Martin Doyle (convict)

Last updated
Martin Doyle
Died27 August 1861 (aged 26)
Chester
Cause of death Execution by hanging
Criminal status Executed
Conviction(s) Attempted murder
Criminal penalty Death by hanging

Martin Doyle (died 27 August 1861) was an Irishman who was the last person to be executed for attempted murder in the United Kingdom. He was sentenced to death in spite of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act (which made murder, treason, arson in royal dockyards and piracy the only crimes punishable by death) being in force at the time of his trial because it had not yet been granted Royal Assent when the crime was committed. [1]

On 30 May 1861, Doyle and his lover Jane Brogine were in Church Lawton looking for work for Doyle when they stopped for a rest because Brogine had a headache. Brogine went to sleep and slept for around an hour before waking up to find Doyle attempting to strangle her. When she resisted, he battered her almost to death with a large rock before strangling her into unconsciousness and leaving her for dead. He also attempted to rip out her tongue during the assault. [2] Brogine survived the attack and managed to crawl into the road, where she was found by a man driving a horse and cart who brought her to a nearby public house, where she was examined by doctors before being sent to hospital. She had suffered 21 separate injuries during the assault. [3]

Doyle was arrested for attempted murder and tried at the Chester Assizes. His intent was made clear by the fact that he had shouted "You shan't leave me! I came for your life, and I shall have it!" during the assault. [4] His motive was variously given as either anger that Brogine had threatened to leave him if he did not find work [3] or his mistaken belief that she had given him a venereal disease. [2] He was found guilty after only a short deliberation and sentenced to death by Mr. Justice Crompton, who stated in his sentencing remarks that he believed Brogine would not survive her injuries. Doyle was hanged at Chester County Gaol on 27 August 1861. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanging</span> Death by suspension around the neck

Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature. Hanging has been a common method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and is the primary execution method in numerous countries and regions. The first known account of execution by hanging is in Homer's Odyssey. Hanging is also a method of suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United Kingdom</span> History of the death penalty in the UK

Capital punishment in the United Kingdom predates the formation of the UK, having been used within the British Isles from ancient times until the second half of the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and took place in 1964; capital punishment for murder was suspended in 1965 and finally abolished in 1969. Although unused, the death penalty remained a legally defined punishment for certain offences such as treason until it was completely abolished in 1998; the last execution for treason took place in 1946. In 2004 the 13th Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights became binding on the United Kingdom; it prohibits the restoration of the death penalty as long as the UK is a party to the convention.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of New Hampshire for persons convicted of capital murder prior to 30 May 2019, when it was abolished prospectively for future crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John A. Bennett</span> American convicted of rape and attempted murder

John Arthur Bennett was a U.S. Army soldier who remains the last person to be executed after a court-martial by the United States Armed Forces. The 19-year-old private was convicted of the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl in Austria. Despite last minute appeals for clemency and pleas to President John F. Kennedy by her family to spare his life, Kennedy refused; Bennett was hanged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1961.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Sri Lanka.

Wrongful execution is a miscarriage of justice occurring when an innocent person is put to death by capital punishment. Cases of wrongful execution are cited as an argument by opponents of capital punishment, while proponents say that the argument of innocence concerns the credibility of the justice system as a whole and does not solely undermine the use of the death penalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Sweden</span> Overview of the state of capital punishment in Sweden

Capital punishment in Sweden was last used in 1910, though it remained a legal sentence for at least some crimes until 1973. It is now outlawed by the Swedish Constitution, which states that capital punishment, corporal punishment, and torture are strictly prohibited. At the time of the abolition of the death penalty in Sweden, the legal method of execution was beheading.

