Tennessee Execution Fails Despite Two Lethal Injections

Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has been taken to hospital after an attempt to execute her by two lethal injections failed, her lawyer says.

Her legal team filed an emergency motion to halt the convicted murderer's execution as it was happening, saying: "Ms Pike has lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat and is audibly snoring."

One of her attorneys told the BBC that Pike, 50, was now "being provided life-saving measures" in hospital after two syringes of pentobarbital had been administered.

Pike was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Her execution was the subject of a last-minute legal battle.

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Lethal injection is a barbaric form of execution. Even when it works, it routinely takes between 30 minutes to an hour. Some executions have taken much longer. And some have simply failed. The British used to be able to carry out their executions in less than a minute from the moment the hangman entered the condemned person's cell. If we must have capital punishment something similar should be the standard here.