‘In certain circumstances I think capital punishment would be a good idea, and this possibly is one of them.’
This is the sentiment of Paul Bone, the father of murdered PC Fiona Bone, whose killer Dale Cregan was sentenced to whole life imprisonment at Preston Crown Court yesterday.
One-eyed cop killer Cregan, 30, pleaded guilty in February to the cold-blooded murders of 32-year-old PC Bone and her colleague, 23-year-old PC Nicola Hughes.
Last month, he also changed his plea to guilty to murdering father and son David and Mark Short, and will now die behind bars.
Following Mr Bone’s statement, MM took to the streets of Manchester to ask the public’s opinion on the death penalty, we asked:
Do you think there is ever a case when the death penalty is appropriate?
| Option | Results |
| Yes | 39% |
| No | 61% |
Anthony Seddon, a self-employed IT consultant from Wigan, said:
“It’s a tricky one because he is so blatantly guilty and of no more use to society.
“Should we be incurring a cost of incarcerating him for the rest of his life when he is so unwilling to take part in society, should we as society turn around and say well it’s game over?
“The point of prison is to rehabilitate people and when people can’t be rehabilitated or won’t be rehabilitated, and commit crimes that we as society find totally unacceptable, do we say that’s it, we don’t want you part of this.
Phillip Owen, 25, student from Fallowfield, added:
“It definitly warrants a debate, and for people and cases like this there is a very strong argument.
“Cregan falls into the similar sort of category as the guys like Ian Brady. Are these people a category of killer that we just won’t tolerate?”
Nicolette Gordon an 18-year-old student from Mosside, said:
“It depends on the circumstance for me, with some case like rape then we should bring it back.
“But actually staying in prison isn’t that bad. I know people in prison now and their lives are a lot better, they have food to eat, TV, gyms and they are living the life.
“I don’t think it would stop crime if there is the threat of the death penalty.”
Page Darbo, a 17-year-old student living in Fallowfield, said:
“No, they should never bring it back.”
Page’s thoughts were also shared by her friend Jake Hastin, also 17 from Fallowfield, who added:
“The death penalty is an easy way out. It shouldn’t be brought back for any cases.”
John Hughes, 32, Restaurant Manager from Prestwich, said:
“There are some people, like Dale Cregan or Ian Brady, you can argue that they are clearly psycho and you can make a very strong case that they should be killed for what they do.
“However, it brings into question about us as a society and whether we are moral enough to take a life, is that our choice?
“You see America do it, but that’s America. We used to do it back in the 60s I think, so we must ask what has changed since then?
Hannah Frost, a 21-year-old Politics student from Bolton, said:
“There probably are certain cases like this one where they do warrant the return of it, but there a plenty of examples in America where they have got it wrong and people have been wrongly killed.
“Cregan is going to die on prison, and unlike what people say, I don’t think he will enjoy his time there.
Joe Turton, 52, self-employed from Manchester, said:
“I do not think so. What would we do if we got the verdict wrong and sent someone to death when they had not actually done the crime? It’s not a good thing for a morally sound world.”
Emily Baker a 27-year-old student from Manchester, said:
“Just because it’s costing the tax payer money it doesn’t mean that we should start putting people to death for things they have done. Most people can be rehabilitated.”
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