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Attitudes towards retribution and deterrence continued to lie behind many of the punishments that were used in the 18th century. Punishment still consisted of physical methods or execution. Corporal punishment continued in this century, although flogging became the most common and widely used method.

Public executions

Executions continued to be carried out publicly in the 18th century, mostly outside Newgate Prison in London. After 1783, a swifter method of hanging was used. A platform below the prisoner was removed. This led to a swifter and less painful death.

The Bloody Code

More and more crimes were made capital offences (ie punishable by death) as new crimes developed in the 18th century, due to social and economic changes. The Members of Parliament, the law makers, were all land owners and members of the aristocracy. They were scared by the increase in crime threatening their property.

Members of Parliament believed that punishments should be as harsh as possible to deter people from committing crimes, remove the worst offenders through execution and provide retribution to victims. They made over 200 crimes capital offences, ie punishable by death. These changes were known as the Criminal Code, and would come to be known as the Bloody Code. The crimes they covered included:

• stealing sheep
• poaching fish
• cutting down a growing tree

However, the severity of the Bloody Code meant that judges and juries often avoided following it. Some would acquit a criminal, declaring them not guilty, rather than give the death penalty. Others used transportation as a less harsh punishment but one that would still deter people from crime.

For the lesser crimes of gambling, drunkenness and social impropriety, monetary fines were still a common type of punishment.