Peirrepoint

[West Ender]

Originally Posted by maxwell silver

When was Ruth Ellis hung? That caused an uproar.

July 1955. I remember it very well but I also remember the Derek Bentley case, in 1953. I was only 10 then but it made a big impression on me, along with the Christie/Timothy Evans case.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by West Ender

July 1955. I remember it very well but I also remember the Derek Bentley case, in 1953. I was only 10 then but it made a big impression on me, along with the Christie/Timothy Evans case.

perhaps Ruth Ellis was his last? sure he quit in 55?

[Caz]

In answer to steeljack's question, his "fame" came when he was chosen to execute the Nazi criminals. He expected his anonimity to continue, and was totally shocked to come back to this country as a "hero". A far cry from the treatment he received in latter years, just before the death penalty was dropped.

His father and uncle were hangmen before him, but he gained notoriety due to the Nazi hangings, and the number he hung overall, believed to be about 600

A lot of dramatic licence was used in the film. It was slated when it originally came out in 2005, and some actors previously offered the part of Pierrepoint turned it down, because it did not tell the story correctly. One instance being the over emphasis on his friendship with "Tish".

He apparantly turned against the death penalty after his retirement. It would have been interesting to have seen this in the film, which incidently was originally incorrectly titled "the last Hangman"

[maxwell silver]

Originally Posted by cazzer

"
He apparantly turned against the death penalty after his retirement. It would have been interesting to have seen this in the film, which incidently was originally incorrectly titled "the last Hangman"

Who was the 'last hangman'?

[cashman]

Originally Posted by maxwell silver

Who was the 'last hangman'?

was never aware of the others even though there was a government list.

[Caz]

Robert Leslie Stewart, apparantly, hanged Peter Allen at Walton, in 1964. But his accomplice, Gwynne Owen, was hanged at the same time at Strangeways. Don't know who did that, haven't managed to find anything yet.

[West Ender]

This article contains an audio link of an interview with Mr Pierrepoint in 1976. It's well worth listening to.

BBC - Liverpool - Local History - Albert Pierrepoint

[Caz]

Found this bit interesting on your link, Westender. Only abolished totally in 1999!

Piracy? Arson on a royal dockyard???......

The death penalty was suspended in 1965, but remained for crimes including piracy with violence and arson on a Royal Dockyard.
In January 1999 Home Secretary Jack Straw signed protocol six of the European Convention of Human Rights, formally abolishing the death penalty in the U.K.

[West Ender]

Originally Posted by cazzer

Found this bit interesting on your link, Westender. Only abolished totally in 1999!

Piracy? Arson on a royal dockyard???......

The death penalty was suspended in 1965, but remained for crimes including piracy with violence and arson on a Royal Dockyard.
In January 1999 Home Secretary Jack Straw signed protocol six of the European Convention of Human Rights, formally abolishing the death penalty in the U.K.

I suppose that would be in case someone had a go at the Royal Yacht. Once it was decommissioned, in 1997, the pirates could do what they damn-well pleased.

[grego]

I watched it and thought it was good, not a job I'd have liked though.

[Bonnyboy]

Originally Posted by West Ender

This article contains an audio link of an interview with Mr Pierrepoint in 1976. It's well worth listening to.

BBC - Liverpool - Local History - Albert Pierrepoint

Listening to it as I type...interesting

[WillowTheWhisp]

I watched it. I thought it was quite well done although there was obviously a lot of artistic licence.

I would say he'd be headed for Heaven unless there were things about him we don't know. He was only doing his job and somebody had to do it.

The Derek Bentley case is one good reason why I don't support the death penalty in all but a few situations. I don't think it should have been totally banned.

I believe he resigned in 1956 and it wasn't over a matter of conscience but something to do with his pay when someone was reprieved at the last minute and the sheriff's office refused to pay him the full fee despite the fact that he'd done all the work to prepare. He was just offered £1.

"Tish" was a regular customer at Pierrepoint's pub "Help the Poor Struggler" and they were friends. They gave each other the nicknames "Tish" and "Tosh" and apparently used to do singsongs togther in the pub so it was more than a casual aquaintance.

Interestingly Pierrepoint referred to Tish in his memoirs when he was speculating about whether the death penalty was a deterrant or not. He decided it wasn't, because Tish had not only known that he could have hung but also known who his executioner would be but it didn't stop him killing.

"I thought if any man had a deterrent to murder poised before him, it was this troubadour whom I called Tish. He was not only aware of the rope, he had the man who handled it beside him singing a duet. The deterrent did not work."

[West Ender]

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

"Tish" was a regular customer at Pierrepoint's pub "Help the Poor Struggler" and they were friends. They gave each other the nicknames "Tish" and "Tosh" and apparently used to do singsongs togther in the pub so it was more than a casual aquaintance.

Listen to the interview in the link I posted. That's not what Mr Pierrepoint says. He didn't even know the man's real name.

[Caz]

That much was shown in the film. When Corbett's mother visited Peirrepoint to ask for help, he didn't even know who she was referring to. He only ever knew him as a regular at the pub he originally frequented, coz they used to do a routine together.