The failed execution of Christa Pike has reignited debate over whether there are grounds to halt the death penalty. Pike, 50, was sentenced to death in the US for the 1995 torture and slaying of classmate, Colleen Slemmer. Pike was age 18 at the time and became one of the youngest women sent to death row.
Britain's history with capital punishment
Capital punishment was abolished in Britain in November 1965 when the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act came into force. It wasn't until 1998 that the UK formally scrapped the death penalty as a punishment. That came after a public outcry over a miscarriage of justice which saw Timothy Evans hanged for murdering his wife and daughter when they were in fact victims of John Christie, a serial killer who lived downstairs.
Political calls for its return
Restore Britain leader, Rupert Lowe, wants to hold a referendum on its return. A vocal campaigner on capital punishment, Mr Lowe has previously expressed his support in Parliament. Nigel Farage has ruled out including it as Reform UK policy, but Lee Anderson, who chairs the outfit, called for hanging to return after the murder of three girls in Southport. The UK Government's position is that it is "opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances".
Failed execution and US reaction
Critics of bringing it back have pointed to the failed state execution of Pike as evidence of the latest example of what happens when it goes wrong. Tennessee prison officials gave Pike two doses of the lethal injection drug, but the pentobarbital didn't kill her. Her lawyers said her arms were burned and blistered from the caustic drugs.
US Senator Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee's Republican candidate for governor, said Pike’s unsuccessful execution last week "should not be grounds to halt carrying out the death penalty". She argued Tennessee needs to re-evaluate how it does executions.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Monday approved the execution by firing squad of Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas. If carried out, it will be the first time the US military has used the death penalty since 1961.
