Fifty years ago, Peter Anthony Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans killed a friend for money - and it resulted in the last ever executions in the UK. At 8am on August 13 1964, they were led from their cells to the gallows - and in ten seconds were dead, the last executions to ever be recorded in Britain. At the time, public attitudes were shifting. punishment was increasingly seen as outdated and unjust, and some historians and criminologists believe that, had there been even a few weeks' delay, the pair might have been reprieved.

Barry Lees, a lecturer in policing at the University of Cumbria, said: "You could argue it was bad timing for them, there was a two to one chance of someone not actually hanging at the time. A few weeks later and their sentences would probably have been commuted to life in prison, they could both still be alive today."

The pair were convicted of the murder of John Alan West, a 53-year-old laundry company driver who was bludgeoned and stabbed to death at his home in Cumbria on 7 April, 1964, which according to historian and author Steve Fielding, was "unremarkable".

Twenty-four-year-old Evans, who was also known as John Robson Walby, and Allen, 21, had travelled to Mr West's home in Seaton in a stolen car from Preston, . Allen and Evans both had court debts to clear, and Evans knew the victim was a bachelor who lived alone after the death of his mother - making him an easy target.

Shortly after 3am BST, neighbours heard several thuds, a scream and the screech of a car being driven away, Mr West's semi-naked body was found moments later. Allen's wife and the couple's two young children were also in the getaway car. With them, the murderers took a watch and two bank books from which they withdrew a total of £10.

The victim had suffered three head injuries and a single stab wound to the heart. The knife was ditched near Windermere as the attackers fled.

Police quickly connected Evans to the scene when his jacket was found hanging on West's bannister, which quickly led to their arrest. Soon both would point the finger at each other over who struck the fatal blows, but it wouldn't matter. The jury found both guilty of the capital murder of Mr West under the joint enterprise law. This law is a controversial one, currently being campaigned against by families who feel their loved ones have been sentenced harshly.

Although Evans and Allen were given the death penalty, the public's attitude was turning against the practice and they both launched appeals hoping to commute the sentence to life in prison - however, both were denied.

Mr Fielding who has written more than 20 books about UK hangings, said: "Whether a man was reprieved or not was quite arbitrary, there were people who committed much more brutal murders who, after being sentenced to execution, were commuted to life sentences.

"It may even have come down to the fact that a prison hadn't used its gallows for a while. There was no consistency."