Capital punishment in the United Kingdom refers to the use of capital punishment in the United Kingdom and its constituent countries, predating the formation of the United Kingdom itself. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ...

The death penalty was abolished for murder in 1965, but it is a matter of historical curiosity that it remained on the statute book, although never applied, for certain other offences until 1998.

Origins in English law

Hanging by the neck until dead as form of capital punishment was introduced to England by the Anglo-Saxon invaders of the 5th century. By the 10th century it had become a common method of execution. William I of England decreed that hanging should only be used for conspirators or in times of war and ordered that criminals should instead be blinded and emasculated. Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria was the only lord to be formally executed during his reign. William Rufus re-introduced hanging but only for those found guilty of poaching royal deer. He too is known to have executed only a single aristocrat, William of Aldrie. Henry I brought hanging back as the main means of execution for many crimes. William Fitz Osbern was the first recorded execution at Tyburn in 1196. The hanging tree (near present-day Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park) became notorious. Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Anglo-Saxon. ... Europe in 450 The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... William I of England (c. ... Waltheof (1050-31 May 1076), Earl of Northumbria and last of the Anglo-Saxon earls. ... William II (c. ... William of Aldrie was a first generation Anglo-Norman and rebel. ... Henry I (c. ... William Fitz Osbern was a citizen of London who took up the role of the advocate of the poor in a popular uprising in the spring of 1196. ... Tyburn was a former village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch. ... Events Spring, London, popular uprising of the poor against the rich led by William Fitz Osbern. ... A Socialist Party of Great Britain member arguing against capitalism, October 31, 2004 Speakers Corner is an area where public speaking is allowed, and is located in the north-east corner of Hyde Park in London, England. ... “Hyde Park” redirects here. ...

Under the reign of Henry VIII some 72,000 people are estimated to have been executed by various methods including boiling, burning at the stake, decapitation and hanging, sometimes with the added punishment of drawing and quartering while still alive. Henry VIII redirects here. ... Boiling to death is a method of capital punishment. ... Jan Hus burned at the stake Execution by burning has a long history as a method of punishment for crimes such as treason, heresy and witchcraft (burning, however, was actually less common than hanging, pressing, or drowning as a punishment for witchcraft). ... Decapitation (from Latin, caput, capitis, meaning head), or beheading, is the removal of a living organisms head. ... To be hanged, drawn and quartered was the penalty once ordained in England for treason. ...

Sir Samuel Romilly speaking to the House of Commons on capital punishment in 1810, declared that "…[there is] no country on the face of the earth in which there [have] been so many different offences according to law to be punished with death as in England." Known as the "Bloody Code", at its height the criminal law included some 220 different crimes punishable by death. These crimes included such offences as "being in the company of Gypsies for one month", "strong evidence of malice in a child aged 7–14 years of age" and "blacking the face or using a disguise whilst committing a crime". Many of these offences had been introduced to protect the property of the wealthy classes that emerged during the first half of the eighteenth century; a notable example being the Black Act of 1723 which created fifty capital offences for various acts of theft and poaching. Sir Samuel Romilly was on crack and smoked weed (March 1, 1757 - November 2, 1818), was an English legal reformer. ... Type Lower House Speaker Michael Martin, (Non-affiliated) since October 23, 2000 Leader Harriet Harman, (Labour) since June 28, 2007 Shadow Leader Theresa May, (Conservative) since May 5, 2005 Members 659 Political groups Labour Party Conservative Party Liberal Democrats Scottish National Party Plaid Cymru Democratic Unionist Party Sinn Féin... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The Black Act (9 Geo. ...

Whilst executions for murder, burglary and robbery were common, the death sentences of minor offenders were often not carried out. However, children were commonly executed for such minor crimes as stealing. A sentence of death could be commuted or respited (permanently postponed) for reasons such as benefit of clergy, official pardons, pregnancy of the offender or performance of military or naval duty^[1] Between 1770 and 1830, 35,000 death sentences were handed down in England and Wales, but only 7,000 executions were carried out.^[2] In English law, the benefit of clergy was originally a provision by which clergymen could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead under canon law. ... For the village in Queensland, see 1770, Queensland. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Reform

