Escape from the Tower of London

 For centuries, the Tower of London was used to hold important prisoners. The first was Ranulf Flambard the Bishop of Durham. When King William Rufus was killed in 1100 his brother became Henry I. The new king promptly arrested the bishop for simony (selling church positions for money).

However, the bishop escaped. He was allowed certain privileges, such as buying his own food and wine. On 2 February 1101, the bishop generously invited his guards to a feast. When the guards became drunk, he managed to squeeze through a window and climb down a rope. However, the rope was not long enough and he had to drop the final distance. The bishop was met by friends who rowed him across the river and he then rode a horse to the coast, where he escaped on a ship.

Teacher killed a student

 In 1860 a teacher named Thomas Hopley beat a boy to death. The boy was 14-year-old Reginald Chancellor and he had a learning disability. Among other things, the teacher hit him with a candlestick because he could not repeat the multiplication table.

The teacher was charged with manslaughter, not murder because the intent to kill could not be proved. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison. Discipline in the 19th century was brutal but even by their standards beating a child to death was going a bit too far.

Corporal punishment was made illegal in state schools in Britain in 1987. It was made illegal in private schools in 1999.