Charges dropped against two men accused of spying for China

Two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, no longer face prosecution over allegations that they spied for China.

Christopher Cash, 30, from Whitechapel, east London, and Christopher Berry, 33, of Witney, Oxfordshire, were each charged with the offence of spying under the Official Secrets Act.

It was alleged that between December 28 2021 and February 3 2023 they “for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State, obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be, might be or were intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy”.

The pair had denied the allegations and were set to face trial in October, but prosecutors dropped the charges against them at a hearing at the Old Bailey on Monday.

Prosecutor Tom Little told the court that the “evidential stage of the case” was “no longer met”.

Mr Cash worked as a parliamentary researcher and was closely linked to then-senior Tories, including former security minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, who served as chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr Berry worked in various teaching posts in China since September 2015.