Joyce suffered 32 blows to the head and face from a motorcycle chain. Forensic evidence showed that blood splattered on Jackie's clothing came from the victim.

An expert analysed the pattern of the blood on Jackie's clothing. He concluded that Jackie wielded a motorcycle chain with his right hand. This was backed up by statements from one of Jackie's co-defendants. Jackie had a previous conviction for murder.

2) Main activity

Whole-class debate:
Motion: The case of Jackie Elliott proves the USA is right to have capital punishment.

Open the meeting by reading out the report:

Find notes for the main speeches by clicking the links below.

3) Extension activity
Write a personal statement of your opinions. Pick the five arguments you find most convincing and include them in a report that starts 'I support/I oppose the death penalty because'.

4) Plenary
If they themselves had to administer the lethal injection, how many students would still vote for capital punishment?

If a member of their own family had been murdered, how many students would still vote against the death penalty?

Teachers' Background

• 109 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

• 86 countries retain and use the death penalty.

• In the USA the death penalty is used for murder, and kidnapping if the hostage dies. 683 people were executed in America between 1977 and 2000.

• The UK abolished the death penalty for murder in 1965.

• Statement from Amnesty website: 'The death penalty has no place in a modern criminal justice system. The death penalty is not an effective deterrent. Because all judicial systems make mistakes and because of its irrevocable nature, the death penalty kills innocent individuals who are wrongly convicted. The death penalty brutalises society and breeds contempt for human life.'

• Poet Hyman Barshay: 'The death penalty is a warning, just like a lighthouse throwing its beams out to sea. We hear about shipwrecks, but we do not hear about the ships the lighthouse guides safely on their way. We do not have proof of the number of ships it saves, but we do not tear the lighthouse down.'

• In January 2000, George Ryan, Governor of Illinois and a pro-death-penalty Republican, imposed a moratorium on capital punishment after 13 wrongly convicted men were released from Illinois's death row.

• Two thirds of Americans still support the death penalty - down from a recent peak of 80% in 1994.

• There are no definitive cases of innocent people having been executed, but 95 people have been released from death row since 1973.

• If you feel that using the case of Jackie Elliott would unfairly sway the debate on capital punishment use the links to research the case of Derek Bentley. Bentley was posthumously pardoned and his case links well to the history of abolition in the UK.