Amnesty International condemns 1,000th execution

AMNESTY International yesterday condemned as "absolutely shocking" the execution of the 1,000th prisoner in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Kenneth Lee Boyd was executed in North Carolina early yesterday for the 1988 murder of his estranged wife Julie Curry Boyd, 36, and her father, 57-year-old Thomas Dillard Curry.

Amnesty's British director Kate Allen said: "It is absolutely shocking that the USA has executed its 1,000th prisoner in modern times - a shameful record that puts the USA in the same company as countries like China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam."