Crime and Punishment

The Roman Period (55BC to 400AD)
1. Crimes
  1. Most crimes in Roman Britain were against property- such as petty theft, selling underweight goods and burglary.
  2. Crimes could be against the person- such as street violence or murder- or against authority- plots against the Emperor or refusing to worship their religion.
2. Punishments
  1. The death penalty was used in the Roman Empire.
  2. Some examples of punishments were floggings and beatings, repaying the cost of stolen goods, the amputation of limbs, being sent into exile if you were a noble, being forced to become a gladiator, and execution via lions or crucifixion.
3. Law Enforcement
  1. The Roman legion was in charge of dealing with riots and disorder.
  2. People reported crimes to the local centurion, who decided whether it should go to court. They were often harsher to poorer people. The victims of the crime had to gather their own evidence and bring the suspect to court, which was difficult if you were poor.
  3. Less serious crimes were dealt with in local courts with Roman officials, called magistrates, judging them.
  4. More serious crimes were tried by the Roman governor of Britain.
4. Background- History and the Law
  1. The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD under Claudius due to the farmland and riches that could be found there. Britain increasingly suffered barbarian invasion, such as Boudicca's campaign. They failed to capture Scotland as they could not commit enough troops to it. They left in 410 as Rome was under attack from the Visigoths, and the army needed all the men it could get.
    1. The entire empire was ruled from Rome, where the Emperor was. The laws were made by the Emperor (while he did have advisors). This was a strong central government which kept things simple. Roman society was hierarchical, patriarchal and unequal.
      1. The laws were written down (known as the Twelve Tables, which were kept simple as literacy wasn't high amongst plebians) and put in public places so that everybody knew what they could and couldn't do, Also, they had a "innocent until proven guilty" attitude in their laws. This was very fair.
        The laws themselves were not based on religion and so were fair in that regard, but those lower down in society faced harsher punishments. The fact that the government did not care about those in poverty was unhelpful.
The Anglo Saxon Period (400AD to 1066)
1. Background, History and the Law
  1. When the Romans left Britain in the 5th century, the law collapsed. Britain was conquered by the tribes from Germany, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who formed different systems of laws in their kingdoms.
    1. As the kings ruled their kingdoms from inside Britain, things got a bit more local than the Roman system. This could be seen as a regression from the Roman times, leading to the Dark Ages.
      1. The kings were in charge of the law. Some of them, like Alfred the Great, drew up codes of law, but most of the laws were based on custom and spoken word, and not written down. The power of the kings increased as Britain became more unified later on.
        After the Synod of Whitby in 664, most Anglo Saxon kings were Christian and this impacted the law. The church had more power, so and created new crimes by criminalizing certain actions. The church preferred punishments which allowed criminals a chance to repent. This also led to trial by ordeal.
2. Crimes
  1. Most crimes were of theft of low quality items like food or belongings.
3. Punishments
  1. As said up there, the church impacted punishments after 664. Capital punishment became rarer as they wanted sinners to repent.
    1. Sometimes trial by ordeal was used if the jury in a court was indecisive, which meant that the criminal's fate was thrusted into God's hands.
      1. Trial by cold water meant that you were tied up and placed into a pool of holy water. If you floated, the water didn't want you, and so you were guilty. If you sunk, you were innocent, but probably dead from drowning.
        Trial by hot water or hot iron meant that you were branded with an iron or scolded by water. If the wounds healed or didn't get infected, you were innocent.
        Trial by bread was used on priests. They were handed a piece of holy bread, and if they choked on it, they were guilty.
  2. Fines and compensation was the most common punishment. The wergeld was a payment made by the family of the murderer in compensation for the murdered person, depending on how important they were. This reduced violence and improved relations.
    1. Floggings and beatings were also used as deterrence. The confiscation of property, and the removal of the hands, feet or tongue was also used.
4. Law Enforcement
  1. Initially, blood feuds were used to avenge a relative by killing someone in the killer's family. This would be avenged too, leading to feuds that could last generations. The wergeld increasingly replaced it.
