ON NOVEMBER 4, 1914, German-born grocer Charles Fremd was led by stony-faced guards to the hanging post at Springfield Prison, where he was executed for murdering his wife.

The 74-year-old was the oldest man to be executed in British history, and the last man put to death in Essex.

But after 97 years of murderers, rapists and terrorists receiving prison terms, MPs face being forced into a landmark vote on restoring the death penalty – and Witham MP Priti Patel is leading calls to have it reinstated.

"I just think we have a very soft criminal justice system in this country that fails the victims of crime," she said.

"Without a doubt, I would favour restoring capital punishment for the most horrific and appalling crimes, like child murders. For me that would be unquestionable."

Capital punishment is expected to be the first subject debated by Parliament under an e-petitions scheme that allows the public to help set the Government agenda and means anyone can set up an internet petition on any subject.

If it attracts more than 100,000 signatures, MPs must consider debating it in the Commons – and internet bloggers have already collected thousands of signatures on the topic of capital punishment.

A Chronicle poll of 500 readers showed that 48 per cent were in favour of the death penalty, 34 per cent were against it and 18 per cent were unsure.

Ms Patel said: "I am not that surprised that capital punishment is the subject that has got the most signatures. People feel very strongly about it.

"Capital punishment deals with those people who are intent on harming people.

"I do feel very strongly about murders and murders of children. It is absolutely wrong and abhorrent what has happened to those children."

In June, a two-year-old girl and her mum were executed at point-blank range by a man with a double-barrelled shotgun in their Braintree home, and Essex Police are being investigated for their handling of the case.

Monica Martin-Halls, 70, from Braintree, said: "If they don't reintroduce the death penalty I fear that the country will spiral out of control. More people are carrying knives, there's a lot of crime.

"No-one's frightened of the police any more."

When asked if the Braintree murderer deserved the death penalty, Ms Patel said: "I can't comment about that specific case, but I do think that a few people commit such evil acts that they are beyond help.

"I am sure that I will be inundated off the back of my comments. What is important is that politicians should not sit on the fence."

Opponents of the death penalty include Braintree MP Brooks Newmark, who said: "I am completely opposed to capital punishment as I believe in the sanctity of life.

"As a Whip, I don't know if I will be allowed to debate it, but if it is an open vote, Priti and I may find ourselves debating against each other.

"Capital punishment has not happened for years and we have moved way beyond that.

"We have seen many cases in recent years where there was unreliable evidence and judges and juries ended up making the wrong decisions.

"Convicted murderers have been proved innocent, but that would mean nothing if they have already been executed."

When asked about this, Ms Patel said: "That's the past. Technology has moved on, DNA evidence and crime scene investigations have moved on – and if they haven't, it's appalling.

"It's up to our court process to decide that the evidence is beyond a shadow of a doubt."

When asked if she favoured hanging, a lethal injection or the electric chair, she said: "How it happens is conjecture. The rest of it would be down to Parliamentary procedure.

"This is a serious issue. A lot of people have signed up to this petition. Public opinion has been in favour of capital punishment for a long time and politicians have run away from debating this issue."

Chelmsford MP Simon Burns said: "For cold-blooded murders of police officers, prison officers, children, then I broadly support the death penalty

"But given the significant increase in miscarriages of justice from the 1980s onwards, where people would have been executed, then turned out to be innocent, the system for proving guilt would have to be much tighter."