In 1808 Romilly had the death penalty removed for pickpockets and lesser offenders, starting a process of reform that continued over the next 50 years. Since the death penalty was mandatory (although it was frequently commuted by the government), the Judgement of Death Act 1823 gave judges the power to commute the death penalty for all capital crimes except treason and murder. The Punishment of Death, etc. Act 1832 reduced the number of capital crimes by two-thirds. Gibbeting was abolished in 1832 and hanging in chains was abolished in 1834. In 1861, several acts of Parliament (24 & 25 Vict; c. 94 to c. 100) further reduced the number of civilian capital crimes to five: murder, treason, espionage, arson in royal dockyards, and piracy with violence; there were other offences under military law. The death penalty remained mandatory for treason and murder, unless commuted. Year 1808 (MDCCCVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For the Breton religious festivals, see Pardon (ceremony). ... The Judgement of Death Act 1823 (c. ... For other uses, see Treason (disambiguation) or Traitor (disambiguation). ... Gibbet is a term applied to several different devices used in the capital punishment of criminals and/or the deterrence of potential criminals. ... Under English (and later, British) law, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Sovereign amounting to an intention to undermine their authority or the actual attempt to do so. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... Arson in royal dockyards was among the last offences that was punishable by execution in the United Kingdom. ... The Piracy Act 1837 (c. ... Military law is a distinct legal system to which members of armed forces are subject. ... A mandatory sentence is a judicial decision setting the punishment to be inflicted on a person convicted of a crime where judicial discretion is limited by law. ... For the Breton religious festivals, see Pardon (ceremony). ...

The Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1864–66) concluded (with one dissenter) that there was not a case for abolition but did recommend an end to public executions and this proposal was included in the Capital Punishment (Amendment) Act 1868. From then executions on the island of Great Britain were carried out in prison. The practice of beheading and quartering executed traitors was stopped in 1870. In states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. ... 1864 (MDCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

In 1885 John 'Babbacombe' Lee was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang though he maintained that he was innocent. On February 23 at Exeter prison, three attempts were made to carry out his execution, all of which failed (because when the gallows had been reassembled in the new shed the draw bar was misaligned by one eighth of an inch; thus one of the hinges of the trap caught on the bar and failed to drop - see Home Office documents on the affair). As a result, Home Secretary Sir William Harcourt commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. Lee continued to petition successive Home Secretaries and was finally released from gaol in 1907, having become notorious as the man they couldn't hang. John Henry George Lee, better known as John Babbacombe Lee, (1864 - 1941?) survived three attempted judicial executions in England and is known as the man they couldnt hang. ... is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir William Harcourt Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (October 14, 1827 - October 1, 1904) was a British Liberal statesman. ...

Juveniles under 16 could no longer be executed from 1908 with the Children's Charter. In 1922 a new offence of Infanticide was introduced to replace the charge of murder for mothers killing their children in the first year of life. In 1930 a parliamentary Select Committee recommended that capital punishment be suspended for a trial period of five years, but no action was taken. From 1931 pregnant women could no longer be hanged (following the birth of their child), and in 1933 the minimum age for capital punishment was raised to 18 with the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. The last known execution of a person under 18 years of age was that of Charles Dobel, 17, hanged at Maidstone together with his accomplice William Gower, 18, in January 1889. The Children Act 1908 also known as Children and Young Persons Act was a piece of government legislation passed by the Liberal government which was part of the British Liberal Parties Liberal reforms package. ... The Infanticide Act is the name for a number of laws introduced into UK law (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) that recognised the special nature of the killing of an infant child by its mother during the early months of life. ... A Select Committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster System of parliamentary democracy. ...

In 1938 the issue of the abolition of capital punishment was brought before parliament. A clause within the Criminal Justice Bill called for an experimental five-year suspension of the death penalty. When war broke out in 1939 the bill was postponed. It was revived after the war and to everyone's surprise was adopted by a majority in the House of Commons (245 in favour to 222 against). In the House of Lords the abolition clause was defeated but the remainder of the bill was passed. Popular support for abolition was absent and the government decided that it would be inappropriate for it to assert its supremacy by invoking the Parliament Acts over such an unpopular issue. This article is about the British House of Lords. ... Passing of the Parliament Bill, 1911, from the drawing by S. Begg The Parliament Acts are two Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1911 and 1949. ...

Instead, the Home Secretary set up a new royal commission (the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, 1949–1953) with instructions to determine "whether the liability to suffer capital punishment should be limited or modified". The Commission's report discussed a number of alternatives to execution by hanging (including the US methods of electrocution and gassing, and the then-theoretical lethal injection), but rejected them. It had more difficulty with the principle of capital punishment. Popular opinion believed that the death penalty acted as a deterrent to criminals, but the statistics within the report were inconclusive on this issue. Whilst the report recommended abolition from an ethical standpoint, it made no mention of possible miscarriages of justice. It concluded that unless there was overwhelming public support in favour of abolition, the death penalty should be retained. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland). ...

