Execution by firing squad in the United Kingdom
From Academic Kids
Execution by firing squad in the United Kingdom has been limited to times of war, armed insurrection, and within the military.
Within the military, Admiral John Byng was one of the most senior officers and the last of his rank to be executed in this fashion. He was shot on 14 March 1757 at Portsmouth for "failing to do his utmost" in an encounter with the French fleet during the Seven Years' War.
Following the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, the 15 leaders were shot.
The Tower of London was used during both World Wars for executions: During World War I, 11 captured German spies were shot, and on 15 August 1941 the German Corporal Josef Jakobs was shot for espionage during World War II.
Since the 1960s there has also been some controversy concerning 306 British and Imperial troops — including 25 Canadian, 22 Irish and 5 New Zealand troops — who were shot for cowardice during the First World War, many of whom are now thought to have been suffering from combat stress reaction or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or "shell-shock" as it was then known). The New Zealand government pardoned their troops in 2000; the British government declined to do so, although in 1998 they did express sympathy for the executed.
Capital punishment in the UK, including the military, was formally outlawed when the European Union's Amsterdam Treaty came into force in May 1999, although there had been no executions by any method since 1964.
