UK drops charges against 2 men accused of spying for China
LONDON (AP) — Two men who were accused of spying for China in Britain, including a former researcher working in the U.K. Parliament, will no longer face prosecution, authorities said Monday.
Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, were charged in April 2024 with violating the Official Secrets Act by providing information or documents that could be “useful to an enemy” and “prejudicial to the safety or interests” of the U.K. between late 2021 and February 2023.
Cash was a parliamentary researcher who worked with senior lawmakers focused on security and foreign affairs from the Conservative Party, which was in power at the time. The speaker of the House of Commons confirmed he was a parliamentary pass holder at the time of the alleged offenses.
Berry is reportedly an academic based in Oxfordshire who had taught in China since 2015.
They were accused of being in contact with each other and a person suspected of being a Chinese intelligence agent. The two men have denied the charges.
The men were due to go on a six-week trial next month at London’s Central Criminal Court, but prosecutors said Monday the case could not continue.
“The evidence in this case has been kept under continuous review and it has now been determined that the evidential standard for the offence indicted is no longer met,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
It said “no further evidence will be offered.”
The Chinese Embassy has called the allegations fabricated.
British intelligence authorities have ratcheted up their warnings about Beijing’s covert activities in recent years.