Between 1900 and 1949, 621 men and 11 women were executed in England and Wales. Thirteen German agents were executed during the Second World War. The Treachery Act 1940 was the only law in the twentieth century to create a new capital offence in civilian law. The Treachery Act of 1940 was a British law created during World War II to prosecute and execute enemy spies. ...

By 1957 a number of controversial cases had highlighted the issue of capital punishment once again. Campaigners for abolition were partially rewarded with the Homicide Act 1957. The Act brought in a distinction between capital and non-capital homicide. Only six categories of murder were now punishable by execution. They were: Under English law, the Homicide Act 1957 was enacted as a partial reform of the common law offence of murder by abolishing the doctrine of constructive malice (except in limited circumstances) and by introducing the partial defences of provocation, diminished responsibility and suicide pact. ...

• Murder in the course or furtherance of theft
• Murder by shooting or causing an explosion
• Murder while resisting arrest or during an escape
• Murder of a police officer
• Murder of a prison officer by a prisoner
• The second of two murders committed on different occasions (if both done in Great Britain).

The police and the government were of the opinion that the death penalty deterred offenders from carrying firearms and it was for this reason that such offences remained punishable by death.

Abolition

Murder

In 1965 the Labour MP Sydney Silverman, who had committed himself to the cause of abolition for more than 20 years, proposed a private member's bill on abolition which was passed on a free vote in the House of Commons by 200 votes to 98. (A free vote, traditional for issues of conscience such as abortion and capital punishment, is one in which the political parties do not direct MPs how to vote.) The bill was subsequently passed by the House of Lords by 204 votes to 104. The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Sydney Silverman was elected as British MP in the 1945 General election for Nelson & Colne, holding the seat at the subsequent general elections in 1950 and 1951. ... A Private Members Bill is a proposed law introduced by a backbench member of parliament, whether from the government or the opposition side, to that legislature or parliament. ... A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are each expected to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. ...

The Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act 1965 suspended the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland (but not Northern Ireland) for murder for a period of five years, and substituted a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. In 1969 the Act came up for renewal and the Home Secretary, James Callaghan, proposed a motion to make the Act permanent, which was carried by both houses on December 18, 1969. The death penalty for murder was abolished in Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973. Under English law, the Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act 1965 is a statute abolishing the death penalty for murder in the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... This article is about the country. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... A mandatory sentence is a judicial decision setting the punishment to be inflicted on a person convicted of a crime where judicial discretion is limited by law. ... Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime, nominally for the entire remaining life of the prisoner, but in fact for a period which varies between jurisdictions: many countries have a maximum possible period of time (usually 50 years) a prisoner may be incarcerated, or require the... The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is responsible for internal affairs in England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole United Kingdom (including Scotland and Northern Ireland). ... Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005), was Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979. ... is the 352nd day of the year (353rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ...

After abolition of the death penalty for murder it became a tradition for Parliament to hold a free vote on a motion proposing the restoration of capital punishment in each session. This motion has always been defeated. However, the death penalty still survived for other crimes, namely:

1. treason (until 1998),
2. piracy with violence (until 1998),
3. causing a fire or explosion in a naval dockyard, ship, magazine or warehouse (until 1971),
4. espionage^[3] (until 1981), and
5. certain crimes under the jurisdiction of the armed forces, such as mutiny (until 1998).[2]

However no more executions were carried out under UK law. Under English (and later, British) law, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Sovereign amounting to an intention to undermine their authority or the actual attempt to do so. ... The Piracy Act 1837 (c. ... Arson in royal dockyards was among the last offences that was punishable by execution in the United Kingdom. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... The armed forces of the United Kingdom, commonly known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majestys Armed Forces, and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown[1], encompasses a navy, army, and an air force. ... Mutiny AKA. Matt Daye Is A conspiracy among members of a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the military; or the crew of any ship, even if they are civilians) to openly oppose, change or overthrow an existing authority. ...

Last executions

On 13 August 1964 at 8am Peter Anthony Allen, at Walton Prison in Liverpool, and Gwynne Owen Evans, at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, were each executed for the murder of John Alan West on 7 April that year.^[4] These were the last executions in England and in the United Kingdom. is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Peter Anthony Allen (4 April 1943–13 August 1964) was twenty-one years old when he became one of the two last people in the United Kingdom to be executed. ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... Gwynne Owen Evans (1 April 1940–13 August 1964) (real name John Robson Walby or Welaby) was 24 years old when he and his accomplice Peter Anthony Allen became the last men in the United Kingdom to be executed. ... HM Prison Manchester is a British prison. ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... John Alan West was a 53 year-old laundry van driver of Workington, Cumbria, England, murdered by two men on 7 April 1964. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ...

