§ 38. Mr. Dribergasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if records are kept at His Majesty's prisons showing the length of time that passes between an execution by hanging and the moment at which life is certainly extinct; and if he will state the average number of minutes that elapse in such cases.
§ Mr. EdeNo such records are kept. I am advised that in judicial executions unconsciousness is instantaneous.
§ Mr. DribergIn view of recent reports which stated that some of the Nuremberg executions—for which my right hon. Friend was not, of course, responsible—took as much as 12 or 14 minutes, is he satisfied that no such period of time can elapse in any execution in this country?
§ Mr. EdeI have, since my hon. Friend put this Question on the Order Paper, seen the result of certain investigations which were carried out in this country a few years ago with regard to what actually happens in these cases. I have seen nothing in the reports of what happened at Nuremberg to make me doubt the accuracy of the answer I have just given to my hon. Friend.