Jakobs, the last person to be executed in the Tower of London, was tried by a military court and executed by firing squad under this law. Jakobs was the only one to be shot instead of hanged under the act, since he had been captured as an enemy combatant. The last person to be executed under the law—and the last person to be executed in the United Kingdom for an offence other than murder—was British soldier Theodore Schurch. A 20th person, Portuguese diplomat Regério de Magalhaes Peixoto de Menezes, was sentenced to death, but had his sentence commuted by the Home Secretary, Herbert Morrison, to penal servitude for life. He was deported in 1949. Suspension and repeal The Treachery Act 1940 was brought into being for the duration of the "war emergency" (section 6). The Treason Act 1945 enabled treason to be proved with the normal rules of evidence, abolishing its special status. The Treachery Act was suspended on 24 February 1946, and was repealed in part in 1968, and totally in 1973. See also Capital punishment in the United Kingdom High treason in the United Kingdom Defence of the Realm Act 1914 Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 Defence Regulations Further reading Hansard (House of Commons), 9 May 1940, vol. 360, col. 1412 (presentation) Hansard (House of Commons), 22 May 1940, vol.361 col. 185 - 195, 195–235 (second and third reading) Hansard (House of Lords), 23 May 1940, vol. 116, col. 391–398 (first, second and third reading) Hansard (House of Commons), 23 May 1940, vol. 361, col. 362 – 363 (royal assent) References External links Description of people executed under the Treachery Act 'Pathetic fantasist or Nazi spy'? – British newspaper advertorial promoting a newly published biography of the only woman to be convicted under the Act. United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1940 1940 in law English criminal law Treason in the United Kingdom Emergency laws in the United Kingdom United Kingdom in World War II Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament World War II legislation