Briton is executed as court rejects final appeals

Jackie Elliott, the British-born man sentenced to death in America nearly 17 years ago, was executed by lethal injection last night as all his last-minute appeals were turned down.

His last remaining hope had been that the US Supreme Court would issue a stay based on a defence contention that he was mentally retarded. Such last-minute reprieves were very rare, legal sources said.

The refusal of both the Texan and the federal courts to grant Elliott a stay shocked and angered his defence team, particularly because new evidence from the prosecution came to light just hours before the appointed execution time.

Elliott was last night moved from his prison cell to the Texas state execution centre, 40 miles away. He had spent the morning with his son, mother and four brothers and sisters while his lawyers continued to make last-minute appeals for him. Yesterday he also requested his final meal – tea and biscuits.

On arrival at the execution block in Huntsville, Texas, he was placed in an isolation unit from where he was taken to the execution chamber to receive a lethal cocktail of drugs.

Asked by the warden of the prison if he had anything to say, Elliott mouthed: "No sir" and nodded his head.

He then closed his eyes and as the drugs began to take effect he gave a slight snort, cough and gasp before slipping into unconsciousness.

Witnesses, including his son and a sister, prayed aloud as they watched the execution.

Elliott was pronounced dead at 1.09am British time, seven minutes after the drugs started flowing.

Tory MP John Gummer, in whose constituency Elliott was born, said it was a "sad day" for US justice. "The rush to execution in this case - even while new evidence was still emerging and appeals remained to be heard - is a tragedy, which serves nobody's interests and does no credit to those implicated.

"No rational individual can be happy to see a person killed where so many questions remain unanswered," Mr Gummer said.

On Monday a court in Texas had rejected an application to test DNA evidence that his legal team believed could even then prove his innocence.

The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, asked the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, to grant clemency for Elliott. His appeal was backed by more than 100 MPs, who signed a Commons motion demanding clemency.

"It's given my family hope," Elliott told BBC Radio. "It's given us something to hold on for. That's no guarantee it's going to work. There's no guarantee they're not going to execute me."

Elliott, 42, was born on a US air base in Suffolk to American parents, giving him dual citizenship. He said he was grateful for all the help and support he had received from Britain and remained hopeful of a final reprieve to the last.

On Monday, Judge Chuck Campbell ruled that the DNA evidence did not need to be assessed because it did not specifically relate to Elliott but came from other suspects in the case.

Elliott's legal team was contesting that decision at the Texas criminal appeal court and had also lodged a separate habeas corpus application for a stay on grounds of natural justice. The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole also rejected a plea for clemency.

Elliott was sentenced to death 16 years ago for the gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old mother Joyce Munguia, in Austin, Texas, in June 1986. He denied taking part in the gang rape and then whipping Ms Munguia dozens of times in the head and face with a chrome-plated motorcycle chain he used as a belt. He claimed he was convicted only because of the testimony of police informers covering their own guilt.

In the past few days, his lawyers had unearthed 40 police reports, allegedly suppressed by the prosecution, that identified other key suspects. His lawyers believed DNA testing could settle the issue, saying it was "unprecedented" for a state execution to take place before the courts had heard all the evidence.

Federal and state authorities have executed 827 inmates since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Texas has executed 295.