Letter: Barbarism in the USA

From Mr David McDowall

Sir: While abhorring capital punishment, I had no idea how frightful the electric chair was until I read the description of the ordeal that Nick Ingram will undergo unless reprieved.

By the Georgia prison service's own confession and nightmare description ("Mother's plea for death row Briton", 29 March), Mr Ingrams and all others who undergo this form of execution are incontrovertibly tortured to death. That the victim of this barbarism should be handed a leaflet describing in horrific detail what his body will undergo is a gratuitous additional act of mental torture.

Regardless of the nationality of the victim, our Government should lobby the US government vigorously to stamp out such judicial torture immediately. Such practices contradict its claim upon civilised values.

Yours sincerely,

DAVID MCDOWALL

Richmond, Surrey

30 March