Quote: Moonstone @ November 11 2009, 7:00 PM GMT

Hmm, I'm not sure that was him. The bloke I'm thinking of shot a copper or summat.

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Are you thinking the very famous case of Derek Bentley (as played by Christopher Ecclestone in the film Let Him Have It)? He was the accessory to the murder of a police officer, who was tried alongside his underage accomplice (who fired the shot and was spared death due to his age). The crux of the case hinged on whether Bentley having been heard to say "Let him have it, Chris" referred to an instruction to shoot the officer, or (as seems more likely) to hand over the gun when challenged. Bentley had quite severe learning difficulties also.

He was hanged in 1953, some 15 years before the death penalty was finally abolished. However, his case sparked a national outrage and played a significant part in the campaign that eventually led to abolishing capital punishment.

I can imagine him doing the 'mwah ha haa' thing whilst making incredibly bad death/swimming pool puns.

The film of that case is very powerful.
Would have thought it would put anyone off supporting the death penalty.

Quote: Moonstone @ November 11 2009, 7:05 PM GMT

I can imagine him doing the 'mwah ha haa' thing whilst making incredibly bad death/swimming pool puns.

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Quote: Tim Walker @ November 11 2009, 7:05 PM GMT

Are you thinking the very famous case of Derek Bentley (as played by Christopher Ecclestone in the film Let Him Have It). He was the accessory to the murder of a police officer, who was tried for murder alongside his underage accomplice (who fired the shot and was spared death due to his age). The crux of the case hinged on whether Bentley having been heard to say "Let him have it, Chris" referred to an instruction to shoot the officer, or (as seems more likely) to hand over the gun when challenged. Bentley had quite severe learning difficulties also.

He was hanged in 1953, some 15 years before the death penalty was finally abolished. However, he case really sparked national outrage and was a significant part of the campaign to eventually abolish capital punishment.

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Yes, that one!
He was the last person to be executed in my mind though cos I never heard of it happening to anyone else after that (using your sitcom logic, thanks Tim).

Quote: Moonstone @ November 11 2009, 7:08 PM GMT

(using your sitcom logic, thanks Tim).

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It's good, innit?

Innit! *nods*

I found this fascinating. I just presumed the Guillotine was only used during the days of the French Revolution :
The Last Guillotine Execution
was on September 10,...wait for it 1977, the last execution by guillotine took place in Marseilles, France, when the murderer Hamida Djandoubi was beheaded.
But no more executions occurred after capital punishment was abolished in France in 1981 following the election of François Mitterrand.

The French are absolutely bonkers. Anyone else see Terror! Robespierre And The French Revolution on BBC Four a few months back? Total batshit nuts.

Quote: Moonstone @ November 11 2009, 7:08 PM GMT

Yes, that one!
He was the last person to be executed in my mind though cos I never heard of it happening to anyone else after that (using your sitcom logic, thanks Tim).

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Your more likely thinking of Ruth Ellis the last woman to be hanged. She killed her apparently abusive partner, much murkier case.

The pub where she killed him is on Hampstead Heath and still has the bullet holes.

They did that place on the first series of Most Haunted, I believe.

Ref my earlier post on this thread

Well, I've just watched The Execution of Gary Glitter.
Not surprisingly it was not what I would've hoped for.
It was not an intelligent view on the state of this countries media whipped mass consciousness, rather it endorsed it and added a cherry on top by making Glitter a hyperbolic poster boy for paedophilia. Did Gary Bushell actually write this?

It showed an almost uncontended bias towards the pro capitol punishment argument and although the execution was uncomfortable and distressing to watch it ultimately failed to address what I what I would like to think was the writers original intention : "Should we reinstate the death penalty"
'The execution of Gary Glitter" seemed to be making our minds up for us.
Did Gary Bushell actually write this?

Superb acting from Hilton Macrae, it must be said but why did Rob Coldstream (aka Gary Bushell) choose Gary Glitter if not to make an intelligent parody on the medias desire to fuel public paranoia?

Oh and one last thing.. Paul Francis Gadd (Gary Glitter) has a family. Whatever filthy depraved crimes this man has committed, he's got a family. For F**ks sake come on. Ruth Ellis was mentioned earlier in this thread, the repercussions that public hue and cry has on innocent members of family can be seen only too well when you look at her case : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Ellis

For flying F**k Channel 4. take some responsibility.

Rivetting TV for all the wrong reasons.

IMO