The last execution in Scotland was of 21 year old Henry John Burnett on 15 August 1963 in Craiginches Prison, Aberdeen, for the murder of seaman Thomas Guyan. Jackson Terrace Henry John Burnett (executed August 15, 1963) was the last man to be hanged in Scotland and the first in Aberdeen since 1891. ... is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ...

The last execution in Northern Ireland was of Robert McGladdery, 25, on 20 December 1961 in Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast, for the murder of Pearl Gamble. Robert Andrew McGladdery (died December 20, 1961) was the last person to be executed in Northern Ireland. ... is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... HMP Belfast otherwise known as Crumlin Road Gaol is a former prison situated in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. ...

The last execution to take place in Wales was of murderer Vivian Teed, hanged in Swansea on 6 May 1958. For other places with the same name, see Swansea (disambiguation). ... is the 126th day of the year (127th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

The last woman to be executed in the UK was Ruth Ellis on 13 July 1955. For the lesbian activist, see Ruth Ellis (American). ... is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ...

Last death sentences

The last person to be sentenced to death in the United Kingdom was William Holden in 1973 in Northern Ireland, for the capital murder of a British soldier during the Troubles. Holden was removed from the death cell in May 1973. For other uses, see Troubles (disambiguation) and Trouble. ...

The last person sentenced to death in England was David Chapman, who was sentenced to hang in November 1965 for the capital murder of a swimming-pool night-watchman in Scarborough. He was released from prison in 1979 and later died in a car accident. This article is on the English seaside resort. ...

The last person to be sentenced to death in Scotland was Patrick McCarron in 1964 for fatally shooting his wife. He hanged himself in prison in 1970.

The last person to be sentenced to death in Wales was Edgar Black, who was reprieved on 6 November 1963. He had fatally shot his wife's lover in Cardiff. is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital city of Wales. ...

Final abolition

The Criminal Damage Act 1971 abolished the offence of arson in royal dockyards. Under English law, the Criminal Damage Act 1971 is the main statute covering damage to property. ... Arson in royal dockyards was among the last offences that was punishable by execution in the United Kingdom. ...

The Naval Discipline Act 1957 reduced the scope of capital espionage from "all spies for the enemy" to spies on naval ships or bases.^[5] Later the Armed Forces Act 1981 abolished the death penalty for espionage.[3] (In 1911 the Official Secrets Act had created another offence of espionage which carried a maximum sentence of fourteen years.) Official Secrets Act warning sign, Foulness. ...

Under a House of Lords amendment to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, proposed by Lord Archer of Sandwell, the death penalty was abolished for treason and piracy with violence, replacing it with a discretionary maximum sentence of life imprisonment. These were the last civilian offences punishable with death. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament. ... Peter Kingsley Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell, PC (born 20 November 1926), is a Labour Party member of the House of Lords. ... The Treason Act 1814 (citation 54 Geo. ... The Piracy Act 1837 (c. ...

On May 20, 1998, the House of Commons voted to ratify the 6th Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibiting capital punishment except "in time of war or imminent threat of war." The last remaining provisions for the death penalty under military jurisdiction (including in wartime) were removed when section 21(5) of the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force on 9 November 1998. The UK later (10 October 2003; effective from 1 February 2004^[6]) acceded to the 13th Protocol, which prohibits the death penalty under all circumstances,^[7] so that the UK may no longer legislate to restore the death penalty while it is subject to the Convention. is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... “ECHR” redirects here. ... The Human Rights Act 1998 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on November 9, 1998, and mostly came into force on October 2, 2000. ... is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

As a legacy from colonial times, several islands in the West Indies still had the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the court of final appeal; although the death penalty has been retained in these islands, the Privy Council would sometimes delay or deny executions. Some of these islands severed links with the British court system in 2001 in order to speed up executions.^[8] West Indies redirects here. ... The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. ... In law, an appeal is a process for making a formal challenge to an official decision. ...

Crown dependencies

Further information: Capital punishment in the Isle of Man

Although not part of the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey are British Crown dependencies. The Isle of Man formally abolished capital punishment in 1993, but in practice had not used it for many decades. ... The Isle of Man is situated in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland, and the bailiwicks of Jersey and Guersey are situated in the English Channel to the west of the Cotentin Crown dependencies are possessions of The Crown in Right of the United Kingdom, as opposed to...

