Most respondents who support the death penalty believe it would serve as a deterrent for potential murderers.
The views of people in Britain on capital punishment have not changed over the past year, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample of 2,009 British adults, 65 % of respondents support reinstating the death penalty for murder in Great Britain, virtually unchanged since 2011.
The highest level of support for the return of capital punishment comes from men (68%) and Britons over the age of 55 (69%).
Most supporters of the death penalty believe it would serve as a deterrent for potential murderers (66%), it would fit the crime because a convicted murderer has taken a life (62%), and would save taxpayers money and the costs associated with having murderers in prison (58%).
Opponents of capital punishment are primarily concerned with the possibility of a person being wrongly convicted and then executed (80%).
A majority of respondents (62%) believe the death penalty is sometimes appropriate, while 1-in5 (20%) think it is never appropriate. When given a choice between 2 possible punishments for a convicted murderer, 1/2 of respondents (51%) select the death penalty, while 35 % pick life imprisonment.
3-in-4 Britons (75%) would agree with MPs debating in the House of Commons whether the death penalty should be reinstated in the country.
Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion, Sept. 27, 2012
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