101-504: Derek William Bentley (30 June 1933 – 28 January 1953) was a British man who was hanged for the murder of a policeman during a burglary . Christopher Craig, then aged 16, a friend and accomplice of Bentley, was accused of the murder. Bentley was convicted as a party to the crime under the English law principle of joint enterprise , as the burglary had been committed in mutual understanding and bringing deadly weapons. The outcome of
202-646: A coat of arms on 16 October 1886 by the College of Arms , and this was inherited by the county borough. With its quartered shield and its complicated design, the coat of arms was in a style typical of grants to municipal corporations by Albert Woods , then Garter Principal King of Arms . Most of the emblems on the shield were related to the Archbishops of Canterbury , who had a palace in Croydon. The three choughs are associated with Thomas Becket and appear in
303-445: A ligature around the neck and the partial weight of the body (partial suspension) to tighten the ligature. When a suicidal hanging involves partial suspension the deceased is found to have both feet touching the ground, e.g., they are kneeling, crouching or standing. Partial suspension or partial weight-bearing on the ligature is sometimes used, particularly in prisons, mental hospitals or other institutions, where full suspension support
404-524: A royal pardon in respect of the sentence of death passed upon him and carried out. However, in English law this did not quash his conviction for murder. Eventually, on 30 July 1998, the Court of Appeal quashed Bentley's conviction for murder. However, Bentley's sister Iris had died of cancer the year before. Her daughter, Maria Bentley-Dingwall, who was born 10 years after Derek Bentley's execution, continued
505-578: A 16-year-old girl, Atefeh Sahaaleh (also called Atefeh Rajabi), was executed for having committed "acts incompatible with chastity ". At dawn on 27 July 2008, the Iranian government executed 29 people at Evin Prison in Tehran. On 2 December 2008, an unnamed man was hanged for murder at Kazeroun Prison, just moments after he was pardoned by the murder victim's family. He was quickly cut down and rushed to
606-555: A London Borough. In 1954 Croydon Corporation unsuccessfully petitioned the Queen for the grant of city status . At the time, Croydon was the only county borough with a population in excess of 200,000 not to be a city. In 1965 the county borough was abolished and its former area transferred to Greater London to be combined with that of Coulsdon and Purley Urban District to form the London Borough of Croydon . On incorporation
707-634: A West German court was carried out by guillotine in Moabit prison in 1949. The last hanging in Germany was the one ordered of several war criminals in Landsberg am Lech on 7 June 1951. The last known execution in East Germany was in 1981 by a pistol shot to the neck. Even though Hong Kong is now part of China it has no capital punishment; it is a special administrative region of China. When Hong Kong
808-720: A botched hanging in 1930 led the state of Arizona to switch to the gas chamber as its primary execution method, on the grounds that it was believed more humane. One of the more recent decapitations as a result of the long drop occurred when Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti was hanged in Iraq in 2007. Accidental decapitation also occurred during the 1962 hanging of Arthur Lucas , one of the last two individuals to be put to death in Canada. Nazis executed under British jurisdiction, including Josef Kramer , Fritz Klein , Irma Grese and Elisabeth Volkenrath , were hanged by Albert Pierrepoint using
909-505: A court did not find any indication that he was physically injured in the incident. However, Bentley was later seen to have epilepsy . Bentley was sent to Kingswood Training School, Bristol, on 27 October 1948. There he was administered diagnostic tests which eventually determined, when he was 15 + 1 ⁄ 2 years old, that his mental age was estimated at ten years, four months, while he had scored 66 on an IQ test. Kingswood staff reported Bentley to be "lazy, indifferent, voluble and of
1010-423: A degree of six feet at the range from which he fired. Secondly, there was controversy over the existence and meaning of Bentley's alleged instruction to Craig, "let him have it, Chris". Craig and Bentley denied that Bentley had said the words while the police officers testified that he had said them. Further, Bentley's counsel argued that even if he had said the words, it could not be proven that Bentley had intended
1111-504: A few minutes. Before 1850, the short drop was the standard method of hanging, and it is still common in suicides and extrajudicial hangings (such as lynchings and summary executions ) which do not benefit from the specialised equipment and drop-length calculation tables used in the newer methods. A short-drop variant is the Austro-Hungarian "pole" method, called Würgegalgen (literally: strangling gallows), in which
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#17327941818911212-453: A gun other than Craig's sawn-off .455 revolver. Yallop drew this conclusion from an interview in March 1971 with David Haler, the pathologist who carried out the autopsy on Miles, who Yallop reports estimated the head wound was inflicted by a bullet of between .32 and .38 calibre fired from between six and nine feet away. Craig had been firing from a distance of just under 40 feet and had used
1313-412: A hospital, where he was successfully revived. The conviction and hanging of Reyhaneh Jabbari caused international uproar as she was sentenced to death in 2009 and hanged on 25 October 2014 for murdering a former intelligence officer; according to Jabbari's testimony she stabbed him during an attempted rape and then another person killed him. Hanging was used under the regime of Saddam Hussein , but
