Read Online Pierrepoint by Steven Fielding - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Steven Fielding
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later Mary was heard calling for help. When her son entered the bedroom he saw that Butler had stabbed her four times. Placed under arrest, Butler claimed he had committed the crime because her son had broken his jaw. Mary Allen died two days later.
At his trial, Butler’s defence was that he was unaware of his actions due to the effects of the large amount of alcohol he had consumed. Standing just 5 feet 2 inches and weighing 171 pounds, the hangmen gave him a drop of just 6 feet. Death was instantaneous.A week after Butler’s execution, Harry made his first trip to Scotland when he was engaged to hang a young Basuto boxer named Pasha Liffey who had committed a murder on a road near Larkhall, Lanarkshire.
Liffey was well known in the Glasgow area, where he was a frequent visitor as part of a travelling circus. One night in August he savagely attacked an old woman as she walkedhome, cutting her throat with a razor. Her screams alerted passers-by, who recognised the fleeing Liffey. Police arrested him on the following day while an angry lynch mob combed the area looking for revenge.
Although he gave his age as 24, Harry thought Liffey looked no more than a boy as he observed him in exercise at Glasgow’s Duke Street Gaol on the afternoon of Monday, 13 November. He was carrying out the execution alone, as his request for an assistant had been refused.
Harry admitted he had been apprehensive as he set out from Clayton on the Sunday evening. He knew from his conversations with William Billington that executions were a rarity in Scotland – as a result, a scaffold was usually borrowed from the English authorities and assembled prior to the day before. In this instance it was borrowed from London’s Holloway Gaol and Harry accepted the governor’s invitation to travel up on the Sunday so he could supervise the construction of the scaffold and check that it met with his satisfaction.
It was a bitterly cold night as he arrived at St Enoch’s station, where after some hot refreshments he made his way to Duke Street Prison. The scaffold was erected in the engineer’s workshop. Harry didn’t much care for it – it had too many mechanical contrivances about it – but there was no real alternative. The chief concern was that the scaffold floor stood a good 8 inches above the concrete ground so that the trapdoor mechanism could fit underneath. The doors opened into a pit that had been dug below to receive the body. There was always the worry that a terrified condemned man would struggle and there was a chance he would fall or trip on the raised platform. Despite this, after a careful inspection, Harry decided it would suit the purposes.
Standing in the exercise yard as Liffey walked around in the chilly afternoon air, Harry donned a warden’s tunic andcap so that the condemned man would be unaware his executioner was observing him at close quarters.
Liffey was only 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 9 stone 9 pounds. Harry worked out a drop of 7 feet 1 inch and completed a test drop with a sandbag filled to the same weight. Satisfied all was in order, he retired to his quarters, where he spent much of the evening in the company of warders, playing cards and talking.
At a few minutes to eight that Tuesday morning, Harry stood in the corridor waiting for the governor, with watch in hand, to give him the signal. When it came he went unaccompanied to the condemned cell. A surprise awaited him on arrival in the cell. The door was slightly open and as he entered the cell Liffey stood erect behind the door. Not a flicker of emotion showed on his face as Harry approached. Once he realised who the visitor to the cell was, Liffey gave him a broad smile.
‘Come on lad,’ Harry said in as kindly and considerate tone as possible, ‘it is time to go.’
Liffey stood like a statue as his arms were secured.
‘Buck up my boy,’ Harry said, even though the condemned man showed no sign of failing courage.
‘I will that,’ Liffey
At his trial, Butler’s defence was that he was unaware of his actions due to the effects of the large amount of alcohol he had consumed. Standing just 5 feet 2 inches and weighing 171 pounds, the hangmen gave him a drop of just 6 feet. Death was instantaneous.A week after Butler’s execution, Harry made his first trip to Scotland when he was engaged to hang a young Basuto boxer named Pasha Liffey who had committed a murder on a road near Larkhall, Lanarkshire.
Liffey was well known in the Glasgow area, where he was a frequent visitor as part of a travelling circus. One night in August he savagely attacked an old woman as she walkedhome, cutting her throat with a razor. Her screams alerted passers-by, who recognised the fleeing Liffey. Police arrested him on the following day while an angry lynch mob combed the area looking for revenge.
Although he gave his age as 24, Harry thought Liffey looked no more than a boy as he observed him in exercise at Glasgow’s Duke Street Gaol on the afternoon of Monday, 13 November. He was carrying out the execution alone, as his request for an assistant had been refused.
Harry admitted he had been apprehensive as he set out from Clayton on the Sunday evening. He knew from his conversations with William Billington that executions were a rarity in Scotland – as a result, a scaffold was usually borrowed from the English authorities and assembled prior to the day before. In this instance it was borrowed from London’s Holloway Gaol and Harry accepted the governor’s invitation to travel up on the Sunday so he could supervise the construction of the scaffold and check that it met with his satisfaction.
It was a bitterly cold night as he arrived at St Enoch’s station, where after some hot refreshments he made his way to Duke Street Prison. The scaffold was erected in the engineer’s workshop. Harry didn’t much care for it – it had too many mechanical contrivances about it – but there was no real alternative. The chief concern was that the scaffold floor stood a good 8 inches above the concrete ground so that the trapdoor mechanism could fit underneath. The doors opened into a pit that had been dug below to receive the body. There was always the worry that a terrified condemned man would struggle and there was a chance he would fall or trip on the raised platform. Despite this, after a careful inspection, Harry decided it would suit the purposes.
Standing in the exercise yard as Liffey walked around in the chilly afternoon air, Harry donned a warden’s tunic andcap so that the condemned man would be unaware his executioner was observing him at close quarters.
Liffey was only 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 9 stone 9 pounds. Harry worked out a drop of 7 feet 1 inch and completed a test drop with a sandbag filled to the same weight. Satisfied all was in order, he retired to his quarters, where he spent much of the evening in the company of warders, playing cards and talking.
At a few minutes to eight that Tuesday morning, Harry stood in the corridor waiting for the governor, with watch in hand, to give him the signal. When it came he went unaccompanied to the condemned cell. A surprise awaited him on arrival in the cell. The door was slightly open and as he entered the cell Liffey stood erect behind the door. Not a flicker of emotion showed on his face as Harry approached. Once he realised who the visitor to the cell was, Liffey gave him a broad smile.
‘Come on lad,’ Harry said in as kindly and considerate tone as possible, ‘it is time to go.’
Liffey stood like a statue as his arms were secured.
‘Buck up my boy,’ Harry said, even though the condemned man showed no sign of failing courage.
‘I will that,’ Liffey
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