‘Moral case’ for death penalty

THERE is a “moral case” for reintroducing the death penalty in Britain as a deterrent that would save innocent lives, Ann Widdecombe said yesterday.

The murder of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman has reignited the debate over capital punishment, with a new opinion poll suggesting more than half the population wanted the death penalty restored for child killers. Former Tory Home Office minister Miss Widdecombe said it was "somewhat vacuous" because MPs would never back it and the government had handed responsibility on the issue to Brussels.

But she said: "There is a moral choice to be made. If it is a deterrent - let's use the if there is a moral choice to be made between saving the lives of the innocent and taking the lives of the guilty. That is the choice we have to make. I don't think you can ignore that choice because if you say it is a deterrent but we will not have capital punishment, then you are condemning innocent people." Her comments followed a poll by YouGov for the Daily Mail, which found that 56% believed in the death penalty for child killers and 35% would back capital punishment for paedophiles.