UK drops China spy case after prosecutors fail to prove threat

Two men accused of spying for China had their case dropped in September after prosecutors concluded they could not prove, under the legal test at the time, that Beijing posed a threat to the United Kingdom, and government officials have told a parliamentary committee they raised concerns about evidence shortcomings long before the collapse. The Crown Prosecution Service withdrew charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry on 3 September, a month before a trial was due to start, saying prosecutors lacked the necessary evidence to secure a conviction under the Official Secrets Act.

Letters to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy from National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell and Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins state that drafts of Collins's witness statement in December 2023 originally described China as an enemy but that Collins removed the term because it did not reflect government policy at the time. The letters say police and prosecutors were informed in December 2023 that Collins would not describe China as an enemy in court, a point that prosecutors later said was central to whether a prosecution under the 1911 law could succeed.