An interesting job vacancy in Zimbabwe.

m@cc@

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=153040421

A backlog of prisoners waiting for execution has built up in Zimbabwe after the sudden retirement of the official hangman.
The man quit his job after he was said to be struggling with his conscience, now the government is desperately searching for a replacement.
About 50 inmates are waiting on death row at Chikurubi maximum security prison outside Harare.
Meanwhile, calls for abolition of the death penalty have gained ground. Earlier this month Shepherd Mazango won the support of human rights groups to appeal his death sentence and demand the abolition of the death penalty in the Supreme Court, the nation's highest tribunal.
"God knows when I am going to be executed. I am anxious about this every day," Mazango, who was convicted of murder in 2002, wrote in a recent court deposition. He said he and some others on death row feel they are losing their minds.
Zimbabwe's last hangman, said to have been an unnamed former Zambian police officer, left after his contract with the prisons service and justice ministry expired. A former top prison officer said that the executioner was always extremely remorseful about his job.
The government has prepared notices and an advertisement offering employment for a part-time hangman which have yet to be published, said Edson Chiota, of the Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender.
The job requires only a high school education but extra training would seem in order since studies have shown execution by hanging involves knowledge of body weight, human physiology, ropes, knots and basic mechanics.

A viable alternative to pissing off to Oz?

myflipflops

I'd rather hang myself than go to that sh*thole.

orourkeda

Hangman. Has a nice ring to it I think. I might dust off my C.V and apply

seanybiker

Would be a great job, only if there was 100% proof that the person done what they where sentenced for.

m@cc@

seanybiker wrote: »

Would be a great job, only if there was 100% proof that the person done what they where sentenced for.

In Zimbabwe? Yeah, good luck with that.

seanybiker

m@cc@ wrote: »

In Zimbabwe? Yeah, good luck with that.

I just meant in general not in mental places like there lol.

Why do they want you to have some qualifications anyways. Surely all you need to know is if the person is up 10 feet then any rope shorter than 10 feet should do the job. I think Ill apply.

minidazzler

Ah, it sounds good, probably good enough pay TBH, but then you get to exchange rates and it all goes to sh1t.

If a position opens up in Egypt I might give it a go.

MaybeLogic

Government officials are said to be choked after the retirement of the current hangman.

Wibbs

seanybiker wrote: »

Why do they want you to have some qualifications anyways. Surely all you need to know is if the person is up 10 feet then any rope shorter than 10 feet should do the job. I think Ill apply.

I read a book by the last hangman in the UK(he worked here too) Pierrepoint. Apparently you have to know what you're doing to do it right. Too long a drop and the head comes off(which happened with one of saddam hussains henchmen), too short and it takes too long. It's a science and a skill. Mentally you would want to be bloody strong too.

EL_Loco

I wonder what his bed side manner was like.

a kind word or a "burn in hell" as a parting shot.

Gone Drinking

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MaybeLogic

Wibbs wrote: »

I read a book by the last hangman in the UK(he worked here too) Pierrepoint. Apparently you have to know what you're doing to do it right. Too long a drop and the head comes off(which happened with one of saddam hussains henchmen), too short and it takes too long. It's a science and a skill. Mentally you would want to be bloody strong too.

Great book. I was hanging on every word.

Kasabian

In Zimbabwe we would all be millionaires

El Siglo

Well I have experience with this hangman business before, so it can't be that hard.

Hagar

So Zimbabweans aren't as well hung as we have been led to believe.

Sykk

I think that job would be too ropey for me...

joolsveer

Wibbs wrote: »

I read a book by the last hangman in the UK(he worked here too) Pierrepoint. Apparently you have to know what you're doing to do it right. Too long a drop and the head comes off(which happened with one of saddam hussains henchmen), too short and it takes too long. It's a science and a skill. Mentally you would want to be bloody strong too.

Pierrepoint wasn't the last hangman in the UK. He had retired over a dispute to do with payment.

Pierrepoint resigned in 1956 over a disagreement with the Home Office about his fees. In January 1956 he had gone to Strangeways Prison, Manchester, to officiate at the execution of Thomas Bancroft, who was reprieved less than 12 hours before his scheduled execution, when Pierrepoint was already present making his preparations - the first time in his career that this had happened in England. He claimed his full fee of £15 but the under-sheriff of Lancashire offered only £1, as the rule in England was that the executioner was only paid for executions carried out – in Scotland he would have been paid in full. Pierrepoint appealed to his employers, the Prison Commission, who refused to get involved. The under-sheriff sent him a cheque for £4 in full and final settlement of his incidental travel and hotel expenses (Pierrepoint having been unable to return home that day because of heavy snow). The official story is that Pierrepoint's pride in his position as Britain's Chief Executioner was insulted, and he resigned; however, there is evidence that he had already decided to resign, and had previously been in discussion with the editor of the Empire News and Sunday Chronicle for a series "The Hangman's Own Story" revealing the last moments of many of the notorious criminals he executed, for a fee equivalent to £500,000 in today's money[9]. Pierrepoint was the only executioner in British history whose notice of resignation prompted the Home Office to write to him asking him to reconsider, such was the reputation he had established as the most efficient and swiftest executioner in British history. On learning of the proposed newspaper series, the Home Office considered prosecuting Pierrepoint under the Official Secrets Act before deciding it would be counterproductive; they did, however, pressurise the newspaper publishers so that the series eventually fizzled out.[10]

