I'm opposed to the death penalty primarily because too many innocent people would die, but you make a good point, Scum. Both Fred West and Harold Shipman chose to check out on their terms rather than serve life imprisonment. I think many others would too (possibly including the odd innocent one).

I don't think it's necessarily a living with guilty thing though. Speaking as a bit of a connoisseur of criminals, I would say that part of the 'kick' that the likes of Shipman and West get is the feeling of being in control of others. Reverse that position and they really don't like it.