  2. Anyone who witnessed a crime had to raise a hue and cry by shouting to alert others, and then chased the criminal. This was all about local community spirit, and you could be fined if you didn't take part.
  3. Tithings were a collection of ten men. If one of the ten was accused of a crime, the others had to make sure that he went to court or they paid a fine for him.
  4. Anglo Saxon courts, also called folk moots, were attended by lawyers, a judge, and a jury of 12 people. The victim collected the evidence and brought it to court, and brought along witnesses. The victim and the accused told their stories. Oathbreakers were brought along to ensure that they were telling the truth. The jury then made the decision about their innocence or guiltiness. Most people were scared of going to hell and so wouldn't lie in the courts.
The Norman and Later Medieval Period (1066 to 1485)
1. Background, History and the Law
  1. In 1066, William of Normandy conquered Britain and unified the laws. He kept the Angle Saxon laws and added some of his own, making him the 'greatest' king so far in terms of power.
    1. The church's power increased, which meant more laws! Immoral actions, like sex outside of marriage, were made illegal, among several other laws a couple centimeters down.
      1. Everything hit the fan in 1135, when a war hit Britain. Henry II emerged triumphant, and him and his descendants changed law enforcement, punishments and the power of the kings, and the churches changed.
        Henry II brought together the Anglo Saxon, Norman and Royal laws into one big system, called the Constitutions of Claredon, which is the basis of our Common Law today.
2. Crimes
  1. The crimes didn't change that much, but William did add the Forest Laws, which prevented people from hunting or chopping trees in certain areas (around 30% of Britain). The taxes on this increased the king's wealth and power.
    1. He also protected the Normans as he made killing or hurting them have massive consequences. This was due to the resistance at the time by the locals.
      1. After Henry II took over, petty crime was still the most common crime, and the Forest Laws were still hated. As the conditions got worse, crime increased, and vice versa.
3. Punishments
  1. The use of the death penalty rose dramatically to make people behave. Mutilations and amputations also increased. People paid compensation to the government and not the victims. Very minor crimes were still punished by fines, whipping or stocks and pillories.
    1. Another trial by ordeal added was trial by combat, which meant that the victim and accused (or their champions) fought until one was beaten or killed. The loser was hanged, as they were evidently guilty in God's eyes.
      1. After Henry II took over, hangings gradually decreased but physical punishments continued. Fines became more common. The king also pardoned some criminals. Crimes against authority were still harshly punished.
        The church also influenced punishments, returning to the idea that punishments should reform and not kill criminals after the civil war.
      2. Trial by ordeal and combat was made forbidden in 1215.
4. Law Enforcement
  1. The Anglo Saxon system largely remained in place. County courts were set up for more serious crimes, and church courts were set up to deal with immoral actions . The clergy often got less harsh punishments, and you could prove that you were were a member of the clergy by reading a verse of the Bible to the priests. Many people learned this 'neck verse' to escape severe punishment.
    1. The right of sanctuary meant that you couldn't be arrested in a church. If you confessed to the crime, you were allowed to simply leave the country.
    2. There was an increasing use of central government in law enforcement. Sheriffs could form posses to catch criminals. County Keepers of the Peace could arrest criminals. Royal courts in London saw the most serious cases.
    3. Juries were kept and were encouraged by Henry II to decide guilt or innocence over God. Many villages had a manor court where the local lord acted as a judge for petty crimes.
The Tudor Period (1485 to 1603)
1. Background, History and the Law
  1. The War of the Roses ended in 1485 with the House of Tudor winning. They reigned until 1603.
    1. The Tudors faced problems with beggars, treason and heresy due to the mass unemployment, the wars and the religious upheaval. Henry VIII became the head of the church as well as head of state, and killed Catholics who would not accept him as the head of church.
      1. Mary I, who was a Catholic, made being a Protestant illegal.
        Elizabeth I, who was a Protestant, made being Catholic illegal once again. Nobody quite knew what was going on, and it was very easy to get executed for heresy if you didn't switch back and forth.
        Treason was also more common in this period as there were disputes over who should be king, and some people wanted a monarch with a different religion. You could be hung, drawn and quartered to deter others. Nobles were beheaded.
