He Is Not To Be Hanged

"For he is not to be hanged because he would not stay to be burnt."

Plowden on 1 Edward I (1307)

Edmund Plowden thus explained an exception to the statute of I Edward I (1307) which held that escaping from prison was a capital offence. Plowden suggested that if the prison was on fire, the prisoner was justified in making every effort to leave the premises.