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The attitudes of retribution and deterrence continued to lie behind many of the punishments in the 18th century. Punishment continued to be physical punishment and execution. Corporal punishments continued in this century, although flogging became the most common and widely used.

Executions continued to be carried out publicly in the 18th century, mostly outside Newgate Prison in London. After 1783, a swifter method of execution was used, with the removal of a platform below the prisoner. This broke the neck of the criminal and led to a swifter and less painful death.

More and more crimes were made capital offences as new crimes developed in the 18th century, due to social and economic changes. Members of Parliament (the law makers) were all landed aristocracy, and were scared by the increase in crimes threatening their property.

MPs believed that punishments should be as harsh as possible to deter people from committing the crime, remove the worst offenders through execution and provide retribution to victims. They made over 200 crimes capital offences, ie punishable by death. These changes were known as the Criminal or Bloody Code and included:

• stealing sheep
• poaching fish
• cutting down a growing tree

However, the severity of this Bloody Code meant that judges and juries often avoided following it. Some would acquit a criminal rather than give the death penalty, others used transportation as a less harsh punishment, but one that would still deter people from crime. Having the death penalty as a deterrent for so many crimes did not work in practice.

For the lesser crimes of gambling, drunkenness and social impropriety, monetary fines were still a common type of punishment.