2. Crimes
  1. There were many changes to crimes from this point onwards. Fundamentally, crimes rose when prices, taxes and unemployment rose, and a weaker government also meant more crimes.
    1. The urban population increased, meaning there were more street criminals. Increased unemployment meant that begging became illegal. An increase in trade lead to more highway robberies. The end of feudalism led to an increase in poaching as landowners did not allow people to hunt on their lands. Changes in religious beliefs meant there was more 'heresy'. Trade restrictions led to smuggling.
    2. The number of beggars increased due to increased unemployment and there was no system to help the needy. They were seen as a threat to society, were hated and feared, and people didn't want to pay money to help them.
      1. The Vagabonds and Beggars Act of 1494 meant that beggars were put into stocks and then were sent back to where they were born.
        In 1531, beggars were classed as either 'deserving' who were sick or injured and allowed to beg, or 'sturdy' who were considered lazy and were punished.
        The Vagrancy Act of 1547 meant that beggars were forced to work and could be whipped or branded.
3. Punishments
  1. As treason and heresy became much more common (Guy Fawkes, etc) due to the religious changes, people were punished with the death penalty much more often.
    1. Beggars faced stocks and whippings to deter other beggars from continuing to be 'lazy'.
4. Law Enforcement
  1. Local judges began to build houses of correction in 1576, where beggars were sent. Rewards were offered by wealthy victims of crime who could catch the criminals- the origin of the thieftaker.
The Stuart Period (1603 to 1714)
1. Background, History and the Law
  1. The Stuarts began rule in 1603 with James I. The whole period is defined by its religious strife and the impacts of the English Civil War between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers.
    1. Witchcraft and its punishments also begun in earnest in this period, as expanded on down below.
      1. There were many reasons why witchcraft became a crime, such as the war, james I's attitude, the religious uncertainty, the economic problems with unemployment and wages decreasing, the changing attitudes towards the poor, the social attitudes towards lonely old women who constantly asked for help, and the misogyny at the time. People wanted something to blame their bad luck on.
        Witchcraft laws were abolished in 1736, though the general public were slower to change. Witchcraft trials continued well into the 18th century. The laws were abolished because there was greater prosperity and political stability, less superstition and there were scientific answers for things thought to be caused by witchcraft.
2. Crimes
  1. Witchcraft became a crime against authority in 1542 under Henry VIII (but it had been a crime since Medieval times), but the major witchhunts didn't occur until 1604, advocated by James I. He had written Daemonlogie in 1597, and despite his educated background, believed in witchcraft
    1. From 1642-49, the English Civil War sparked the worst phase of witchhunting. Just 40 years later in 1684, the last witch was hung in England. In 1736, witchcraft laws were abolished.
3. Punishments
  1. Witches were often hung or executed.
  2. In 1688, the Bloody Code began, which meant between 1688 and 1823 the number of crimes punishable by death rose from 50 to 200. This was intended to deter people, but instead the juries did not want to sentence thieves to death and so the amount of executions dropped.
4. Law Enforcement
  1. During the Civil War, the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, accused 36 women of witchcraft and had 19 hanged. He often tortured the women to make them confess. He earned money for each witch he executed.
    1. People convicting women of witchcraft would use several techniques to determine if they were witches, such as unusual marks where their familiars fed, not bleeding if they were pricked with a needle, if they floated in water, witness accounts, 'possessed' children, other witches, and confessions.
  2. Watchmen, or Charlies, were paid to patrol London. Unpaid parish officials called constables arrested beggars and petty criminals. Minor cases were heard locally by one or two Justices of the Peace. More serious crimes were dealt with with a group of Justices of the Peace and a jury. The most serious crimes went to the royal judges, who were the only ones able to pass a death sentence.
Industrial Revolution and Late Modern Period (1714 to 1900)
1. Background, History and the Law
  1. The move from agriculture to industry and from countryside to town dramatically increased in the 1750s. Crime increased too, mostly petty theft, street theft, burglary, drunkenness, prostitution, rioting and smuggling. This was due to workers being replaced by machines, meaning more unemployment, and industrialization which made owners very rich and workers very poor. Larger towns meant that it was easier to hide, and there were tensions between the poor and rich.