1414-502: A humane improvement on the short drop because it was intended to be enough to break the person's neck , causing immediate unconsciousness and rapid brain death. This method was used to execute condemned Nazis under United States jurisdiction after the Nuremberg Trials , including Joachim von Ribbentrop and Ernst Kaltenbrunner . In the execution of Ribbentrop, historian Giles MacDonogh records that: "The hangman botched
1515-479: A plea for mercy for Bentley. Bentley was sentenced to death whilst Craig was ordered to be detained at Her Majesty's Pleasure . He was eventually released in May 1963 after serving 10 years' imprisonment, married two years later and subsequently became a plumber. Bentley was originally scheduled to be hanged on 30 December 1952, but this was postponed to allow for an appeal . Bentley's lawyers filed appeals highlighting
1616-401: A scientific advance on the standard drop, and further refined by his successor James Berry . Instead of everyone falling the same standard distance, the person's height and weight were used to determine how much slack would be provided in the rope so that the distance dropped would be enough to ensure that the neck was broken, but not so much that the person was decapitated. Careful placement of
1717-408: A suicide-via-hanging attempt, whether due to breakage of the cord or ligature point , or being discovered and cut down, face a range of serious injuries, including cerebral anoxia (which can lead to permanent brain damage), laryngeal fracture, cervical spine fracture (which may cause paralysis ), tracheal fracture, pharyngeal laceration, and carotid artery injury. There are some suggestions that
1818-437: A variety of undersized .41, and .45 calibre rounds in his revolver; Yallop asserted it would have been impossible for him to use a bullet of .38 or smaller calibre. Haler did not offer in his trial evidence any estimate of the size of the bullet that had killed Miles. In July 1970, during an interview with Yallop, Craig accepted that the bullet that killed Miles came from his gun, but maintained that all of his shots were fired over
1919-458: A year early, though he was told that he would remain under the care of Kingswood until 29 September 1954, by which time he was dead. He was a recluse for the rest of 1950, rarely venturing out of the house, breaking his isolation in January 1951. In March 1951, he was employed by a furniture removal firm but was forced to leave the job after injuring his back in March 1952. In May 1952, Bentley
2020-400: Is a common suicide method . The materials necessary for suicide by hanging are readily available to the average person, compared with firearms or poisons. Full suspension is not required, and for this reason, hanging is especially commonplace among suicidal prisoners (see: Suicide watch ) . A type of hanging comparable to full suspension hanging may be obtained by self-strangulation using
2121-421: Is a method of hanging in which the condemned prisoner stands on a raised support such as a stool, ladder, cart, or other vehicle, with the noose around the neck. The support is then moved away, leaving the person dangling from the rope. Suspended by the neck, the weight of the body tightens the noose around the neck, effecting strangulation and death. Loss of consciousness is typically rapid and death ensues in
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#17327941818912222-536: Is common elsewhere, in countries including Iran and Afghanistan. Hanging is the most used form of capital punishment in Afghanistan . Capital punishment was a part of the legal system of Australia from the establishment of New South Wales as a British penal colony, until 1985, by which time all Australian states and territories had abolished the death penalty; in practice, the last execution in Australia
2323-522: Is difficult to devise, because high ligature points (e.g., hooks or pipes) have been removed. In Canada , hanging is the most common method of suicide, and in the U.S., hanging is the second most common method, after self-inflicted gunshot wounds . In the United Kingdom, where firearms are less easily available, in 2001 hanging was the most common method among men and the second most commonplace among women (after poisoning). Those who survive
2424-420: Is suicide or homicide, as each leaves a distinctive ligature mark. One of the hints they use is the hyoid bone . If broken, it often means the person has been murdered by manual strangulation . Hanging has been a method of capital punishment in many countries, and is still used by many countries to this day. Long-drop hanging is mainly used by former British colonies, while short-drop and suspension hanging
2525-737: The 2008 Mumbai attacks was executed on 21 November 2012 in Yerwada Central Jail , Pune. The Supreme Court of India had previously rejected his mercy plea, which was then rejected by the President of India. He was hanged one week later. Afzal Guru , a terrorist found guilty of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament , was executed by hanging in Tihar Jail , Delhi on 9 February 2013. Yakub Memon
2626-547: The Middle Ages , and has been the primary execution method in numerous countries and regions. The first known account of execution by hanging is in Homer 's Odyssey . Hanging is also a method of suicide . The past and past participle of hang in this sense is hanged , not hung . There are numerous methods of hanging in execution which instigate death either by cervical fracture or by strangulation . The short drop
2727-551: The Vikings practised hanging as human sacrifices to Odin , to honour Odin's own sacrifice of hanging himself from Yggdrasil . In Northern Europe, it is widely speculated that the Iron Age bog bodies , many of which show signs of having been hanged, were examples of human sacrifice to the gods. A hanging may induce one or more of the following medical conditions, some leading to death: The cause of death in hanging depends on
