Harry Allen - Definition and Overview

Harry Allen (1911-1992) was one of Britain's last executioners, officiating between 1941 and 1964 when he was the chief executioner at 29 executions and assisted at 40 others. He also worked in Cyprus on several occasions.

Following the resignation of Albert Pierrepoint in 1956, Allen and Steve Wade jointly became Chief Executioners, but the Homicide Act of 1957 reduced the number of condemned criminals by some 75%, from an average of 15 a year in the early 1950s to 4 a year in the late 1950s. Allen's most controversial case was that of James Hanratty, hanged on 4 April 1962 at Bedford Prison for the A6 murder case, although efforts to clear Hanratty's name continued until 2001 when DNA testing matched Hanratty to the crime scene.

Allen performed one of the two final executions in Britain, when at 8 a.m. on 13 August 1964 Gwynne Owen Evans was hanged at Strangeways Prison in Manchester for the murder of John Alan West. This occurred simultaneously with the execution of Evans' accomplice Peter Anthony Allen who was hanged at Walton Prison in Liverpool.