This winter will mark 53 years since the last use of capital punishment in Northern Ireland. On 20 December 1961 Robert McGladdery became the last man to be hanged in Belfast’s Crumlin Road Gaol, for the murder of Pearl Gamble. The death penalty for murder was finally abolished in Northern Ireland on 25 July 1973. However, depending on…Continue reading Mental illness and the death penalty
Tag: death penalty
Death penalty-free world?
We’re winning! That’s not a claim you may hear too often from human rights activists, but in the case of the global struggle against the death penalty, it’s true. The momentum around the world is towards ending executions. The vast majority of countries have now abandoned the death penalty. On the eve of World Day…Continue reading Death penalty-free world?
There is no reprieve from the grave: rejecting the DUP’s death penalty call
In the midst of a global / European economic meltdown, there are many pressing issues deserving of time for Commons debate. In the week of Remembrance Day, as ex-Serviceman Mark Mullins and his wife Helen commited suicide – apparently out of despair at their poverty and lack of adequate support from the State – perhaps it might…Continue reading There is no reprieve from the grave: rejecting the DUP’s death penalty call
“We are not scared” – Uganda’s gay rights leader in Northern Ireland
When David Kato was murdered in January, he was Uganda’s best known gay rights activist. That’s a tough mantle to carry. Uganda is not a gay-friendly country. Kato was murdered not long after suing a paper that named him as gay and calling for violence. The headline said: “Hang Them.” The Ugandan Penal Code prohibits…Continue reading “We are not scared” – Uganda’s gay rights leader in Northern Ireland