#crown-prosecution-service

#crown-prosecution-service

Downing Street has published three witness statements from UK's deputy national security adviser in an effort to draw as line under the row over why spying charges against two Britons accused of spying for China were dropped last month. Charges against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry fell away because prosecutors could not obtain evidence from Matthew Collins that Beijing represented a threat to the national security of the UK over many months.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring, who sat at Woolwich Crown Court on 26 September, had said the charge brought against O hAnnaidh was unlawful and that he had no jurisdiction to try the case. His ruling agreed with O hAnnaidh's lawyers, who argued that the Attorney General had not given permission for the case to be brought against the defendant when police informed him he was to face a terror charge on 21 May.

We undertook a further review of a case file in relation to allegations of assault and rape between 2013 and 2015, a CPS spokesperson said. Following careful consideration of the evidence provided by Hertfordshire constabulary, we concluded that our legal test for prosecution was not met, and that no further action should be taken. We have informed all parties of our decision and offered to meet with the complainants to explain our reasoning in more detail.

The two men were accused of gathering and providing information prejudicial to the safety and interests of the state between 28 December 2021 and 3 February 2023. But on Monday at the Old Bailey, the court heard that the CPS had determined the evidence it had gathered did not meet the threshold to go to trial. The pair were due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court from 6 October.

Holman created and sold 1,052 kits which provided fraudulent webpages with built-in scripts to enable the harvesting of information entered, including account log-in details and bank details.

Samantha Shallow of the Crown Prosecution Service stated, 'criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.'