Albert and Anne Pierrepoint retired to the seaside town of Southport, where he died on 10 July 1992 in a nursing home where he had lived for the last four years of his life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Pierrepoint

Last executions

England and in the United Kingdom: on 13 August, 1964 at 8 a.m., Peter Anthony Allen, at Walton Prison in Liverpool, and Gwynne Owen Evans, at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, were executed for the murder of John Alan West on 7 April that year.[13].

Scotland: Henry John Burnett, 21, on 15 August, 1963 in Craiginches Prison, Aberdeen, for the murder of seaman Thomas Guyan.

Northern Ireland: Robert McGladdery, 25, on 20 December, 1961 in Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast, for the murder of Pearl Gamble.

Wales: Vivian Teed, 24, in Swansea on 6 May, 1958, for the murder of William Williams, sub-postmaster of Fforestfach Post Office.[14]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom#Last_executions

Gwynne Owen Evans was hanged by the executioner Harry Allen at Manchester's Strangeways Prison at 8:00 am on 13 August 1964. At the same time, Peter Allen was hanged at Liverpool's Walton Prison by Robert Leslie Stewart. These were the last two hangings in Britain.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Anthony_Allen

GavRedKing

Its not everyday an opportunity like this pops up, it wont hang around for long.

prinz

seanybiker wrote: »

Why do they want you to have some qualifications anyways. Surely all you need to know is if the person is up 10 feet then any rope shorter than 10 feet should do the job. I think Ill apply.

Execution by hanging is not supposed to be a slow drawn out strangulation. It is desgined specifically for each person to do with height, weight, a lot of variables. The aim is for the rope noose to snap the neck of the prisoner at the exact moment they reach the end of the rope and it pulls taut. If the prisoner survives the drop it is deemed to be a failed execution. Pierrepoint had it down to almost an artform.

weiland79

Do i get to wear one of these?

Lux23

prinz wrote: »

Execution by hanging is not supposed to be a slow drawn out strangulation. It is desgined specifically for each person to do with height, weight, a lot of variables. The aim is for the rope noose to snap the neck of the prisoner at the exact moment they reach the end of the rope and it pulls taut. If the prisoner survives the drop it is deemed to be a failed execution. Pierrepoint had it down to almost an artform.

Murdering people is an artform now, nice.

speedboatchase

"If I ever seen an amputee getting hanged... I would just start shouting out letters" - Demetri Martin

abouttobebanned

We need a new puns forum.

prinz

Lux23 wrote: »

Murdering people is an almost artform now, nice.

When it comes to making death instantaneous and painless for those sentenced to execution then yes there is an amount of skill involved. Do you object to the term martial arts?

btw I included a word you seem to have missed in the original post. I hope you don't mind I slotted it back in.

Wibbs

prinz wrote: »

When it comes to making death instantaneous and painless for those sentenced to execution then yes there is an amount of skill involved.

+1. before the measured long drop method, hanging was often a very painful and long drawn out process(no pun). Depending on the weight and strength of the condemned they could struggle at the end of a rope for a long painful time and be slowly strangled to death. People used to rush forward to jump on their legs to add extra weight to speed it up as a mercy.

Then they tried a standard drop, but again this varied too much. So a scientific approach took over.

Because of that as an execution method it is probably the the most humane, least painful and fastest of the current or past methods. Done right its a functional decapitation and the massive jolt and shock of the sudden stop would cause instant deep coma rapidly followed by death. Unlike in the gullotine where its suspected the head feels for a few seconds after, even up to 10 seconds. *shudder*

speedboatchase

Wibbs wrote: »

+1. before the measured long drop method, hanging was often a very painful and long drawn out process(no pun). Depending on the weight and strength of the condemned they could struggle at the end of a rope for a long painful time and be slowly strangled to death. People used to rush forward to jump on their legs to add extra weight to speed it up as a mercy.

Then they tried a standard drop, but again this varied too much. So a scientific approach took over.

Because of that as an execution method it is probably the the most humane, least painful and fastest of the current or past methods. Done right its a functional decapitation and the massive jolt and shock of the sudden stop would cause instant deep coma rapidly followed by death. Unlike in the gullotine where its suspected the head feels for a few seconds after, even up to 10 seconds. *shudder*

Ah go on.... hangman, drawn-out...

