Syd Dernley (29 December 1920 – 1 November 1994) was appointed assistant executioner by the Home Office in 1949, and participated in 20 hangings until he was replaced in 1954. In 1950, he assisted

Albert Pierrepoint Albert Pierrepoint (; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry and uncle Thomas were official hangmen before him. Pierrepoin ...

in the hanging of the innocent

Timothy Evans Timothy John Evans (20 November 1924 – 9 March 1950) was a Welshman who was wrongly accused of murdering his wife (Beryl) and infant daughter (Geraldine) at their residence in Notting Hill, London. In January 1950, Evans was tried, and was c ...

for the murder of his family, although John Christie (who was himself executed by Pierrepoint in 1953) committed the murders. On 8 May 1951, Pierrepoint and Dernley escorted convicted murderer

James Inglis James or Jimmy Inglis may refer to: *James Charles Inglis (1851–1911), British civil engineer *James Inglis (evangelist) (1813–1872), American preacher and editor *James Inglis (murderer) (1922–1951), Scottish man executed for murder *James I ...

to the gallows immediately adjacent, and hanged him without delay — the fastest hanging on record, taking only seven seconds from the time his cell door was opened until his fatal 'long drop'. On 27 April 1954, Dernley was removed from the Home Office Official List of Assistant Executioners. Dernley claimed that no reason was given for his removal but he suspected it was because of a crude comment he had made about the size of the private parts of a executed man, John Kenneth Livesey, after he had been executed at

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

prison in London on 17 December 1952. Pierrepoint had alluded to such an incident (without mentioning Dernley by name) in his own autobiography. However, the real reason for Dernley's removal from the list was undoubtedly because in 1954 he had been convicted at the Nottinghamshire

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

of publishing obscene material. The court sentenced Dernley to 6 months of imprisonment plus a fine of £50, with costs of £25 awarded against him. Dernley's criminal conviction and subsequent imprisonment constituted firm grounds on which to dismiss him."Obscene Books And Photographs: Assistant Hangman Sent To Prison", ''The Times'', Wednesday, 28 April 1954; p. 5; Issue 52917; col B A welder in civilian life, Dernley was dubbed, as also has been

, "the last British hangman", although in fact he was not (this title belongs jointly to Harry Allen and

Robert Leslie Stewart Robert Leslie Stewart (April 1918 – 30 April 1988), from Edinburgh, Scotland, was one of the last executioners in the United Kingdom, officiating between 1950 and 1964. Brought up in Dundee Street in Edinburgh, 3 miles from Saughton Prison, S ...

). More accurately, he was one of the last ''surviving'' hangmen, following the deaths of both Pierrepoint and Allen in 1992.

References

External links

Interview with Dernley
1920 births 1994 deaths English executioners Albert Pierrepoint {{UK-crime-bio-stub