DNA

 On 10 September 1984 Alec Jeffreys discovered DNA fingerprinting. It has proved to be a vital tool for law enforcement. Colin Pitchfork was the first murderer caught by the new technology.

The last person guillotined

 On 10 September 1977, Hamida Djandoubi became the last person in France to be guillotined. The French abolished capital punishment in 1981.

History of Prisons

 I wrote a history of prisons. 

In 1885 a journalist bought a girl

 In London, in 1885 a journalist called W T Stead purchased a 13-year-old girl from a woman for prostitution. (At that time the age of consent was 13). The girl’s mother sold her for 5 pounds (several weeks' wages for many people). The buyer made it clear that the child must be ‘pure’ i.e. a virgin. But Stead took the girl to safety in France. Stead then wrote about it to show how easy it was to buy a child. Partly as a result, the age of consent was raised to 16.

Tudor Sex Trafficking

 In the 16th century carting was a punishment. A person was made to sit in a cart and ride through the streets to be mocked by the crowd. Someone would bang a basin to attract attention. In 1560 a woman in London was convicted of being a 'bawd' (procuring girls for prostitution). She procured an 11-year-old girl and 'sent her off to be a whore'. So sex trafficking is nothing new. As a punishment, the woman was carted.

An innocent man was hanged

 On 3 September 1952, an unfortunate British Somali man named Mahmood Hussein Mattan was hanged for the murder of a shopkeeper. His conviction was quashed in 1998. I dread to think how many other innocent people were executed.

The Last Woman Beheaded in England

 On 2 September 1685 Alice Lisle became the last woman to be beheaded in England. She was executed in Winchester.