2828-458: The 'wise guy' type", whilst a court described him as "indifferent, smug, self-satisfied and ready to tell tales". After his arrest in November 1952, further IQ tests were administered to him at Brixton Prison . He was described there as "borderline feeble-minded", with a verbal score of 71, a performance IQ of 87 and a full scale IQ of 77. Bentley was discovered to still be "quite illiterate " at
2929-711: The Addington and East wards by 1955. From its incorporation the council was controlled by parties allied to the Conservative Party , known as the Coalition Party or Ratepayers Association. The Ratepayers Association was more formally organised as an anti- Labour Party grouping after 1900, and was supported by both the Conservatives and the Liberals , who seldom fielded candidates. Croydon
3030-505: The Barlow & Parker confectionery company at 27–29 Tamworth Road, Croydon . Craig armed himself with a Colt New Service .455 Webley calibre revolver, the barrel of which he had shortened so that it could be carried easily in his pocket. He also carried a number of undersized rounds for the revolver, some of which he had modified by hand to fit the gun. Bentley carried a knuckle-duster , which he had been given by Craig, who had been fined
3131-465: The Others (the title is an acknowledged allusion to Voltaire 's Candide ), David Yallop documented Bentley's psychiatric problems, as well as what he believed were inconsistencies in the police and forensic evidence and the conduct of the trial. Despite Craig's gun being the only one on the roof at the moment that Miles was shot, he proposed the theory that Miles was actually killed by a bullet from
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3232-542: The ambiguities of the ballistic evidence, Bentley's mental age and the fact that he did not fire the fatal shot. Bentley's appeal was heard on 13 January 1953 and was unsuccessful. When his appeal was turned down, Bentley's life was placed in the hands of the Home Secretary , David Maxwell Fyfe , who had to decide whether to recommend that the Queen exercise the royal prerogative of mercy to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment . Lord Goddard forwarded
3333-453: The applied force does not cause a severe subluxation of C2 on C3. In the absence of fracture and dislocation, occlusion of blood vessels becomes the major cause of death, rather than asphyxiation . Obstruction of venous drainage of the brain via occlusion of the internal jugular veins leads to cerebral oedema and then cerebral ischemia . The face will typically become engorged and cyanotic (turned blue through lack of oxygen). Compromise of
3434-538: The arms of the city of Canterbury . The cross crosslets came from the arms of the Diocese of Canterbury . The flory cross bearing three gold discs was taken from the arms of Archbishop John Whitgift . The embattled fesse in the fourth quarter represented a town wall and thus municipal government. The crest on top of the helm featured a grassy mound and heraldic fountain , for the Croydon Bourne. On either side
3535-534: The available precedents, and ... public opinion". He went on to say that Bentley's case also involved the issue of the police force, since it was a police officer who was killed. Maxwell Fyfe then stresses that a reprieve would mean the Home Secretary is "intervening in the due process of the law". There was much political pressure to commute Bentley's sentence, including a memorandum signed by over 200 members of Parliament. Despite several attempts, Parliament
3636-412: The borough was divided into six wards (Central, East, South, South Norwood, Upper Norwood and West) each returning six councillors. Together with 12 aldermen and a mayor , these formed the town council. In 1905 a new North ward was formed, and the council was enlarged to 14 aldermen and 42 councillors. By 1918 a new ward of Bensham Manor had been created and on further enlargement in 1925 Addington ward
3737-420: The campaign after her mother's death. Christopher Craig, by then aged 62 (born May 1936), issued a statement welcoming the pardon for Bentley, stating that "his innocence has now been proved". He also apologised to the families of both PC Miles and Bentley for his actions, as well as his own family for the press intrusion they had suffered over the years. Though Bentley had never been accused of attacking any of
3838-435: The cerebral blood flow may occur by obstruction of the carotid arteries, even though their obstruction requires far more force than the obstruction of jugular veins, since they are seated deeper and they contain blood in much higher pressure compared to the jugular veins. When cerebral circulation is severely compromised by any mechanism, arterial or venous, death occurs over four or more minutes from cerebral hypoxia, although
3939-544: The classic " hangman's fracture " (bilateral fractures of the pars interarticularis of the C2 vertebra). The location of the knot of the hanging rope is a major factor in determining the mechanics of cervical spine injury, with a submental knot (hangman's knot under the chin) being the only location capable of producing the sudden, straightforward hyperextension injury that causes the classic "hangman's fracture". According to Historical and biomechanical aspects of hangman's fracture ,
4040-405: The conditions related to the event. When the body is released from a relatively high position, the major cause of death is severe trauma to the upper cervical spine. The injuries produced are highly variable. One study showed that only a small minority of a series of judicial hangings produced fractures to the cervical spine (6 out of 34 cases studied), with half of these fractures (3 out of 34) being