In the Channel Islands, the last death sentence was passed in 1984, however the last execution in the Channel Islands was in Jersey on 9 October 1959 when Francis Joseph Hutchet was hanged for murder.^[9] The Human Rights (Amendment) (Jersey) Order 2006^[10] amends the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000^[11] to give effect to the 13th Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights providing for the total abolition of the death penalty. Both of these laws came into effect on 10 December 2006. The 13th Protocol was extended to Guernsey in April 2004.^[12] is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... “ECHR” redirects here. ... is the 344th day of the year (345th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The last execution on the Isle of Man took place in 1872. Nevertheless, capital punishment was not formally abolished by Tynwald (the island's parliament) until 1993.^[13] Five persons were sentenced to death (for murder) on the Isle of Man between 1973 and 1992, although all sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. The last person to be sentenced to death in the UK or its dependancies was Anthony Teare, who was convicted at the Manx Court of General Gaol Delivery in Douglas in 1992; he was subsequently retried and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1994.^[14] In 2004 the 13th Protocol was adopted,^[15] with an effective date of 1 November 2006.^[16] Tynwald (Tinvaal in Manx) is the bicameral legislature of the Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin). ... The High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man is governed by the High Court Act 1991. ... Location within the British Isles Douglas (Doolish in Manx) is the capital of the Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin) and its largest town. ... is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notable executions

Note: This list does not include the beheadings of nobility.

