Josef Jakobs Josef Jakobs 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. He was not hanged because he was captured as an enemy combatant. Jakobs, who was a German citizen, was born in Luxembourg in 1898. During the First World War, he served in the German infantry, rising to the rank of "Leutnant", in
Karel Richard Richter the expired Czechoslovak passport in his possession (which was in his own name). Richter was sent to Camp 020 where he was interrogated by officers of MI5. Richter was a difficult agent to break and it was only when he was confronted with fellow spy Josef Jakobs that Richter began to crack. Richter revealed the true purpose of his mission, to check up on agent Wulf Schmidt. Richter was charged with espionage under the Treachery Act 1940. He was tried in camera at the Old Bailey and found guilty on 24 October 1941. He was sentenced to death by hanging.