John Kewish

John Kewish, Jr. (died 1 August 1872) was the last person executed by the Isle of Man. He was convicted and executed for the crime of patricide.

Prior to his arrest, Kewish lived on a farm with his elderly parents and his sister. Kewish's father, John Kewish, Sr., was found dead on the farm on 28 March 1872 with four large holes in his chest. It was believed by police that he had been killed with a pitchfork. Kewish, Jr. was arrested and charged with patricide.

Kewish was tried before a jury. After 14 hours of deliberation, the jury was unable to reach a verdict. A new trial was ordered after one jury member became ill and deliberations were unable to continue. At Kewish's second trial, he plead not guilty by reason of insanity. After an hour's deliberation, the jury convicted him of patricide. The presiding deemster, William Drinkwater, sentenced Kewish to the mandatory punishment of death by hanging. After his trial, Kewish admitted to his gaoler that he had shot his father four times after a family dispute.

Kewish was hung in Castle Rushen at Castletown on 1 August 1872. It was the first non-public execution that took place under Manx law. The Isle of Man did not abolish the death penalty until 1993, but all death sentences after Kewish's execution were commuted to life imprisonment by the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom using the Crown's Prerogative of Mercy.

ee also

*Capital punishment in the Isle of Man

References

*Steve Fielding (1994). "The Hangman's Record: Volume One 1868–1899" (Beckenham, UK: Chancery House Press, ISBN 0900246650) p. 23

External links

*Peter W. Edge, [http://firedrake.org/drpete/manx2.htm "The Law and Practice of Capital Punishment in the Isle of Man"] , 1996, accessed 2008-08-13