Hagar

Why I was fired as a hangman Link

Aidric

Why not line 'em up again a wall and pop a few caps?

FlutterinBantam

Hmmm..... as someone who spent some time in Harare Central.. it is not a pleasant place.

Capt'n Midnight

No matter how much you got paid it wouldn't be worth it.



'cos it would have devalued so much by the time yer man stops twitching.

wolfpawnat

prinz wrote: »

Execution by hanging is not supposed to be a slow drawn out strangulation. It is desgined specifically for each person to do with height, weight, a lot of variables. The aim is for the rope noose to snap the neck of the prisoner at the exact moment they reach the end of the rope and it pulls taut. If the prisoner survives the drop it is deemed to be a failed execution. Pierrepoint had it down to almost an artform.

Wow, and there was me thinking I would never have needed Physics and Applied Maths, here I am now missing out on a position that many have died for!

kraggy

seanybiker wrote: »

Would be a great job, only if there was 100% proof that the person done what they where sentenced for.

m@cc@ wrote: »

In Zimbabwe? Yeah, good luck with that.

Good luck with that in any country to be fair.

There's always the possibility of error. That's why the death penalty is fundamentally wrong.

bluecatmorgana

seanybiker wrote: »

I just meant in general not in mental places like there lol.

Why do they want you to have some qualifications anyways. Surely all you need to know is if the person is up 10 feet then any rope shorter than 10 feet should do the job. I think Ill apply.

To break the neck correctly with the drop you have to calculate the length correctly using height, body weight etc.
An example of when it goes wrong is Saddam hussein, remember his head came off?!

Nodin

bluecatmorgana wrote: »

To break the neck correctly with the drop you have to calculate the length correctly using height, body weight etc.
An example of when it goes wrong is Saddam hussein, remember his head came off?!

I don't remember that actually. Probably because it stayed on.

Why not just give them a serious dose of anaesthesia and then kill them some other way?


Clean, painless and quick...?

Rented Mule

seanybiker wrote: »

Would be a great job, only if there was 100% proof that the person done what they where sentenced for.

You're obviously not thinking about job security.

Line 'em up !!!

Wibbs

Deleted User wrote: »

Why not just give them a serious dose of anaesthesia and then kill them some other way?


Clean, painless and quick...?

Otherwise known as death by lethal injection. Longwinded and prone to suffering as case examples bear out. Like I reckoned earlier;

Because of that as an execution method it is probably the the most humane, least painful and fastest of the current or past methods. Done right its a functional decapitation and the massive jolt and shock of the sudden stop would cause instant deep coma rapidly followed by death. Unlike in the gullotine where its suspected the head feels for a few seconds after, even up to 10 seconds. *shudder*

Mike 1972

Any job paid in the local currency is bound to be pretty crap ?

dfx-

m@cc@ wrote: »

In Zimbabwe? Yeah, good luck with that.

Well..you won't be presented too much evidence against, so 100% proof it is..

Dempsey

I'd do it, its a job isnt it?!!

Capt'n Midnight

Deleted User wrote: »

Why not just give them a serious dose of anaesthesia and then kill them some other way?


Clean, painless and quick...?

Death row inmate claims allergy to lethal injection

Abrasax

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Death row inmate claims allergy to lethal injection

He's just acting the prick.

minidazzler

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Death row inmate claims allergy to lethal injection

1988 rape, seriously, that happened before I was born, why the fcuk are they only doing it now.

Hagar

Papa, is that you?

Pyr0

Surely a heavy calibre bullet to the head would be quicker ?

minidazzler

Pyr0 wrote: »

Surely a heavy calibure bullet to the head would be quicker ?

More expensive. Ropes can be reused, bullets can't.

Hagar

minidazzler wrote: »

More expensive. Ropes can be reused, bullets can't.

Not if you make a hames of the knot. Picture it. Sitiing there for hours, with a dead Zimbabwean rapist on your lap, trying to ease out the knot.

minidazzler

Hagar wrote: »

Not if you make a hames of the knot. Picture it. Sitiing there for hours, with a dead Zimbabwean rapist on your lap, trying to ease out the knot.

It's a profession, not any cnut off the street can do this type of work! And anyway, just lob off his head when he is dead and take the rope away, he won't mind!

Mike 1972

minidazzler wrote: »

It's a profession, not any cnut off the street can do this type of work!

Pretty much any **** can

Very few cnuts can do it properly though ?

minidazzler

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Pretty much any **** can

Very few cnuts can do it oroperly though ?

That's why I put in the word profession! It's like the difference between working in McDonalds and as a head chef of an expensive restaurant.

One is a job, the other is a professional service.

Rhyme

Sykk wrote: »

I think that job would be too ropey for me...

That's a bit of a stretch.