As you say Charlie, sorting out cause and effect is tricky. The point I'm making is not that it's proved that the death penalty ups the murder rate, but rather that the common sense assumption that it keeps it down isn't necessarily too reliable. People committing murder aren't necessarily too bound by the rules of common sense, even in countries where murder is relatively common.

Bottom line for me is that I've lived in a country with the death penalty, and with executions every now and again, and one which has abolished it, and I know which I prefer. It's the same country, England. And if I felt that my views on that were shared by a sizable majority of the people living here, I'd prefer it even more.