4141-531: The country since 2000. Circa 2023, there have been some inmates on death row but their sentences have been commuted. Hanging is the only method of execution in Bangladesh , ever since its independence. Death by hanging was the customary method of capital punishment in Brazil throughout its history. Some important national heroes like Tiradentes (1792) were killed by hanging. The last man executed in Brazil
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4242-431: The execution and the rope throttled the former foreign minister for 20 minutes before he expired." A Life magazine report on the execution merely says: "The trap fell open and with a sound midway between a rumble and a crash, Ribbentrop disappeared. The rope quivered for a time, then stood tautly straight." The long-drop process, also known as the measured drop, was introduced to Britain in 1872 by William Marwood as
4343-459: The eye or knot of the noose (so that the head was jerked back as the rope tightened) contributed to breaking the neck. Prior to 1892, the drop was in the range of 4–10 ft (1.2–3.0 m), depending on the weight of the body, and was calculated to deliver an energy of 1,260 foot-pounds force (1,710 J ), which fractured the neck at either the 2nd and 3rd or 4th and 5th cervical vertebrae . This force resulted in some decapitations, such as
4444-413: The first insurgents by hanging. Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against humanity on 5 November 2006, and was executed on 30 December 2006 at approximately 6:00 a.m. local time. During the drop, there was an audible crack indicating that his neck was broken, a successful example of a long-drop hanging. County Borough of Croydon The County Borough of Croydon
4545-516: The following steps take place: This method was later also adopted by the successor states, most notably by Czechoslovakia , where the "pole" method was used as the single type of execution from 1918 until 1954, when the prison hosting Czechoslovakia's executions, Pankrác Prison , constructed an indoor gallows that exclusively accommodated short-drop hangings to replace the pole method. Nazi war criminal Karl Hermann Frank , executed in 1946 in Prague ,
4646-499: The gallows stood. The last execution was in 1989, and the death penalty was abolished for all crimes in 1998. Historically, hanging was the only method of execution used in Canada and was in use as possible punishment for all murders until 1961, when murders were reclassified into capital and non-capital offences. The death penalty was restricted to apply only for certain offences to the National Defence Act in 1976 and
4747-485: The hanging to take place in public at the spot where the crime was committed, typically from a mobile telescoping crane which hoists the condemned high into the air. On 19 July 2005, two boys, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni , aged 15 and 17 respectively, who had been convicted of the rape of a 13-year-old boy, were hanged at Edalat (Justice) Square in Mashhad , on charges of homosexuality and rape . On 15 August 2004,
4848-434: The heart may continue to beat for some period after the brain can no longer be resuscitated. The time of death in such cases is a matter of convention. In judicial hangings, death is pronounced at cardiac arrest, which may occur at times from several minutes up to 15 minutes or longer after hanging. Sphincters will relax spontaneously and urine and faeces will be evacuated. Forensic experts may often be able to tell if hanging
4949-432: The highest numbers of annual executions in the world. The method used is the short drop, which does not break the neck of the condemned, but rather causes a slower death due to strangulation. It is legal for murder, rape, and drug trafficking unless the criminal pays diyya to the victim's family, thus attaining their forgiveness (see Sharia ). If the presiding judge deems the case to be "causing public outrage", he can order
5050-447: The inconsistencies in the police version of events. The 1991 feature film Let Him Have It , starring Christopher Eccleston as Bentley and Paul Reynolds as Craig, relates the story, as do the songs "Derek Bentley" by Karl Dallas (in which the lyrics imply that Bentley was guilty but sympathise with him), " Let Him Dangle " by Elvis Costello , "Let Him Have It" by The Bureau , and "Bentley and Craig" by Ralph McTell , whose mother
5151-518: The infamous case of Black Jack Ketchum in New Mexico Territory in 1901, owing to a significant weight gain while in custody not having been factored into the drop calculations. Between 1892 and 1913, the length of the drop was shortened to avoid decapitation. After 1913, other factors were also taken into account, and the energy delivered was reduced to about 1,000 foot-pounds force (1,400 J). The decapitation of Eva Dugan during
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#17327941818915252-405: The jury to convict. It is possible that Lord Goddard may have been under pressure while summing up since much of the evidence was not directly relevant to Bentley's defence. Lord Bingham did not rule that Bentley was innocent, merely that there had been fundamental defects in the trial process. Another factor in the posthumous defence was that a "confession" recorded by Bentley, which was claimed by
5353-420: The jury's recommendation of mercy, but added that he himself "could find no mitigating circumstances". His later statements to author David Yallop convinced Yallop that Goddard had wanted a reprieve. Maxwell Fyfe's autobiography, published in 1964, refers to the factors which he took into consideration: "the evidence of the trial, medical reports, family or other private circumstances ... and police reports, ...
