pub garden". Doubt it's Michelin starred food either, despite what the Daily Mail & Express would have you believe every Christmas ("LAGS Tuck Into LUXURY Xmas Dinners While Poor Pensioners STARVE" etc).

 

[symyjym]

By the way not all murderers have such a hard life:

Yorkshire Ripper Jimmy Savile

 

[symyjym]

It wasn't botched at and thought he died in a humane way and think these execution are the way forward. I'd personally flush bleach or battery acid through the tubes to save money.

This is very you, but you may be on to something

 

[Husty]

I have sympathy with him yes.

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Labour camps are ok by me. We desperately need to increase manufacturing in this country.

It creates it's own problems too (kids for cash scandal), although a better route than capital punishment. America has the highest prison population in the world (almost 1% of adults are in prison) and pays the inmates around $2/hr to manufacture goods. It's summed up nicely in this article:

“The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners’ work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself,”

For me, the idea of prison is to act as a deterrent and a punishment, but equally important to rehabilitate offenders so they won't re offend and they can be a productive member of society when they are released. Privatised prisons have no incentive to do this and aren't the best solution.

This is completely wrong. Read any study/article from the US regarding the huge cost of capital punishment. Some states are abolishing capital punishment for budgetary reasons alone.

It's a complete myth that capital punishment is a minimal cost compared to life imprisonment.

http://www.economist.com/node/13279051

Nice post, evidence and all. You know it won't change the opinion of those who support it though. They'll keep clutching at flimsy reasons which, when proven wrong, will suddenly become irrelevant and a new set of reasons will be rolled out.

 

[fat old seagull]

This is very you, but you may be on to something

On to something, or on something ?

 

[Triggaaar]

It's summed up nicely in this article:
"The private contracting of prisoners for work fosters incentives to lock people up. Prisons depend on this income. Corporate stockholders who make money off prisoners’ work lobby for longer sentences, in order to expand their workforce. The system feeds itself"

Yeah I learned a bit about the US system after reading posts on here a few weeks back. But it's possible to have prisoners 1) being productive for the economy, 2) learning skills, and 3) gaining self esteem. I wouldn't advocate privatising such schemes, as it's open to abuse, like in the US.

 

[The Birdman]

We should make them watch Chelsea that will do the job

 

[BensGrandad]

Me too, with no chance of parole, make them work, make it horrible for them. No TV, no luxuries.

That is the answer every day he looks forward to the same hard work with no let up and no luxeries so just existing to work and given just sufficient food to do that.

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

It wasn't botched at and thought he died in a humane way and think these execution are the way forward. I'd personally flush bleach or battery acid through the tubes to save money.

'No Nonsense' central heating sludge remover could do a job-------less than a tenner a litre.
However-----Labour costs for one hours work with my SPECIAL pump THING would put this up to six hundred sovs

 

[British Bulldog]

I'm not against execution for certain crimes but if your going to do it then you should get it right, There's no excuse for messing it up.

 

[fat old seagull]

We should make them watch Chelsea that will do the job

Exactly that.....couldn't suffer that if we'd topped them could they ! That said I've not murdered anyone and I'll be suffering that shortly ...

 

[symyjym]

The worst thing you can do to someone is make them face their own death and they should face theirs.

Cases like the Tia Sharpe murderer Stuart Hazell should pay the ultimate price. They need to count down the last weeks of their lives knowing their fate of going into a room knowing that they will not come out again.

http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/the-murder-of-tia-sharp/crime

Ian Brady and Myra Hindley never really paid for their crimes.

Dying of natural causes is far too kind in these extreme cases.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I've just finished reading Hard Time by Shaun Attwood, a Brit locked up for over 2 years before trial (effectively he ran a drug ring but they had limited evidence) in an American jail.

Give me death over a long prison sentence any day of the week. The experience sounds horrendous. 3 to a cell no bigger than a bus shelter, psychos for neighbours with insect infestations, 100 degree plus temperatures, inedible food, daily violence for petty reasons and nothing to do.

 

[bha100]

If you get a chance watch the whole hardtalk programme with an interview from a man that knows


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26273051

 

[Barrel of Fun]

A loss of freedom should not be seen as an easy ride.

I was incarcerated in South America (guilty of not carrying ID) for four hours, along with 50 or so other criminals in a small holding area.

The longest four hours of my life. I couldn't imagine spending 20+ hours in a small cell every day for years upon years. I'd go stir crazy.

I don't believe anyone should be put to death, certainly not tortured to death, but I think the word sympathy would perhaps be the wrong word in this instance.