Rupert Lowe’s plan to bring back capital punishment is ‘outrageous’ says miscarriage of justice victim

Martin Shipton

A man who spent 11 years in jail for a murder he didn’t commit has condemned as outrageous a proposal from the far right politician Rupert Lowe to hold a referendum on the restoration of capital punishment.

Michael O’Brien and two other men were wrongly convicted of killing Cardiff newsagent Phillip Saunders in 1987. They became known as the Cardiff Newsagent Three and had their convictions quashed following a lengthy public and media campaign that drew attention to police misconduct in the handling of the case.

Lowe, who leads the Restore Britain party, which he set up after falling out with Nigel Farage, has outlined five demands to Farage that he says would have to be agreed before he was prepared to cooperate with Reform UK.

In a video released at the weekend, Lowe has called on Farage to commit to a referendum on bringing back judicial executions, which were abandoned in the UK in 1965.

In the video, Lowe names three notorious criminals – all of ethnic minority extraction – who he says should have been executed: Axel Rudakubana, who stabbed three young girls to death in Southport in 2024; Hashem Abedi, one of the Manchester Arena bombers who killed 22 people in a terrorist attack in 2017; and Shabir Ahmed, a ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang who was jailed for multiple counts of child rape and other sexual offences in 2012.

Lowe’s mention of Ahmed indicates that he doesn’t just want to see convicted murderers executed.

Mr O’Brien, who is originally from Cardiff but now lives in the Valleys, said: “I think it is absolutely outrageous that Rupert Lowe is raising the issue of capital punishment again.

“As I know from my own experience, many people have been wrongly convicted – and not just for murder, but for sexual offences too.

“If capital punishment had still existed when I was convicted, I would have been hanged. The same applies to many other people.

“Mistakes are made, and we know that there have been cases where people have been wrongly convicted after being fitted up by corrupt police officers. Once someone has been executed, they can’t be brought back.

“Some argue that only those who are definitely guilty should be executed, but the law already states that people should only be convicted if their guilt is considered to be beyond reasonable doubt. I would certainly have been hanged.

“If a country wants to be regarded as civilised, it can’t execute criminals. I am, however, in favour of the worst criminals being jailed with no possibility of parole. In such cases, if evidence comes to light years later that they are innocent, the situation can be remedied.”

Ethnic minorities

Mr O’Brien was also unhappy that Lowe had singled out criminals who happened to be from ethnic minorities. He said: “There are murderers from all ethnic groups. It seems he wants to give the impression that it is only black people who commit the worst crimes. That isn’t the case at all.

“There are plenty of studies from the United States, for example, which show that black people are more likely to be on death row than white people. It is also the case that black people in the US are more likely to be victims of miscarriages of justice than whites.

“Part of this is down to the fact that on average, white people are more likely to be able to afford the fees of the best lawyers. Sometimes, though, wealthy black people have benefitted. If OJ Simpson hadn’t been a celebrity with a lot of money behind him, there is no doubt that he would have been convicted and ended up on death row.

“There should be no more talk of bringing back capital punishment. Rupert Lowe should be ashamed of himself.”

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