If the UK was able to reintroduce the death penalty, should it?

[AB Editor]

With focus on certain in-balances in the sentencing system of the UK coming to light, and many claiming the current sentences for serious crime is lacking, should the UK government (if it was able) reintroduce the death penalty in Britain?

 

This poll is closed.

Answers:

• No, but life should mean life. - 49 votes
• 46%
• Yes. - 46 votes
• 43%
• No, the current sentencing system is adequate. - 11 votes
• 10%

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Stats until: 10:36 Thu 21st Nov 2024 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)

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[rov1200]

I'd hate to think the number of people who would have been hanged wrongly during the past 40 years.

But I believe a change in the law is necessary. If a convicted person refuses to admit to his guilt or shows no remorse then parole is usually out of the question. But its like saying 'have you stopped beating your wife'. If you say YES then it supposes who have beat her in the past. If you say NO then you still have evil intent.

Therefore an innocent person convicted of murder is in a no-win situation.

[Philtaz]

To answer the question posed in your last paragraph birdie, it's a moot point I'm afraid. Yours is a completely hypothetical question.

What is not in question is the forensic evidence against Huntley and Whiting. Furthermore, there were witnesses who placed them either at the scene in each respective case or at the scene (in Huntley's case) of where the bodies were found.

As for deterrent's, invariably in such cases these types of individuals cannot be deterred. Deterrents in this type of crime are nigh on impossible. They are predatory criminals who prey on the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society - children.

So, as their guilt is not in doubt and they can never be rehabilitated into society, why allow them to live? Even the father of one of Huntley's victims felt he would have had closure or at least some sense of justice if Huntley was executed. I can't begin to imagine what private hell the parents of Holly, Jessica and Sarra must have gone through, playing over in their minds their respective children's last minutes and the torment, pain and torture they suffered.

As I've stated, financial considerations now creep into every facet of society. Cancer patients are denied certain drugs that may prolong their lives as a result of budgets and cutbacks. Ergo, so it should prevail in the Criminal Jusctice system.

[IggyB]

why can't the vote include enough options to balance you the results and make it "fair" - it requires the option to select "NO - but the current sentencing system needs adjusting".

The mandatory life sentence needs to be removed for the crime of murder - as I'm sure we can all agree not all murders are as equally guilty / bad; think of a man that kills a loved one to end their suffering from a terminal illness and compare with a man that kills scores of people because he enjoys it - not the same crime, not both equally "bad" to my mind but both would get a mandatory life sentence. AND this is the reason that we have such a problem with life sentences because judges are not free to sentence as they see most appropriate.

[keyplus90]

No one ever talked about capital punishment for wrongly accused. Now a day with all the advancements in science it is easier than before to find out. And whenever I post "YES" about CP I always assume it is for someone who has been proved guilty without doubt or someone who has confessed without any wrong influence. And on that ground to answer your question, yes if anyone of my own family has been proved guilty then I will have no objection about capital punishment. Law and the implication of law has to be same for everyone otherwise corruption prevails.

[tamborine]

".....Law and the implication of law has to be same for everyone otherwise corruption prevails......"

Not enough global civilisation as yet to live by above edict.

[TTG]

Death penalty is too quick. A convicted murderer needs to live out the rest of their days in squalor with just enough food to keep them alive.

[youngmafbog]

If you wont have then outsource the b***ds to thailand to live out their days in one of their jails.

[Postdog]

Only read the first post and that incensed me. It's not about revenge at all. People can literally get away with murder these days, and that is not on for those of us who choose to live life in a fair and sociable way. Get rid of a few of these wastes of space and some people might think again about what they can and can't get away with.