    1. In this period, cheaper newspapers were developed and were very popular. Cases of violent crime were publicized, which made people aware and afraid of crime.
2. Crimes
  1. Following the French Revolution of 1789, the government was scared that the people would rebel against them. Many people wanted the right to vote and strike, and the government was harsh towards the protestors, but agreed to some reforms by the mid 19th century.
    1. Violent crimes decreased overall, but media coverage presented a different story. Jack the Ripper in particular was reported, alongside 'garrotters' who used chloroform or strangulation to rob people.
    2. Protestors wanted the right to vote and met at St Peter's Fields, Manchester. The government sent soldiers to arrest the leaders, but behaved violently resulting in deaths and injuries in what was referred to as the Peterloo Massacre.
      1. Another example is the Tolpuddle Martyrs, who were transported to Australia for swearing secret oaths and forming a trade union to stop wage cuts. In 1836, public protest brought them back
      2. Smuggling increased in this period due to the high taxes on some items. Smugglers would sell the items cheaply after bringing them illegally across the border, which made them almost like heroes in the public's eyes, as they thought the government was being unreasonable.
        The Hawkhurst Gang was a group of smugglers who brought tea, rum and coffee across from France using horses and tunnels. They had 500 horses used to bring goods across England. The leader, Arthur Gray, was punished by being executed for the murder of Thomas Carswell in 1748. The government could not do much prior to that as their officers were killed went sent to get the goods back to Customs.
        The government tried to stop smuggling by using mounted customs officers in 1690 and a Waterguard in 1700. The taxes stayed high until 1850, and then large scale smuggling decreased. It was particularly a problem during the war on France,from 1792 to 1815, when taxes were raised to increase the government's income and smuggling reduced the profits. While people did not like the high prices of goods, the smuggling gangs were dangerous and violent and so were hated too.
3. Punishments
  1. In 1615, transportation to America begun for criminals. In 1776, transportation stopped going to America. In 1787, transportation to Australia begun. Prisons were built from 1842, and transportation was stopped in 1868.
    1. People felt that execution was too harsh a punishments, so much so that juries were more willing to let criminals walk free than sentence them to death. Transportation was increasingly used, as it was a good deterrent, juries were willing to sentence people, it reduced the population of criminals and they could be sent to work in American plantations or Australian infrastructure.
      1. Transportation ended because Australia no longer needed forced labourers, some felt that it was too expensive or not a good deterrent or too harsh, and prisons were being built for the criminals instead.
        Prisons were developed by John Howard and Elizabeth Fry. John Howard's work led to the 1774 Gaol Act, which suggested how conditions could be improved. Elizabeth Fry visited women in Newgate prison in 1813, and set up education classes, got them better food and treated prisoners with kindness and respect. Robert Peel's 1823 Gaols Act paid gaolers, provided education to prisoners and provided prison inspections. In the 1830s, the prisoners were kept in seperate cells and given more work. The Seperate and Silent system was introduced, with either Useful or Pointless work.
4. Law Enforcement
  1. Jonathan Wild was the Thieftaker General in 1716. He commanded London's gangs to steal objects from buildings, and then offered to 'find' the objects for the victims for some money. He was seen as a respectable noble until 1725, where he was hanged for receiving stolen property.There was a surge in robberies after his death, and a great public distrust and anger.
  2. Watchmen patrolled cities on foot at night and parish constables dealt with petty crime. Soldiers were used to put down riots.
    1. In 1749, the Bow Street Runners, set up by Henry and John Fielding, caught criminals in London. They were paid by the magistrates. They also set up the Bow Street Horse Patrols, but the crime rate in London was dramatically increasing and there wasn't enough patrols.
      1. Robert Peel, as Home Secretary, set up the Metropolitan Police Act in 1829. This introduced the first police force. In 1842, a detective department was set up, in an attempt to not just stop crimes, but solve existing ones. In 1856, every county and borough was required by law to have a police force. The recruits were carefully selected and it was full time and well paid. They had a uniform that made them look different from the army. They were unpopular at first, but eventually the public realized that it was a force for good and most were honest and reliable, and they reduced street crime by patrolling areas known for their high crime rates.
