I watched this last night, staring Timothy Spall. I found this quite a good drama for the ITV bods. Not as good as Ray Winstones portrayal of Sweeny Todd a while back, but good.

608 people he hung, I found this quite disturbing.

Some of the senior surfers on here must remember capital punishment still being in force. What's your views on it gents?

Bollox, think I used to much tomato sauce...

Hi Lassen.
I also watched the programme and do remember capital Punishment.

Up until last night I was a supporter of Capital punishment. I am not so sure now.

Faugh-a-ballagh

I thought it was an excellent programme, amazing the guy managed to keep his profession quiet for so long. It takes a certain type of indivdual to do what he did and he did it with a sense of duty, compassion and professionalism. I wonder if he really did sleep soundly?

Mick,

I do not think sleeping would be a problem. He was to clinical, I got the impression he actually enjoyed it.In a perverse sort of way. I do not think the penny dropped until he had to do his mate.

Regarding the aspect of capital punishment, I am against it. I am struggling with a few things within the boundaries of law just now. I fail to see what right an individually has over another to decide life or death. In a court room that is. Just because you have been judged by your piers, and a judge can decide death. I think this is wrong.

While a society must have rules to remain civilised and lawful, I do not think this should include life and death decisions.

Our legal system is too fickle, just because one sheriff/magistrate sees fit to sentence some one to jail/death another may not.

Imagine a case where an accused was found not guilty, he goes free, but if found guilty he could be in jail for years. Sometimes all on the cast of one vote, and the judge may have already decided, 10 years if guilty.

Jury systems are by far the best thing in my opinion, but one jury may not come back with the same verdict as another. So it seems to me that death should not be a legal option.

Slightly off topic but a fine example is up here in Aberdeen, Donald Trump wants to build a golf course, build 400 holiday homes and destroy an area of natural beauty and scientific interest. So the local planning committee voted and it went down to one vote, and the poor sod who's vote it was left too, was also the Chairman of said committee. He voted no. The press and the rest of the council members bullied him out of position, (he won the position in the first place by saying he would vote no)

For what its worth, I think he made the right decision, If building 400 homes, the local legislation means they would have to build a school, but as its holiday homes, no kids all year. St Andrews is just down the road and they struggle for winter players, and that's the home of Golf, so what chance would Aberdeen have. The jobs would only be seasonal, so it would be a false economy. more polish no doubt. The dunes are famous all around the world for certain scientists. There is not enough road links, not enough hotels. Even if they built them, only seasonal. They claimed the Americans would love it. Lets see, your American, you wana play Golf, would you go to Portugal, Miami, or maybe St Andrews for a once in a life session, or bloody cold Aberdeen?

My point is, another committee may have voted 100%, yes or no. So its so much open to chance, talking this sort of chance with a human life is too much of a gamble.

Plus, I don't know how or why Doctors agree to work in death chambers, we have taken an oath to preserve and restore life to the best of our abilities blah blah blah. Not to help kill some people.


Rant over.

Lassen.

Dunno why my post was repeated so I deleted text..

It was a good programme but that is exactly what it is - a drama.

I believe that there is a place in our society for the death penalty but it would mean tightening up on the laws regarding evidence to make the police to do their job properly. An interesting aspect to the death penalty was that crooks often searched each other to ensure that nobody was carrying a gun, as all could be executed in the case of a murder.

Yes, it seems cruel but I believe in victims rights first and foremost. I am sure that the IRA and UDF recruitment would have been curtailed if we were executing them for their bloody deeds. People don't mind singing about "martyrs" but most do not want to be one.

Lethal injection I think, would be the way to go, with the condemned person going quietly and painlessly reducing any element of vengeful satisfaction.

The arguments about judicial execution still continue. I certainly believe that life imprisonment should mean a damned sight more than 8 or 9 years and that there should be less concurrent sentences. Some argue that to be locked up until death is more cruel than execution but I am not sure of that argument. At over £30,000 per year per inmate with better living conditions than squaddies it is also an expensive option.

I also believe in chemical castration for sex criminals. Some are obviously mentally ill and imprisonment is an option only because we want vengeance. Of course that might open the argument that nearly all offenders are mentally ill. There must always too be a place for understanding and clemency. Sometimes the judicial system is too cold and clinical. I beleive that there is a place for the "crime of passion" where the perpetrator is sometimesa victim too.