But this self-effacing northcountryman brought much more than professionalism to his awful craft and the performance of several hundred executions. Pierrepoint executed dozens upon dozens of other war criminals just as vicious (while also executing Britain’s own Acid Bath Killer in 1949). The matter was discussed in Cabinet and a petition of 50,000 signatures was sent to the Home Secretary, Gwilym Lloyd George, to ask for a reprieve; he refused to grant one.

Executioner Pierrepoint by Albert Pierrepoint (2005) Hardcover

If death were a deterrent,” he wrote in his 1974 autobiography Executioner Pierrepoint, “I might be expected to know.

He was duly sent for six days training at Newgate prison in London and within nine months of penning his letter he had achieved his dream, assisting his hero Billington at the execution of Marcel Fougeron at Newgate on 19 November. He was 26 by the time he went into the job, after stints as a drayman and an interview at Strangeways. He spent the afternoon in the prison calculating the drop and setting up the rope to the right length. Albert always claimed that his uncle had taught him not to drink before a hanging: ‘If you can’t do the job without whisky, don’t do it at all. Before Christie was revealed to be a serial killer, Evans was convicted for killing his wife and daughter after making a false confession.

Great dynasties of the world: The Pierrepoints | Family | The Great dynasties of the world: The Pierrepoints | Family | The

Women who wore images of Hamas paragliders taking part in the attack on Israel to be charged - but they. For the duration of his duty as the Army’s executioner, he was given the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Henry's health declined and he was unable to undertake physical work; as a result, Pierrepoint left school and began work at the local Marlborough Mills. At the Nazi concentration camp, Klein had made it his business each morning to inspect the prisoners naked to select women for the SS brothel.His life has been included in several works of fiction, such as the 2005 film Pierrepoint, in which he was portrayed by Timothy Spall. On February 23, 1956 Albert informed the Prison Commissioners that he was resigning with immediate effect and requested that his name be taken from the list of executioners. In August 1949 he hanged John Haigh, nicknamed "the Acid Bath Murderer", as he had dissolved the bodies of his victims in sulphuric acid; Haigh admitted to nine murders, and tried to avoid hanging by saying he drank the blood of his victims and claiming insanity.

Obituary: Albert Pierrepoint | The Independent | The Independent Obituary: Albert Pierrepoint | The Independent | The Independent

Looking back at photos of the smiling Southport man, it's hard to imagine he made his living in such a gruesome way.If the drop was too short, the condemned man was liable to be strangled to death; too long and there was a risk of decapitation. Henry was removed from the list of executioners in July 1910 after arriving drunk at a prison the day before an execution and excessively berating his assistant. Pierrepoint's autobiography does not give any reasons for his resignation—he states that the Prison Commissioners asked him to keep the details private. Good Morning Britain viewers demand Richard Madeley be dropped as he asks guest who lost 21 relatives when. He and his assistant arrived the day before the execution, where he was told the height and weight of the prisoner; he viewed the condemned man through the "Judas hole" in the door to judge his build.

Albert Pierrepoint, The British Executioner Who Killed More Albert Pierrepoint, The British Executioner Who Killed More

He resigned less than a year after the Ellis hanging, but constantly denied it was the cause of his decision. Tourists would visit the pub to see him, though until he left it, he was always discreet about ‘t’other job’, which brought him into contact with some of the 20th century’s most notorious characters. In addition to his 1974 autobiography, Pierrepoint has been the subject of several biographies, either focusing on him, or alongside other executioners. Immediately before he was to be hanged, Christie, his hands tied behind his back, complained that his nose itched. In a hotel room in Ashton-under-Lyne, Corbitt strangled Eliza Wood, his some-time girlfriend, to death.

Because she was a woman who’d killed an abusive boyfriend while clearly in a state of extreme stress, Ellis’ death sentence was extremely controversial among the British public to the point that the government’s views on capital punishment began to change.