History - Crime and Punishment - 18th and 19th century - Abolishment of the Bloody Code

18th - 19th Century:

Abolishment of the Bloody Code:

Background

• Abolished by Robert Peel - Home Secretary - in the 1820s
• 1789 - Last woman killed for murdering her husband
• 1808 - Samuel Romilly gets law passed that abolished death penalty for pickpocketing
• 1820: Last beheading
• 1820s-30s: Abolishment of almost all capital crimes
• 1841: Only capital crimes are murde and treason
• 1868: Last public hanging

Juries would not convict + no longer a deterrent

• Early 1700s: Only 40% of those convitcted of capital crimes were killed
• 1800s: Fallen to 30% despite increase in crime overall
• Juries thoguht the punishment was unfair and out of proportion
• Most unwilling to give death penalty and made criminals feel confident of escaping…