• 1305: William Wallace, Scottish resistance fighter, was hanged, drawn and quartered for treason.
• 1499: Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the throne, was hanged at Tyburn.
• 1606: On 31 January the Gunpowder Plotters of 1605 were hanged, drawn and quartered.
• 1612: Edward Wightman became the last person in England to be burnt at the stake for heresy, at Lichfield.
• 1660: At the English Restoration nine regicides were hanged, drawn and quartered for their part in the death of King Charles I. Also John Bradshaw, Oliver Cromwell, and Henry Ireton were posthumously executed: disinterred from Westminster Abbey and hanged, drawn, and quartered.
• 1681: Oliver Plunkett was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on July 1, 1681, becoming the last Catholic martyr to die in England.
• 1684: Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles and Susanna Edwards became the last people to be hanged for witchcraft in Britain.
• 1708: Michael Hammond, aged 7, and his sister, aged 11, were reputedly hanged at Lynn for felony. If true, Michael would have been the youngest person ever to suffer the death penalty in Britain.^{[citation needed]}
• 1724: Jack Sheppard, house-breaker, was hanged at Tyburn for burglary on 16 November after four successful escape attempts from jail. His partner-in-crime, highwayman Joseph "Blueskin" Blake, was similarly executed for the same burglary five days earlier.
• 1725: Jonathan Wild, criminal overlord and fraudulent "Thief Taker General", was hanged at Tyburn on May 24 (over six months after Jack Sheppard's and Blueskin's executions) for receiving stolen good and thus actually aiding criminals.
• 1739: Dick Turpin, highwayman, was hanged.
• 1746: Nine Catholic members of the Manchester Regiment, Jacobites, were hanged, drawn and quartered for treason on Wednesday July 30, 1746 at Kennington Common (now Kennington Park).
• 1750: James MacLaine, 'The Gentleman Highwayman', was hanged at Tyburn, London
• 1757: John Byng becomes the only British admiral ever executed (by firing squad) by the Royal Navy. His crime was to have failed to "do his utmost" during the Battle of Minorca.
• 1760: Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers was executed at Tyburn on 5 May for the murder of a servant. He is the only peer to have been hanged for murder.
• 1789: Catherine Murphy was the last woman to be burned to death (legally) in England. The penalty was abolished the next year.
• 1820: Andrew Hardie and John Baird were hanged and beheaded at Stirling after being tried for their part in the Radical War in Scotland.
• 1828: William Corder was hanged at Bury St Edmunds on August 11 for the murder of Maria Marten at the Red Barn a year before.
• 1861: Martin Doyle became the last person to be hanged for attempted murder at Chester on the 27 August.
• 1868: Frances Kidder became the last woman to be hanged in public on 2 April.
• 1868: Michael Barrett was executed on 26 May at Newgate Prison for the Fenian bombing at Clerkenwell, the last public hanging in Britain.
• 1910: Hawley Harvey Crippen was hanged on 23 November in London's Pentonville Prison for the murder of his wife.
• 1914: Private Thomas Highgate was executed by firing squad on 8 September, the first British soldier to be executed for desertion during the World War I.
• 1916: Roger Casement was hanged at Pentonville on 3 August for treason as one of the 7 leaders of the failed Irish Easter Rising.
• 1923: Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters are hanged simultaneously on 9 January in London's Holloway and Pentonville Prisons respectively. The case was controversial because Thompson did not directly participate in the murder for which she was hanged.
• 1941: Josef Jakobs was executed by firing-squad on 15 August, the last execution in the Tower of London.
• 1946: William Joyce, better known as "Lord Haw-Haw", was hanged for treason on 3 January in London's Wandsworth Prison. He was actually an American citizen, not British, but was convicted of treason because, as the holder of a British passport (albeit one fraudulently obtained), he nevertheless owed allegiance to the British sovereign. Theodore Schurch, hanged for treachery the next day, was the last person to be executed for an offence other than murder; he was executed at Pentonville. As a serviceman he was tried by court-martial.
• 1947: Walter Rowland was hanged in Manchester on 27 February for the murder of Olive Balchin despite maintaining his innocence. While he had been awaiting execution, another man confessed to the crime.^{[citation needed]} A Home Office report dismissed the latter's confession as a fake, but in 1951 he attacked another woman and was found guilty but insane.^{[citation needed]}
• 1949: Margaret Allen, aged 43, was hanged on 12 January for killing a 70-year-old woman in the course of a robbery, the first woman to be hanged in Britain for 12 years.
• 1949: John George Haigh, the "acid-bath murderer", was executed at Wandsworth on 10 August.
• 1950: Timothy Evans was hanged on 9 March at Pentonville for the murder of his baby daughter at 10 Rillington Place, north-west London. He had also confessed to killing his wife. A fellow inhabitant at the same address, John Christie, later found to be a sexual serial killer, gave key evidence against Evans. Christie was executed in 1953 for the murder of his own wife. Evans received a posthumous pardon in 1966. In 2004 the Court of Appeal refused to consider overturning the conviction due to the costs and resources that would be involved. See 10 Rillington Place.
• 1950: George Kelly was hanged at Liverpool on 28 March for murder, but had his conviction quashed posthumously by the Court of Appeal in June 2003.
• 1952: Edward Devlin and Alfred Burns were executed on 25 April for killing a woman during a robbery in Liverpool. They claimed that they had been doing a different burglary in Manchester, and others involved in the crime supported this. A Home Office report rejected this evidence. Huge crowds gathered outside Liverpool's Walton Prison as they were executed.
• 1952: Mahmood Hussein Mattan, a Somali seaman, was hanged on 3 September in Cardiff for murder. The Court of Appeal quashed his conviction posthumously in 1998^[17] after hearing that crucial evidence implicating another Somali was withheld at his trial.
• 1953: Derek Bentley was executed on 28 January at Wandsworth prison as an accomplice to the murder of a police officer by his 16-year-old friend Christopher Craig. Craig, a minor, was not executed and instead served 10 years. Derek Bentley was granted a posthumous pardon on July 29, 1993. The Court of Appeal overturned his conviction on 30 July 1998.
• 1953: John Reginald Halliday Christie was executed on 15 July at Pentonville for the murder of his wife Ethel.
• 1954: Styllou Christofi, aged 53, penultimate woman executed by Britain on 13 December.
• 1955: Ruth Ellis, aged 28, was executed on 13 July, the 15th, youngest, and last woman to be hanged in Britain in the 20th century.
• 1959: Guenther Podola was executed on 5 November 1959, the last person to be hanged for the murder of a policeman.
• 1960: Francis Forsyth was hanged on 10 November, the last 18-year-old to be executed in Britain; Anthony Joseph Miller, 19, was hanged in Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison on 22 December 1960, the last teenager to be executed in Britain.
• 1961: Robert McGladdery, 25, was hanged on December 20 in Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast, the last person to be executed in Northern Ireland, for the murder of Pearl Gamble in Newry.
• 1962: James Hanratty was executed at Bedford on 4 April after a controversial rape-murder trial. In 2002 Hanratty's body was exhumed and the Court of Appeal upheld his conviction after Hanratty's DNA was linked to crime scene samples.
• 1963: Henry Burnett, aged 21, was executed on 15 August at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen for the murder of seaman Thomas Guyan, the last hanging in Scotland.
• 1964: Peter Anthony Allen, at Walton Prison in Liverpool, and Gwynne Owen Evans, at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, were executed on 13 August at 8 a.m. for the murder of John Alan West, the last people executed in Britain [4].

