Execution: A History of Capital Punishment in Britain by Simon Webb Read Free Book Online

full and detailed account of the events that morning.
    As the executioner approached the condemned cell, he could hear Goodale moaning and screaming in terror. The usual procedure was that Berry would enter the cell, shake hands with the condemned man and then pass a leather strap around his arms, pinioning them to his body. Goodale was a stout man, and struggled so violently that this proved to be impossible. The hangman simply could not hold Goodale’s arms in place for long enough to fasten the buckle. The scene in the cell began to resemble a free for all, with warders sitting on the condemned man, trying to force his arms to his side so that Berry could do up the strap. After a minute or two, it became clear that this was not going to be possible, and the hangman asked one of the warders to go and find some wire. Eventually, by wrapping wire round the man, it was found possible to restrain his arms sufficiently for the next stage in the proceedings to be attempted – getting the condemned man to the gallows.
    Between them, Berry and the warders, who had by now sent for help, managed to get the struggling man out of the cell and into the courtyard, where he caught sight of the gallows. At this point, Goodale redoubled his efforts and simply refused to move a single pace towards the waiting noose. The crowd outside the prison, who were waiting to see the raising of the black flag (which signified the death of the condemned man), were growing puzzled. Rumours spread that Goodale had somehow managed to cheat the hangman by committing suicide in the night. The truth was infinitely more horrible.
    Once more, James Berry had to take charge of the situation. He ordered a warder to fetch a length of strong rope. At this point, one of the official witnesses turned pale and rushed off, unable to bear the scene any longer. When the rope was brought, Berry tied it round the fighting man and gave the ends to two warders; they then jerked and dragged Goodale towards the gallows. Some pushed and other pulled; somehow, it was found possible to get the man onto the scaffold. Warders held Goodale upright, while Berry fixed the noose round his neck. The warders then left the platform, upon which Goodale promptly collapsed in a heap. Berry persuaded one of the warders to help the fainting man stand upright, and then swiftly pulled the lever to operate the trapdoor. To his horror, he saw that the warder had not been able to jump clear in time and very nearly plunged into the pit with Goodale. At the last moment, the man was able to grasp onto the edge of the drop.
    The other witnesses though had noticed something even more disturbing than the warder’s slowness in getting clear of the drop. As Goodale fell through the trapdoors, the rope snapped tight and then jerked loosely upwards; evidently with nothing on the end of it. What had happened to Goodale? Had the rope snapped under his weight? Or had the noose slipped over his head? It was neither of these. When the hangman went to investigate, he found to his horrified amazement that the rope had actually cut through Goodale’s neck, as cleanly as a knife. Lying on the floor of the pit was Goodale’s headless body, with his decapitated head lying a few feet away. The place was awash with blood.
    It was apparent that Robert Goodale’s neck muscles were considerably weaker than James Berry had thought them to be. Although the inquest on the dead man cleared Berry of all blame, the ‘Goodale Mess’, as it became known, had a profound effect upon him. It also led, in the course of time, to a more scientific way of calculating the required drop necessary to break a person’s neck cleanly, without severing the head completely. Robert Goodale deserves a minor footnote in the annals of British capital punishment, as the last person in this country to be executed by the removal of his head.
    A final historical curiosity is that judicial beheading remained a possibility in this country right up