The 20th and 21st Centuries (1900 onwards)
1. Background, History and the Law
  1. In the 20th century, Britain developed into a more tolerant nation with an increase in multiculturalism. We were more prosperous, equal and fast-moving than ever before. These factors have had a impact on crimes, such as technology and ways of enforcing the law.
    1. New laws are partly due to government decisions because of modern problems, and partly due to public pressure. New laws mean new crimes. Many crimes that seem to be new, such as terrorism or car theft, are not really new- Guy Fawkes and stealing horses at gun/knifepoint, etc. There are some new crimes out there, such as sex and race discrimination, as they were not crimes in the past.
      1. Terrorism is seemingly increasingly becoming a problem in the world today- for example, in the 7/7/15 bombings, four suicide bombers killed 52 and injured 770 people. In reality, the sheer amount of media coverage makes it seem like the world is becoming more unsafe by the day, when the reverse is true. Social crimes, like tax evasion or smuggling, are not always treated seriously.
2. Crimes
  1. The common crimes were and are driving offences or car theft, vandalism, assault, petty theft and antisocial behaviour. The crime rate increased from 1900 to 1992, though that can be attributed to more actions being classified as crimes, more victims of crimes reporting them, and more ways of recording crimes. The crime rate has declined since then.
    1. Conscientious objectors were criminals as conscription was a law during both World Wars. Authority's treatment towards them changed, but the general public thought they were traitors or cowards, and were attacked and fired. Nowadays, people would be much less happy about being forced to go to war and likely the majority of the public would refuse.
      1. The World War I, about 16,000 men refused to fight. Only 400 were given total exemption. Those who were sent to prison were treated very harshly. In World War II, over 59,000 men and women refused to join in. All but 12,000 were given partial or full exemption. Those who were sent to prison were treated better than before.
        There were the Alternativists, who didn't want to do combat roles but would drive ambulances or do factory work, and Absolutists, who refused to do any work that went towards the war. All of the Absolutists were imprisoned in World War I, while most were not imprisoned in World War II.
3. Punishments
  1. Capital punishment was completely abolished in 1999, and last used in 1964, as ideas about punishment changed and controversial cases were reported on by the media. For example, Timothy Evans was hung in 1950 for killing his wife and baby- but then evidence showed that he didn't do it. Derek Bentley was hung in 1953 for murder, even though he didn't fire the gun and had learning disabilities, and Ruth Ellis was hung in 1955 for killing her boyfriend who had abused her for years.
    1. Different prisons have been introduced for different types of prisoners- e.g. high security. Since 1907, prisoners have been released on probation, and are put in prison if they reoffend. In 1948, hard labour and corporeal punishments were abolished. Seperate prisons for young people were established in the early 1900s, called borstals. Nowadays we have Young Offenders Institutions with high reoffending rates.
      1. There are new punishments, such as community sentences, treatment programmes, ASBOs and electronic tagging. Prisons today attempt to reform and rehabilitate prisoners through education- but the general public are not always in favour of 'holiday camp' prisons, where there isn't that much punishment for their crimes.
4. Law Enforcement
  1. Technology had deeply impacted how the police operate. Radios allow better communication across large distances. DNA evidence is unbiased and helps solves crimes. CCTV allows police to piece together what happened and where the criminal/victims went. Computers allow the police to make databases. Cars, motorbikes and helicopters let police reach the scene of the crime much faster.
    1. Some of the changes are good, and some bad. While cars mean that police can reach crime scenes faster, them not being on the streets means no deterrent. The police officers are now armed and look like soldiers. The force now includes women and ethnic groups. Neighbourhood Watches allow people to detect and prevent crime, advised by police.
      1. The Criminal Investigations Department uses detectives and forensic science. The National Crime Agency detects and prevents largescale organized crime. The Economic Crime Unit investigates fraud. The Police Central e-crime Unit tackles cybercrime. The Special Branch prevents terrorism. The Traffic department deal with road use and accidents.

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