US death row prisoner chose cigarette over last meal … Prison refused, saying it was “harmful to health” … Prisoner electrocuted few hours later

News

One human rights lawyer has told of how his client on Death Row was denied his last meal request for a bizarre reason, leaving him disgusted

British-born convicted killer Nicholas Lee Ingram

A human rights lawyer has revealed the shocking tale of one of his clients who was executed in America for murder. 

Clive Stafford Smith shared the grim details of how Nicholas Lee Ingram longed for a final cigarette instead of a meal in his final days in 1995, but was initially denied because it was deemed unhealthy.

Ingram, a dual British and American national, was jailed in 1983 for the murder of 55-year-old J.C. Sawyer and injuring his wife Mary Eunice Sawyer during a robbery. He was executed by electric chair on April 7, 1995 aged 31.

Recounting this, Clive threw light on his eerie connection with Nicky: both were born in Addenbrooks Hospital in Cambridge. He said: “Nicky Ingram, he and I were born in the same hospital, Addenbrooks in Cambridge, and I had to watch him die. And I liked Nick, we’d been friends for 12 years when they killed him.”

Local police apologises to man acquitted from nearly 50 years on death row

Taking a stance against the absurdity of denying a man his last wish, Clive secured the cigarette for Nicky after pointing out the lunacy to the media, causing some embarrassment for the authorities.

Clive Stafford Smith
Clive Stafford Smith has been a defence lawyer for over 30 years

Yet, as Clive pointed out with disgust: “You know they go through all that nonsense about last meals and Nicky said, ‘I don’t want a last meal because you’re about to kill me,’ and he said, ‘I want a last cigarette’. So I ask if they’ll give him a last cigarette and they say no because it’s bad for his health.”

Yet, as Clive pointed out with disgust: “You know they go through all that nonsense about last meals and Nicky said, ‘I don’t want a last meal because you’re about to kill me,’ and he said, ‘I want a last cigarette’. So I ask if they’ll give him a last cigarette and they say no because it’s bad for his health.”

Ultimately, despite Ingram’s last smoke, Clive lamented the barbarity of his execution: “And I say, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me, you’re planning to kill this poor guy,’ so I went out and told the media, and they were humiliated by that, so they gave him a last cigarette, but then they shaved his head and shaved his leg and put 2,400 volts through him, it’s just disgusting.”

Clive is still haunted by Ingram’s chilling end, telling interviewers he suffers PTSD to this day. With eyes shut, the horror remains vivid even after three decades.

Meanwhile, America still fiercely debates capital punishment. In a gripping 2007 tale, Philip Workman, sentenced for killing a police officer, made his final request for homeless people in the nearby area to be given vegetable pizzas.

The state said no, but the people of Nashville delivered pizzas in droves, with shelters swamped by pizzas. Cliff Tredway from the Rescue Mission reflected on the event: “It’s more than pizzas that helped that shelter. It’s the story of a guy whose execution translated into a generous act.”