<<Print>>

DEATH row inmate Troy Davis has been executed after the US Supreme Court rejected a final appeal. Davis had been convicted of the 1989 killing of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia. The 42-year-old maintained his innocence until the and told relatives of Mr MacPhail that the killing was not his fault. "I did not have a gun," he insisted. "For those about to take my life," he told prison officials, "may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls." Davis was due to be killed by lethal injection at 7pm (11pm GMT) yesterday evening at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. The case had been temporarily delayed by the US Supreme Court last night with just minutes to spare, while a last-ditch appeal was considered. But the execution was finally carried out with Davis pronounced dead at 11:08pm (03:08 GMT), 15 minutes after the lethal injection was administered. The controversial case has attracted worldwide attention as serious doubts emerged over the safety of the 1991 conviction.