Peter Anthony Allen

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Peter Anthony Allen (4 April 1943 – 13 August 1964) was one of the two last people in the United Kingdom to be executed. He was hanged for the murder the previous 7 April of John Alan West.

When Allen and his accomplice, Gwynne Owen Evans, were tried together at Manchester Crown Court in July 1964, the charge against them was capital murder under the Homicide Act 1957. This was because the murder of West had been committed in the course of theft. During the trial the judge asked the jury to decide if the murder had actually been committed by one of the two men alone; in the latter case the other would only be found guilty of non-capital murder at the most. The jury found both men equally guilty, and both were sentenced to death by hanging.

Robert Leslie Stewart, one of the last two executioners in the United Kingdom, officiated at the execution of 21-year-old Allen on 13 August 1964.

[edit] See also

• Capital punishment in the United Kingdom
• Gwynne Owen Evans, his accomplice.
• John Alan West; contains story of the murder, trial and execution.