Walter James Bolton was a New Zealand farmer who was found guilty of poisoning his wife. He is known as the last person to be executed in New Zealand before the abolition of capital punishment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Australia</span> History of the death penalty in Australia

Capital punishment in Australia was a form of punishment in Australia that has been abolished in all jurisdictions. Queensland abolished the death penalty in 1922. Tasmania did the same in 1968. The Commonwealth abolished the death penalty in 1973, with application also in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Victoria did so in 1975, South Australia in 1976, and Western Australia in 1984. New South Wales abolished the death penalty for murder in 1955, and for all crimes in 1985. In 2010, the Commonwealth Parliament passed legislation prohibiting the re-establishment of capital punishment by any state or territory. Australian law prohibits the extradition or deportation of a prisoner to another jurisdiction if they could be sentenced to death for any crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripper Crew</span> American cult and organized crime group

The Ripper Crew or the Chicago Rippers was an organised crime group of serial killers, cannibals, rapists, and necrophiles. The group composed of Robin Gecht and three associates: Edward Spreitzer, and brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis. They were suspected in the disappearances of 17 women in Illinois in 1981 and 1982, as well as the unrelated fatal shooting of a man in a random drive-by shooting. According to one of the detectives who investigated the case, Gecht "made Manson look like a Boy Scout."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Timothy Judy</span> American mass murderer (1956–1981)

Steven Timothy Judy was an American mass murderer and suspected serial killer who was convicted of murdering Terry Lee Chasteen and her three children: Misty Ann, Steve, and Mark, on April 28, 1979. He was executed for the murders on March 9, 1981, via electrocution, becoming the first person to be executed in Indiana since 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Long</span> American murderer (1905–1939)

Howard Long was an American convicted murderer who was executed for the 1937 murder of 10-year-old Mark Neville Jensen in Gilford, New Hampshire. He was the last person to be executed by the state of New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Peña</span> Child murders and rapes in 1993

The rapes and murders of Jennifer Lee Ertman and Elizabeth Christine Peña, two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, aged 14 and 16, respectively, occurred on June 24, 1993. The murder of the two girls made headlines in Texas newspapers due to the nature of the crime and the new law resulting from the murder that allows families of the victims to view the execution of the murderers. The case was also notable in that the state of Texas rejected attempts by the International Court of Justice to halt several perpetrators' executions.

Paul Warner Powell was an American man convicted and executed for the murder of his friend Stacie Reed, 16, in 1999. He also raped, strangled, and stabbed the girl's sister Kristie, 14, who survived. Following the vacature of his capital murder conviction upon appeal, he wrote letters boasting about his crimes under the mistaken belief that he was exempt from punishment by the principle of double jeopardy. His letters were used as evidence against him in a second trial that resulted in his execution in 2010.

Capital punishment was abolished in 1957 in Alaska. Between December 28, 1869, and April 14, 1950, between the Department, District, and Territory of Alaska, twelve felons, all male, were executed by hanging for murder, robbery, and other crimes. Some were European, some were Native American, and two were African. The territorial legislature abolished capital punishment in 1957 during preparations for statehood, making Alaska the first in the West Coast of the United States to outlaw executions, along with Hawaii, which did the same.

Joseph LaPage, known as "The French Monster" and various other aliases, was a Canadian rapist, serial killer and necrophile who murdered four women in Canada and the United States, also attempting to kill his wife's sister and another unnamed woman. He was hanged for the murder of 17 year old Josie Langmaid, which occurred in Pembroke, New Hampshire.

Anatoliy Tymofeev was a Ukrainian serial killer and burglar who murdered at least 13 pensioners in both Ukraine and Russia between 1991 and 1992. He was convicted, sentenced to death and executed, one of the last to be executed in Ukraine prior to the abolition of the death penalty.

Robert Colvin Smith was the last person to be publicly executed in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz and Rosalie Schneider</span> Austrian serial killer duo

Franz Schneider and Rosalie Schneider were two Austrian serial killers responsible for the murders of at least three women in Lower Austria from in June and July 1891, although circumstantial evidence suggests they might have been responsible for a total of six. Both were sentenced to death for their respective roles, with Franz being executed in 1892 while Rosalie's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

References

  1. ↑ "Timeline of capital punishment in Britain". Capital Punishment UK.
  2. 1 2 "Martin Doyle". True Crime Library.
  3. 1 2 3 "Martin Doyle - the last person to hang for attempted murder". Capital Punishment UK.
  4. ↑ "1861: Martin Doyle, the last hanged for attempted murder". Executed Today.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.