Death penalty in the UK suspended 50 years ago

1964: Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen become the last men to be hanged in the UK. Photograph: Peter Lomas

The suspension of the death penalty for murder came too late for Gwynne Evans and Peter Allen, the last people to be executed in the UK. Both men were sentenced to death following their conviction for bludgeoning a man to death, several months before parliament voted to review the law on capital punishment.

It was a private member’s bill brought by Sydney Silverman MP that led to the change in the law.

Manchester Guardian, 23 November 1955.

Silverman probably sensed that calls for abolition were growing louder since the end of the second world war. Twice before - in 1948 and 1956 - the Lords threw out proposals to abolish the death penalty. But, significantly, in 1957 the Conservatives got the Homicide Bill passed, all but removing the automatic death penalty for murder.

But some were fearful of what might happen if the death penalty was abolished.

The Guardian, 7 January 1965.

In Scotland, police federations fearing that criminals would become more violent, knowing they would not face the death penalty for killing, called for their officers to be armed.

The Guardian, 14 January 1965.

In November 1965, the Act successfully made its way through parliament.

The Guardian, 11 November 1965.