5454-614: The murder of PC Miles the following day. The doctrine of felony murder or "constructive malice" meant that a charge of manslaughter was not an option, as the "malicious intent" of the armed robbery was transferred to the shooting. They were tried by jury before the Lord Chief Justice , Lord Goddard , at the Old Bailey in London between 9 December and 11 December 1952. Christmas Humphreys , Senior Treasury Counsel, led for
5555-516: The murder. Goddard sentenced Bentley to be hanged, despite a recommendation for mercy by the jury. The Bentley case became a cause célèbre and led to a 40-year-long campaign to win Bentley a posthumous pardon , which was granted in 1993, and then a further campaign for the quashing of his murder conviction, which occurred in 1998. Bentley's case is thus considered a case of miscarriage of justice alongside that of Timothy Evans , and pivotal in
5656-515: The phrase in the usual execution order, "hanged by the neck until dead", was necessary. By the late 19th century that methodical study enabled authorities to routinely employ hanging in ways that would predictably kill the victim quickly. The side, or subaural knot, has been shown to produce other, more complex injuries, with one thoroughly studied case producing only ligamentous injuries to the cervical spine and bilateral vertebral artery disruptions, but no major vertebral fractures or crush injuries to
5757-429: The police officers, who were shot at by Craig, for him to be convicted of murder as an accessory in a joint enterprise it was necessary for the prosecution to prove that he knew that Craig had a deadly weapon when they began the break-in. The Lord Chief Justice , Lord Bingham of Cornhill , ruled that Lord Goddard had not made it clear to the jury that the prosecution was required to have proved Bentley had known that Craig
5858-404: The previous year for possessing a firearm without a certificate. At around 9:15 pm, neighbours called police after spotting Craig and Bentley climbing over the gate and up a drainpipe to the roof of the warehouse. When police arrived, Craig and Bentley hid behind the lift-housing. Craig taunted the police. One of the officers, Detective Constable Frederick Fairfax , climbed the drainpipe to
5959-475: The prosecution to be a "verbatim record of dictated monologue", was shown by forensic linguistics methods to have been largely edited by policemen. Linguist Malcolm Coulthard showed that certain patterns, such as the frequency of the word "then" and the grammatical use of "then" after the grammatical subject ("I then" rather than "then I"), were not consistent with Bentley's use of language (his idiolect ), as evidenced in court testimony. These patterns fit better
6060-458: The prosecution. At the time of the burglary and Miles' death, murder was a capital offence in England and Wales. The Children and Young Persons Act 1933 prevented execution of those under 18; consequently, of the two defendants, despite Craig having fired the fatal shot, only Bentley faced the death penalty if convicted. Bentley's best defence was that he was effectively under arrest when Miles
6161-435: The rear garden of a house adjacent to the warehouse, approximately 20 degrees to the right of Miles' location from where Craig had been firing. The standard Metropolitan Police pistol at the time was the .32-calibre Webley automatic , a number of which were issued on the night. In his book The Scientific Investigation of Crime , the prosecution's ballistics expert Lewis Nickolls stated that he recovered four bullets from
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#17327941818916262-613: The recorded testimony of the policemen involved. This is one of the earliest uses of forensic linguistics on record. A play Example , starring Harry Miller as Bentley, was devised by the Coventry Belgrade TIE Team for fifth and sixth form students and toured from 1975. The play, with an introduction by Miller, was included in a 1980 book Theatre in Education – Four Secondary School Programmes . The 1990 book Let Him Have It, Chris written by M. J. Trow explores
6363-425: The roof and grabbed hold of Bentley, but Bentley broke free. What happened then is uncertain: police witnesses later claimed that Fairfax ordered Craig to "Hand over the gun, lad" and Bentley shouted, "Let him have it, Chris". Craig fired, striking Fairfax in the shoulder. Fairfax was nonetheless again able to restrain Bentley, who told Fairfax that Craig had further ammunition for the gun. Bentley had not used either of
6464-401: The roof, suffering a fractured spine, breast bone and left forearm. Notwithstanding this, he was able to tell the first police officer who reached him that he wished he had "killed the fucking lot". He later made a number of statements to police officers sitting with him in hospital, displaying a hatred of the police and a total lack of remorse at what he had done.' Following the execution there
6565-501: The roof, two of .45, one of .41 and one of .32 calibre. The last was not entered as an exhibit in the trial, nor mentioned in Nickolls' evidence to the court. When Yallop telephoned Haler the day after the initial interview, he reportedly confirmed his estimate of the bullet size. Shortly before the publication of Yallop's book, Haler was provided with a transcript of the interview, and Yallop says Haler again confirmed as accurate. After
