News Burst: Electric chair auctioned online

An electric chair used to execute 125 people was sold for £17,000 after being auctioned online at eBay, this week.

The state of Tennessee sold the original 'Old Sparky' -- complete with electrodes and leather straps -- which is thought to have been used between 1916 and 1960. The chair received more that 40 bids after antiques dealer Arthur Rosenblat submitted it for auction.

Bidding for the chair had to stop when Rosenblat was inundated with hundreds of complaints accusing the auction of being in bad taste. The chair was sold to Edward T Meyer, vice president of Ripley Entertainment, who is likely to include it in a crime and punishment exhibition at Tennessee Museum.

Full story to follow

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