Double-A wrote:

I remember some years ago in the US, a fat man sentenced to be hanged
was appealing his case on the grounds that because of his weight, the
hanging might take his head off, and that would be cruel and unusual
punishment! Don't remember how it came out.

Part of the hangman's job is to calculate the length of the drop, ie how
long the rope is. This is calculated based on the height and weight of
the condemned. If the drop is too short, the neck is not broken and
the prisoner strangles slowly to death instead. If it's too long, it
can separate the head from the body. An 'ideal' hanging is where the
drop is just long enough to ensure neck and spinal cord are cleanly
separated.

Saddam's hanging was well executed (in this regard at least)

I suspect this was a simple mistake, either in calculating the drop or
measuring the rope.

This is not the first time it has happened. There were a couple of
instances in the UK this century before they ceased capital punishment.



--
The CO