6666-488: The same Secondary Modern school. Bentley had a series of health problems. His parents reported that in a childhood accident he had broken his nose and since then he had three seizure fits, including one in which they said he nearly died of choking. The family also said they were bombed out three times during the Second World War , and in one of these incidents the house in which he lived collapsed around him, but
6767-629: The south, east and west and the County of London to the north. The rural district was abolished in 1915, but the county borough was unsuccessful in its attempt to annex the area. The only significant extension of the borough boundaries was in 1925, when the parish of Addington was absorbed. The borough ran trams until they became the responsibility of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. The borough ran its own fire brigade and ambulance service until it became
6868-470: The spinal cord. Death from a "hangman's fracture" occurs mainly when the applied force is severe enough to also cause a severe subluxation of the C2 and C3 vertebra that crushes the spinal cord and/or disrupts the vertebral arteries. Hangman's fractures from other hyperextension injuries (the most common being unrestrained motor vehicle accidents and falls or diving injuries where the face or chin suddenly strike an immovable object) are frequently survivable if
6969-475: The subsequent broadcast of the BBC Play for Today adaptation of To Encourage the Others , directed by Alan Clarke and starring Charles Bolton, Haler sought to deny that he had given any specific estimate of the size of the bullet that killed Miles beyond being "of large calibre". The .32 ACP bullet is not considered to be of large calibre. Contrary to Yallop's claims, none of the police officers present
7070-416: The successful campaign to abolish capital punishment in the United Kingdom. Derek Bentley entered Norbury Manor Secondary Modern School in 1944, after failing the eleven-plus examination . Just before leaving, in March 1948, he and another boy were arrested for theft. Six months later, Bentley was sentenced to serve three years at Kingswood Approved School near Bristol . Christopher Craig also attended
7171-415: The territories occupied by Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945, strangulation hanging was a preferred means of public execution, although more criminal executions were performed by guillotine than hanging. The most commonly sentenced were partisans and black marketeers , whose bodies were usually left hanging for long periods. There are also numerous reports of concentration camp inmates being hanged. Hanging
7272-610: The time did not recognise the concept of diminished responsibility due to retarded development , though it existed in Scottish law (it was introduced to England by the Homicide Act 1957 ). Criminal insanity – where the accused is unable to distinguish right from wrong – was then the only medical defence to murder. Bentley, while he had a severe debilitation, was not insane. The jury took 75 minutes to decide that both Craig and Bentley were guilty of Miles' murder, with
7373-562: The time of his arrest in November 1952. The prison medical officer said he "cannot even recognise or write down all the letters of the alphabet". Bentley was examined twice by EEG : a reading on 16 November 1949 indicated he was an epileptic and a reading on 9 February 1950 was "abnormal". Both were taken at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol. Bentley was released from Kingswood school on 28 July 1950,
7474-409: The time of the murder, the spent .32 round could only be one of Fairfax's, fired some time subsequently. As the Court of Appeal found, 'Once the appellant [Bentley] had been taken down, D.C. Fairfax returned with a firearm, with which he had been issued, and went back up to the roof. He fired twice at Craig but missed, Craig having fired at him. Craig's revolver was by now empty and he jumped or dived off
7575-491: The trial, and Home Secretary David Maxwell Fyfe 's failure to grant clemency to Bentley, were highly controversial. The jury at the trial found Bentley guilty based in large part on the prosecution 's interpretation of the ambiguous phrase "Let him have it", Bentley's alleged exhortation to Craig, which prosecutors argued was an order to shoot and defence counsel argued was an order to surrender; this after Lord Chief Justice Goddard had described Bentley as "mentally aiding"
7676-456: The variable-drop method devised by Marwood. The record speed for a British long-drop hanging was seven seconds from the executioner entering the cell to the drop. Speed was considered to be important in the British system as it reduced the condemned's mental distress. Long-drop hanging is still practised as the method of execution in a few countries, including Japan and Singapore. Hanging
7777-449: The weapons in his pockets. A group of uniformed police officers arrived and were sent onto the roof. The first to reach the roof was Police Constable Sidney Miles, who was immediately killed by a shot to the head. After exhausting his ammunition and being cornered, Craig jumped 30 feet (10 metres) from the roof onto a greenhouse , fracturing his spine and left wrist, and had to remain in hospital. Both Craig and Bentley were charged with
