This is a collection of nightmares that ended in the whitewashed execution shed. Until 1965, the hangmen removed the vital witness who could prove a miscarriage of justice. If the gallows had remained, would the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four, Cardiff Three and the Darvell Brothers have lived long enough to show their innocence? Timothy Evans was the most notorious example of an innocent man who died at the hands of the executioner. He was not the only one. John Williams, the hooded man, died for police-murder only because he was informed on for money and spite by his brother and his girlfriend. E. Thompson wrote a few foolish letters and paid with her life; Robert Hoolhouse was so clearly innocent that his lawyers offered no defence in court, dooming him despite protests and petitions; Neville Heath, a dead girl tied to his bed and marked by his whip, knew the story of their sadomasochistic adventure gone wrong would never be believed; Chades Jenkins, gangland hard man, died on the rope because his coat and hat were found in a building near a fatal jewel robbery. These are a few of the stories included in this book that is both a gripping subject and a controversial questioning of the implications of capital punishment.