Death row inmate in US denied cigarette request before execution, guards cited health concerns

Death row inmate requested to swap last meal for cigarette but was refused

A death row inmate in the United States (US) requested to exchange his last meal for a cigarette. However, his request was denied by prison guards who noted that it was bad for his health.

Clive Stafford Smith, a human rights lawyer, told British news outlet LADbible the unusual story of his inmate client, Nicholas Lee Ingram, who was executed using an electric chair in April 1995.

Nicholas, who Mr Smith referred to as his friend for 12 years, was sentenced to death for committing a robbery that resulted in the death of a 55-year-old man and the wounding of his wife in 1983, reports The Mirror.

Death row inmate denied last cigarette before electrocution

Recounting events from 40 years ago, Mr Smith said Nicholas declined to have a last meal, saying he was about to die.

Instead, he told the guards that he could use a cigarette.

However, the guards allegedly denied his request, stating it was bad for his health.

Baffled by the guards’ reasoning, Mr Smith exposed their actions to the media, leaving them humiliated.

Eventually, they agreed to give Nicholas a last cigarette before the execution.

Lawyer still has PTSD from client’s execution

Mr Smith said he and Nicholas were born in the same hospital — Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge — and was saddened to watch the latter die.

He shared that Nicholas’ execution left an impression even until today.

“I still have PTSD from that. If I close my eyes right now, I can see the black and white of him being electrocuted in front of me,” he told the LADbible.

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Featured image adapted from The Mirror and LADbible on YouTube.