7878-472: The words to mean the informal meaning of "shoot him, Chris" instead of the literal meaning of "give him the gun, Chris". Thirdly, there was disagreement over whether Bentley was fit to stand trial in light of his mental capacity. The Principal Medical Officer responsible was Dr Matheson and he referred Bentley to Dr Hill, a psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital . Hill's report stated that Bentley
7979-434: Was a friend of the Bentley family, also covered by June Tabor (on Aleyn, TSCD490, 1997). In the 2013 novel The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh , the character Peter Wimsey notes that the Bentley case has reduced the support for capital punishment. Hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature . Hanging has been a common method of capital punishment since
8080-537: Was a local government district in and around the town of Croydon in north east Surrey , England from 1889 to 1965. Since 1965 the district has been part of the London Borough of Croydon within Greater London . A local board of health was formed for the parish of Croydon St John the Baptist in 1849. On 9 March 1883 the town received a charter of incorporation to become a municipal borough . The borough
8181-400: Was a public sense of unease about the decision, resulting in a long campaign to secure a posthumous pardon. The campaign was initially led by Bentley's parents until their deaths in the 1970s, after which the drive to clear Bentley's name was led by his sister Iris. In March 1966 his remains were removed from Wandsworth Prison and reburied in a family grave. On 29 July 1993, Bentley was granted
8282-563: Was a sprig of rye-grass, for the irrigation meadows of Beddington Sewage Farm. The crest also contained a gold crozier, another reference to the archbishops, and a crossed sword and tilting spear for the East India Company Military Seminary at Addiscombe. The motto, which was in Latin , was Sanitate Crescamus ("May we grow in health"). Some charges from these arms were used, together with some charges from
8383-474: Was among approximately 1,000 condemned people executed by the pole hanging method in Czechoslovakia. The standard drop involves a drop of between 4 and 6 feet (1.2–1.8 m) and came into use from 1866, when the scientific details were published by Irish doctor Samuel Haughton . Its use rapidly spread to English-speaking countries and those with judicial systems of English origin. It was considered
8484-401: Was armed at the moment when PC Miles was shot. Det Con (later Det Sgt) Fairfax, after Miles was shot and after taking Bentley to street level and putting him into a police car, returned to the roof armed with a Webley & Scott .32 and fired two shots at Craig, both of which missed. Since a .32 round could not be loaded into Craig's revolver and Craig was the only armed person in the vicinity at
8585-443: Was armed. He further ruled that Lord Goddard had failed to raise the question of Bentley's withdrawal from their joint enterprise. This would require the prosecution to prove the absence of any attempt by Bentley to signal to Craig that he wanted Craig to surrender his weapons to the police. Lord Bingham ruled that Bentley's trial had been unfair because the judge had misdirected the jury and, in his summing-up, had put unfair pressure on
8686-602: Was completely abolished in 1998. The last hangings in Canada took place on 11 December 1962. In 1955, Egypt hanged three Israelis on charges of spying. In 1982 Egypt hanged three civilians convicted of the assassination of Anwar Sadat . In 2004, Egypt hanged five militants on charges of trying to kill the Prime Minister. To this day, hanging remains the standard method of capital punishment in Egypt, which executes more people each year than any other African country. In
8787-410: Was constituted a parliamentary constituency in 1885, with the same boundaries as the borough. In 1918 the county borough was divided into North and South constituencies. For the general election of 1950 representation increased to three: Croydon North , East and West . In 1955 the boundaries were altered to create Croydon North East , North West and South . The municipal borough was granted
8888-620: Was continued in post-war Germany in the British and US Occupation Zones under their jurisdiction, and for Nazi war criminals, until well after (western) Germany itself had abolished the death penalty by the German constitution as adopted in 1949. West Berlin was not subject to the Grundgesetz ( Basic Law ) and abolished the death penalty in 1951. The German Democratic Republic abolished the death penalty in 1987. The last execution ordered by
8989-623: Was convicted over his involvement in the 1993 Bombay bombings by Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities court on 27 July 2007. His appeals and petitions for clemency were all rejected and he was finally executed by hanging on 30 July 2015 in Nagpur jail. In March 2020, four prisoners convicted of rape and murder were executed by hanging in Tihar Jail. Death by hanging is the primary means of capital punishment in Iran, which carries out one of
