Why Did We Shoot Spies?

[bainbrig]

Why did we execute spies? What harm could they do once we’d locked them up? Why didn’t we treat them like other POWs?

Was it just habit?

[emmie]

they must have known if captured their lives were forfeit.

[bainbrig]

You are not addressing the question, simply avoiding it.

Let’s try again.

WHY do we (not just the British) execute spies? Is it just a habit?

[aelmpvw]

i suppose it's because they were responsible for countless deaths and were considered murderers ... we used to execute murderers

[naomi24]

Because they pose a serious threat to national security.

[Jackdaw33]

Spies were not shot in the UK, they were hanged.

[bainbrig]

Tell that to him:

Josef Jakobs (30 June 1898 – 15 August 1941) was a German spy and the last person to be executed at the Tower of London. He was captured shortly after parachuting into the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Convicted of espionage under the Treachery Act 1940, Jakobs was shot by a military firing squad.

[bainbrig]

Brain first please! (Because they pose a serious threat to national security.) - not from a prison cell they don’t!

[Khandro]

Why Did We Shoot Spies?
To stop them from spying?

[anotheoldgit]

bainbrig

/// And an air crew could and did kill hundreds, sometimes more (Dresden, Hamburg, Tokyo) on a single raid, ///

Strange why you only chose allied bomber crews.

What about London, Coventry, Shanghai?

[spathiphyllum]

A spy is exactly that. Putting them in prison may not stop information from leaking or other.

[EDDIE51]

Yes, it was as a deterrent to others.

[bainbrig]

Wake up ano the old git - see my answer at 0823.

[grumpy01]

We didn't shoot George Blake,Kim Philby or any of the other post war spies though.Just as guilty.

[naomi24]

bainbrig, in war time needs must. Brain first please!

[bainbrig]

You do say the silliest things, naomi.

The question is why do we execute spies?

Why not just lock them up?

Is it some form of retribution?

[naomi24]

//You do say the silliest things, naomi. //

So you keep telling me, bainbrig.

Why do we execute spies? To get rid of them... permanently.

[AuntLydia]

bainbrig
you do some research before telling people how silly they are.

Spying has always been classed as Treason. Treason in wartime is classed as a war crime and therefore carried out by the military. In peace time, under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown

Since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 became law, the maximum sentence for treason in the UK has been life imprisonment.

So the answer to your OP is we only shot spies in wartime for Treason, in peacetime they were hanged. Now Treason is a life sentence.

[bainbrig]

Your pose as the village idiot is wearing thin and boring.

I KNOW the so-called ‘legal’ reasons.

What I am exploring is the ethical, the philosophical reasoning behind this strangely primitive response.

[AuntLydia]

bainbrig, your comments are about as ridiculous as they are rude. You are showing yourself up again.

[SparklyKid]

Avatar Image bainbrig

Question Author
You are not addressing the question, simply avoiding it.

Let’s try again.

WHY do we (not just the British) execute spies? Is it just a habit?


Come on children, must try harder, listen to teacher.