Why Albert Pierrepoint resigned
Albert Pierrepoint was a principled man whose aim was to maintain professionalism, take pride in his work and to better his father’s average execution time of 13 seconds. He viewed execution as ‘as any other job’ and was known for his efficiency; he executed 608 people in his 24-year career. Albert Pierrepoint was referred to as the best executioner in Britain.
Thomas Bancoff’s execution was reprieved therefore Albert Pierrepoint was not paid. This incident proved to be the perfect scapegoat for Albert’s resignation. In 1956, following his wife’s advice he officially tendered his resignation letter based on payment disputes following the reprieve. However, the real reason behind Albert Pierrepoint’s resignation is not the result of this isolated incident. Based on my research of the movie, Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman, and Alex Kozinki’s article, Tinkering with Death, in the book Debating the Death Penalty, I have drawn a conclusion on the factors that causes Albert Pierrepoint to resign. I have listed the reasons for my decision as follows:
An executioner’s job called for ultimate secrecy. One had to be discrete and observe confidentiality. Albert Pierrepoint had to lead a double life. He was Albert the grocer and Albert the executioner, with the two characters never intermingling. Albert met Tish’s girlfriend and learnt of her conduct and promiscuous nature. He likened this to his secret life and was unable to sleep. He confronted his wife and revealed his real job to her.
Albert Pierrepoint was indifferent to capital punishment. He told his assistants not to focus on the lives and crimes of the convicts, but concentrate on their height, weight and physical attributes for a quick and effective execution. They were merely presiding over legally sanctioned death. This is similar to the conservative judge’s, Alex Kozinski, views that his job is to enforce a valid law and not violate the constitution. He emphasizes that enforcers of the law should follow the individual justice condition. With no mandatory death sentences regardless of how heinous the crime was and the judge should maintain professional distance (Bedau & Cassell, 2004).
Despite this, Albert Pierrepoint seemed to value the humanity of those he executed: he ensured a clean break of the neck for a fast painless death; cared and cleaned the bodies of the deceased who he now viewed as innocent, having atoned for their sins; prioritized the executions, hanging of the young women first since delay would make them more afraid; he was incensed when he realized that coffins were not sufficient so one of the prisoners was to be buried as is.
Time in Germany spent carrying out huge batches of executions of war criminals. Albert Pierrepoint showed visual concern when he was ordered to hang 13 prisoners on the first day and 47 by the end of that week. He later admitted to his friend, Tish that the execution jobs in Germany were more than was good for him and he was mentally tired. He had to suppress his emotions and keep his guard up.
Up on Albert Pierrepoint’s return from Germany, he was exposed by the press and praised for his contribution in the fight against war crimes. He was referred to as the Avenging Angel. His popularity soared. He was irked by this exposure, terming it as not right since his job called for discretion. An uneasy Albert Pierrepoint would entered his pub from the back office, took several deep breathes before nervously surfacing before the eager patrons. Albert was clearly uncomfortable with the newly acquired status of fame.
Protests against capital punishment began in earnest. The public had turned their anger at him. The protestors’ hurled insults at Albert Pierrepoint. They referred to him as, Pierrepoint the Murder. The protest hit fever pitch during the execution of Ruth Ellis, his last hanging. She smiled at him as he carried out the execution leaving him quite baffled.
The execution of his close friend Tish was the last straw that broke this camel’s back. This was preceded by a fervent plea and cries of agony from Tish’s mother, imploring of Albert Pierrepoint to save her son by backing out of the execution. Albert saw Tish in the cell and was overcome by emotion. This was followed by a series of events and actions that were uncharacteristic of Albert’s cool and composed demeanor.
He is unable to mentally compute the required length of the hangman’s noose and mumbled the measurements to his assistant. He began to tremble and breathe heavily as the clock stuck 9, the official time for executions in Britain. He acknowledged Tish, apologized for what he was about to do. Placing his arm around Tish’s shoulder he consoled him and fought back his tears. Tish thanked Albert! This was the first time Albert turned away as he pulled out the pin and lowered the lever. He got drunk, confronted his wife and relay the day’s events. Finally, the victims of his executions became human. He claimed responsibility for hanging Tish; all for money. He realized that all the other names in his log were people he had killed for the pay! In 1974, he is quoted as saying capital punishment achieved nothing except revenge).
It can be concluded that Albert Pierrepoint, Britain’s most prolific executioner, resigned because of a series of events that culminated with the hanging of Tish and not because of dispute over non-payment. This sequence of events were: leading a double life, indifference and suppressed emotions, batch executions in Germany, press exposure and popularity, public protests and finally Tish’s execution.
References
Bedau, H. A., & Cassell, P. G. (Eds.). (2004). Tinkering with death. Debating the death penalty: should America have capital punishment?: the experts on both sides make their best case (pp. 1-14). New York: NY, Oxford University Press.
Langan, C. (Producer), & Shergold, A. (Director). (2006). Pierrepoint: the last hangman [Motion picture]. UK: Granada Television.