9090-417: Was formed, with the numbers of aldermen and councillors being increased to 18 and 54 respectively. The wards were reorganised in 1930, with 15 wards each returning three councillors From then until the abolition of the county borough the council consisted of the mayor, 15 aldermen and 45 councillors. The 1930 wards were: The wards were slightly reorganised with the creation of Shirley ward from parts of
9191-609: Was given no opportunity to debate the issue until the sentence had been carried out. The Home Office also refused Dr Hill permission to make his report public. At 9 am on 28 January 1953, Bentley was hanged at Wandsworth Prison , London, by Albert Pierrepoint , with Harry Allen assisting. There were protests outside the prison and two people were arrested and fined for damage to property. In March 1966, Bentley's remains were removed from Wandsworth and re-interred in Croydon Cemetery . In his 1971 book To Encourage
9292-501: Was granted a commission of the peace and a separate court of quarter sessions in 1885 and 1889 respectively. Under the Local Government Act 1888 it became an autonomous county borough in 1889. The area of the original borough included part of Norwood and Addiscombe , Bensham , Croham, Coombe , Haling, Norbury , Shirley , Waddon and Woodside . From 1894 to 1915 it was adjacent to Croydon Rural District to
9393-490: Was illiterate and of low intelligence, what today would be described as having learning difficulties. However, Matheson was of the opinion that whilst agreeing that Bentley was of low intelligence, he did not have epilepsy at the time of the alleged offence and he was not a "feeble-minded person" under the Mental Deficiency Acts . Matheson said that he was sane and fit to plead and stand trial. English law at
9494-438: Was killed. There were three principal points of contention at trial: Firstly, the defence claimed there was ambiguity in the evidence as to how many shots were fired and by whom. A later forensic ballistics expert cast doubt on whether Craig could have hit Miles if he had shot at him deliberately. The fatal bullet was not found. Craig had used bullets of different undersized calibres, and the sawn-off barrel made it inaccurate to
9595-457: Was later publicly exonerated by Hungary. Capital punishment was abolished for all crimes in 1990. Hanging was introduced by the British. All executions in India since independence have been carried out by hanging, although the law provides for military executions to be carried out by firing squad. In 1949, Nathuram Godse , who had been sentenced to death for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi ,
9696-484: Was still a part of the British Empire, it had hanging as the method of execution. The last person who was executed was a Chinese Vietnamese man who attacked a security guard and another person. This was in 1966. The prime minister of Hungary, during the 1956 Revolution , Imre Nagy , was secretly tried, executed by hanging, and buried unceremoniously by the new Soviet -backed Hungarian government, in 1958. Nagy
9797-474: Was suspended along with capital punishment on 10 June 2003, when a coalition led by the United States invaded and overthrew the previous regime. The death penalty was reinstated on 8 August 2004. In September 2005, three murderers were the first people to be executed since the restoration. Then on 9 March 2006, an official of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council confirmed that Iraqi authorities had executed
9898-531: Was taken on by the Croydon Corporation as a dustbin man ; one month later, in June 1952 he was demoted to street sweeping for unsatisfactory performance. One month after that, he was sacked by the corporation. He was still unemployed at the time of his arrest in November 1952. On the night of Sunday, 2 November 1952, Bentley and a 16-year-old companion, Christopher Craig, broke into the warehouse of
9999-468: Was the first person to be executed by hanging in independent India. The Supreme Court of India has suggested that capital punishment should be given only in the "rarest of rare cases". Since 2001, eight people have been executed in India. Dhananjoy Chatterjee , the 1991 rapist and murderer was executed on 14 August 2004 in Alipore Jail , Kolkata. Ajmal Kasab , the lone surviving terrorist of
10100-563: Was the hanging of Ronald Ryan on 3 February 1967, in Victoria . During the 19th century, crimes that could carry a death sentence included burglary , sheep theft, forgery , sexual assaults , murder and manslaughter . During the 19th century, there were roughly eighty people hanged every year throughout the Australian colonies for these crimes. Bahamas employs hanging to execute the condemned but no executions have been conducted in
10201-529: Was the slave Francisco , in 1876. The death penalty was abolished for all crimes, except for those committed under extraordinary circumstances such as war or military law, in 1890. Bulgaria's national hero, Vasil Levski , was executed by hanging by the Ottoman court in Sofia in 1873. Every year since Bulgaria's liberation, thousands come with flowers on the date of his death, 19 February, to his monument where
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