The 22 life sentences given to lowlife paedophile pond scum Richard Huckle have been criticised by many as being too lenient. And predictably, this has led to calls for the return of the death penalty. Although he is undoubtedly a monster and his crimes against children as young as six months were horrific, there is never any excuse to bring back capital punishment. It has no place in a civilised society for so many reasons:
1) Innocent people will be executed, and a mistake cannot be rectified when we allow the state to kill someone.
2) Governments should not have the right to take a life. What makes them so righteous that they can claim such an authority? They are run by politicians, who as we know are not always the most honest of people.
3) Claims that the death penalty deters crime have been discredited time and again by numerous studies.
4) While victims of abuse or the families of murdered undergo severe trauma which should not be minimized, executions do not end their pain.
One argument put forward by supporters of capital punishment that has me banging my head against a wall until it is a pile of rubble is: “we will only execute those people we’re sure are guilty”. Err, when the courts sentence people they do so because they are convinced of a defendant’s guilt beyond all reasonable doubt. And still mistakes are made.
Another common argument I hear is that if someone dear to me was murdered wouldn’t I wish the same or worse for the perpetrator? Absolutely I would, but such personal feelings and emotions cannot play any part in the framing of a law.
Huckle is Britain’s worst ever predatory paedophile and will serve a minimum of 25 years inside. It’s not enough. This should be a case of where life really does mean life.