For other persons named William Wallace, see William Wallace (disambiguation). ... To be hanged, drawn and quartered was the penalty once ordained in England for treason. ... For other uses, see Treason (disambiguation) or Traitor (disambiguation). ... Contemporary painting of Warbeck Perkin Warbeck (c. ... This article is about pretender as applied to a monarchy. ... Tyburn was a former village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... A contemporary sketch of the conspirators. ... To be hanged, drawn and quartered was the penalty once ordained in England for treason. ... Edward Wightman (December 20, 1566 - April 11, 1612), a Baptist, was the last person to be executed for heresy in England by burning at the stake. ... For other uses, see Heresy (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with Litchfield. ... For other uses, see Restoration. ... Regicides of Charles I are considered to be the 59 Commissioners (Judges) who formed the tribunal that tried King Charles I of England and signed his death warrant, along with other officials who participated in his trial or execution, and Hugh Peters an influential republican preacher. ... John Bradshaw (1602-October 31, 1659) was one of the judges to preside over the trial and subsequent death sentence of Charles I of England. ... Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... Henry Ireton Henry Ireton (1611 - November 26, 1651), was an English general in the army of Parliament during the English Civil War. ... Posthumous execution is the ritual execution of an already dead body. ... The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ... St. ... To be hanged, drawn and quartered was the penalty once ordained in England for treason. ... Tyburn was a former village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events March 4 - Charles II of England grants a land charter to William Penn for the area that will later become Pennsylvania. ... For other uses, see Martyr (disambiguation). ... The Bideford witch trial resulted in the last ever hangings for witchcraft in England. ... Witch redirects here. ... For the record label, see Felony Records The term felony is a term used in common law systems for very serious crimes, whereas misdemeanors are considered to be less serious offenses. ... Jack Sheppard in Newgate Prison Jack Sheppard (December 1702 – 16 November 1724) was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th century London. ... is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Blueskin redirects here, for the bay and rural district in New Zealand, see Blueskin Bay There are no contemporary pictures of Blake but he is featured in the second image of The Last Scene engraved by George Cruikshank in 1839 to illustrate William Harrison Ainsworths serialised novel, Jack Sheppard. ... Jonathan Wild in the condemned cell at Newgate Prison Jonathan Wild (baptised 6 May 1683–24 May 1725) was perhaps the most famous criminal of London — and possibly Great Britain — during the 18th century, both because of his own actions and the uses novelists, playwrights, and political satirists made of... is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A 19th century illustration of Dick Turpin Richard (Dick) Turpin (born September 21, 1705 in Hempstead, Essex – died April 7, 1739 in York) is a legendary English rogue and the most famous historical highwayman. ... is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events Catharine de Ricci (born 1522) canonized. ... Kennington Park is in Kennington, London, England, in London SE11, and lies between Kennington Park Road and St Agnes Place. ... Captain James MacLaine (occasionally Maclean, MacLean, or Maclane) (1724 – 3 October 1750) was a notorious highwayman with his accomplice William Plunkett. ... Tyburn was a former village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch. ... Portrait of John Byng by Thomas Hudson, 1749 John Byng (October 29, 1704 – March 14, 1757) was a British Admiral who was court-martialled and executed for failing to do his utmost during the Battle of Minorca, at the beginning of the Seven Years War. ... This article is about the navy of the United Kingdom. ... The naval Battle of Minorca took place on May 20, 1756, at the opening of the Seven Years War in the European theatre, shortly after the Kingdom of Great Britain had declared war on the House of Bourbon, off the Mediterranean island of Minorca between British and French squadrons. ... Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers (August 18, 1720 - May 5, 1760) was the last aristocrat hanged in England. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Peerage (disambiguation). ... Catherine Murphy (died March 18, 1789) was the last woman to suffer execution by burning in England. ... The Radical War, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820, was a week of strikes and unrest, a culmination of Radical demands for reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which had become prominent in the early years of the French Revolution, but had then been... , Bury St Edmunds is a town in the county of Suffolk, England, and was formerly the county town of West Suffolk. ... is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Scene of the murder, The Red Barn, so called because of its half red-tiled roof, which can be seen to the left of the door in this sketch The Red Barn Murder was a notorious murder committed in Suffolk, England, in 1827. ... Martin Doyle (VC, MM) (25 October 1891- 20 November 1940) born in New Ross, County Wexford was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ... is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Newgate, the old city gate and prison. ... Fenian is a term used since the 1850s for Irish nationalists (who oppose British rule in Ireland). ... Hawley Harvey Crippen (11 September 1862 – 23 November 1910), usually known as Dr. Crippen, was hanged in Pentonville Prison, London, England, on November 23, 1910 for murdering his wife. ... is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Private Thomas James Highgate (13 May 1895 - 8 September 1914) was an English soldier during the early days of the First World War. ... is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses of Desertion, see Abandonment. