I was perusing the pages of the Independent newspaper the other day whislt noshing on my cereal and the following article appealed to my somewhat warped sense of humour.
Apparently, in Arizona, USA, some murdering scumbag, had been languishing on deathrow since 1989, having been convicted of first degree murder. He had apparently strangled a chap during an armed robbery, whilst he was on the run from prison where he had been incarcerated after his conviction for a previous second degree murder.
The State of Arizona finally decided to execute him by lethal injection in November 2010.
Anyhoo his lawyers successfully put forward an objection that the lethal drug of choice, Sodium Thiopental, had been supplied by a British Company and had not been approved for use in the United States by the US Food and Drug Administration.
In other words it had not been passed as being fit for human consumption. Er, It's "Lethal" ergo it defo is'nt fit for human consumption I would have thought.
A judge agreed to postpone the execution. The US Supreme Court thought otherwise and he was despatched forthwith to hell by "Lethal Injection" on 26 October 2010, using drugs supplied by an unspecified supplier, purportedly a "third world supplier" (we just can't compete with these damnable far east sweatshops).
Of course Sodium Thiopental is just part of a cocktail of drugs administered to the prisoner and is an anaesthetic used to render the prisoner unconcious. The next in the cocktail administered is Pancuronium Bromide which causes paralysis, then Potassium Chloride is administered to stop the heart.
Much more merciful than the horrible fate meted out to his victims. And defo preferable to a shot in the electric chair.
So there you have it. Fact is stranger than fiction right enough.