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Roger David Casement (Irish: ;[1] 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG between 1905 and July 1916, was an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary and nationalist by inclination. ... is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants Irish Volunteers, Irish Citizen Army, Irish Republican Brotherhood British Army Royal Irish Constabulary Commanders Patrick Pearse, James Connolly Brigadier-General Lowe General Sir John Maxwell Strength 1250 in Dublin, c. ... Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters Edith Jessie Thompson (25 December 1893 – 9 January 1923) and Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters (1901 – 9 January 1923) were a British couple who were executed for the murder of Thompson’s husband Percy. ... is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Josef Jakobs, a German agent, was shot by firing squad in the Tower of London during the Second World War after conviction under the Treachery Act of 1940. ... is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the Second World War propagandist. ... Lord Haw-Haw was the nickname of several announcers on the English language propaganda radio programme Germany Calling, broadcast by Nazi German radio to audiences in Great Britain on the mediumwave station Radio Hamburg and by shortwave to the United States. ... is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Theodore William John Schurch (May 5, 1918 – January 4, 1946) was an Anglo-Swiss soldier who was the last person to be hanged for an offence other than murder in Britain. ... A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... John George Haigh (July 24, 1909 — August 10, 1949), the Acid Bath Murderer, was a serial killer in England during the 1940s. ... Wandsworth is a town on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Timothy John Evans (November 20, 1924 – March 9, 1950) was a young man, possibly mentally retarded, who was hanged in the United Kingdom in 1950 for the murder of his infant daughter. ... is the 68th day of the year (69th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... John Reginald Halliday Christie (April 8, 1898–July 15, 1953) was an English serial killer active in the 1940s and 1950s. ... Serial killers are individuals who have a history of multiple slayings of victims who were usually unknown to them beforehand. ... Her Majestys Court of Appeal is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords above it. ... 10 Rillington Place, Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, was the site of the crimes of John Reginald Christie, one of Britains most notorious serial killers, resulting in a miscarriage of justice which contributed towards the abolition of the death penalty in Britain. ... is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 115th day of the year (116th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Derek William Bentley (30 June 1933 – 28 January 1953) was hanged at the age of 19 for a murder committed by a friend, creating a cause célèbre and leading to a 45-year-long successful campaign to win him a posthumous pardon. ... is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 210th day of the year (211th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... John Reginald Halliday Christie (April 8, 1898–July 15, 1953) was an English serial killer active in the 1940s and 1950s. ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the lesbian activist, see Ruth Ellis (American). ... is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow HM Prison Barlinnie is a prison located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north-east of Glasgow, Scotland. ... is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robert Andrew McGladdery (died December 20, 1961) was the last person to be executed in Northern Ireland. ... is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... HMP Belfast otherwise known as Crumlin Road Gaol is a former prison situated in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... This article is about the city in Northern Ireland. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... , Newry (from the Irish: Iúr Cinn Trá meaning The Yew Tree at the Head of the Strand, short form An tIúr, The Yew) is the fourth largest city in Northern Ireland and eighth on the island of Ireland. ... James Hanratty (October 4, 1936 birth registered in Bromley – April 4, 1962) was the eighth last person in Britain to be hanged for murder after being convicted of carrying out the notorious 1961 A6 murder. The guilt of the later convicts was never in doubt, but Hanrattys guilt has... is the 94th day of the year (95th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Jackson Terrace Henry John Burnett (executed August 15, 1963) was the last man to be hanged in Scotland and the first in Aberdeen since 1891. ... is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Aberdeen (disambiguation). ... Peter Anthony Allen (4 April 1943–13 August 1964) was twenty-one years old when he became one of the two last people in the United Kingdom to be executed. ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... Gwynne Owen Evans (1 April 1940–13 August 1964) (real name John Robson Walby or Welaby) was 24 years old when he and his accomplice Peter Anthony Allen became the last men in the United Kingdom to be executed. ... HM Prison Manchester is a British prison. ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... John Alan West was a 53 year-old laundry van driver of Workington, Cumbria, England, murdered by two men on 7 April 1964. ...

See also

• Execution by firing squad in the United Kingdom
• Black Cap
• Courts of the United Kingdom
• Capital punishment
• List of executioners
• Shot at Dawn Memorial
• List of topics related to the United Kingdom

The Third of May by Francisco Goya Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in times of war. ... In English law, the Black Cap was worn by a judge when passing a sentence of death. ... The United Kingdom does not have a single unified judicial system: England and Wales have one system, Scotland another, and Northern Ireland another. ... Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... This is a list of people who have acted as official executioners. ... The Shot at Dawn Memorial is a British Monument located at the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, in Staffordshire, England in memory of the 306 British and Commonwealth soldiers executed for cowardice and desertion during World War I. The memorial portrays a young British soldier blindfolded and tied to a... This is a list of topics related to the United Kingdom. ...

References