The aide, the associate, the ‘Chinese agent’ – and the collapse of a long-awaited UK spy trial | UK news

SHortly on Monday before 10 am, conservative deputy Alicia Kearns received an unwanted phone call. Orum I don’t know how to tell you this, ”he said. Ten minutes later, Old Bailey heard what Kearns knew now. KEARNS, Christopher Cash, and partner, who were accused of espionage for China, and Christopher Berry, a long -awaited hearing would be abandoned. “The cops were equally disappointed, Ke Kearns said to Guardian.

The hearing was expected to be an extraordinary test of London’s relationship with Beijing. Westminster, who was scheduled to start at the Woolwich Crown Court on October 6, was expected to hear the allegations of “politically sensitive” information to China’s ruling Politbburo member.

Kearns, a key witness, had no predictions. A week ago, the police from the SO15 unit of the metropolitan police, the police, who directed spy and terrorist cases, called on a visit to the court. Now he’s got angry. “Something is very wrong. If there is evidence of crown prosecution service, why don’t you put it in front of a jury and test it?” he said.

CPS said that the case was “kept under constant examination”. Prosecutors said on Monday that the “Standard of Evidence ğı was no longer met ,, but when the same standard was accused of violating the Official Secrets Law in April 2024, he made a decision that required the consent of the Chief Public Prosecutor Victoria Prentis at that time.

Cash and Berry, who always preserved their innocence, did not have a case to answer now. Apart from the court, Cash said: “The last two and a half years have been a nightmare for me and my family.” . Berry’s lawyer John Armstrong complained that his client was not happy to know why he was dropped ”.

30-year-old Cash, first a trainee, then a researcher and finally the director of the Chinese Research Group, a group of Beijing-Scectic Conservative MPs founded in April 2020. His first chair was Tom Tugendhat, and Cash helped him in Chinese issues. After Tugendhat became Minister of Security in September 2022, Kearns presided over him and inherited him in cash.

Shortly after, Backbencher became the President of the Foreign Election Committee. At the end of November that year, Kearns led a delegation of a deputy from a committee to visit Taiwan, a trip to Beijing, who thought it was a part of the territory of the island country.

Kearns said that the young researcher, a mandarin speaker, was “very talented .. A parliamentary transition from Cash – a process that requires a bit of veterinarianism – so that it is normally easier to exist, although it is normally based on a servant office in Waterloo.

Kearns described cash money as one of the önemli who often defines his love for China, but always criticizes the communist party to a great extent ”. Cash helped the MP lobby to add national security provisions, which aim to bring Chinese companies to a supply invoice and to reveal the presence of secret Chinese police stations in the UK.

He said that his staff was in their reliable personal environment. However, he was sure that he was not in the government, but he was sure that he had no access to something secret, but he admitted that “the color of parliament works; what the deputies read, consume, how they work”.

The Allies describe money as a “old school man önemli who feels a strong loyalty to England. “After working in an area where I have committed to being a citizen who obeys the law and encouraging the interests of my country, I suddenly accused of betraying that country, Cas Cash said on Monday.

For months, his arrests in March 2023 were normally hidden in Westminster. Until that September, the newspapers took the story, but the details were limited because it was legally difficult to discuss the case before the trial.

The CPS, which was summarized in April 2024, can now be reported, but prosecutors have decided that the evidence for the version of the events did not meet the required standard.

The CPS claimed that it was a simple chain of communication for Beijing’s Politburo. It is said that an individual, who was thought to be a “Chinese intelligence agent ,, has published at least 34 reports on political interests from Berry, and some ideas were launched by Berry. In contrast, CPS claimed that Berry received information to be included in cash.

The two have known each other for several years: both of them were teachers at Hangzhou, China, China, China between 2017-2019. Although CPS claims that the “most of the information” provided by Cash was requested by Berry, Cash said that over time, Cash was shared with “unwanted, recordings’ information.

In the meantime, the “Chinese Agent” was claimed to transfer “politically sensitive information ği obtained by CPS through Berry. This was accepted as “prejudiced for the security or interests of England, because the information they passed was“ direct or indirectly useful for the Chinese state ”.

China criticized the proceedings from the very beginning using the language -specific language. This week, the Embassy spokesman said the allegations were “completely manufactured and malicious slander”.

Cash did not have to defend himself in court, but the Allies said that he was neither paid nor blackmail to help. Although he accepted Berry in good faith, he was said to be important about how the Parliament or British politics worked in the public sphere or that he thought he would win the next choice.

Berry’s legal team was expected to believe that the 34 reports at the center of the case were written for an institutional customer who wanted to expand in the UK in China. His lawyer, Armstrong said reports that the reports were “confectionery of open -source materials from various sources ve and that Berry“ presents his thoughts about contemporary politics ”. He said that any information from cash was the gossip of Westminster.

Some think that while the labor force is trying to improve the trade relationship with China, prosecutors respond to political pressure. Kearns noted that Keir Starmer “hopes to visit China in 2026,” and accused the Labor Party “a back on the ruling party to the ruling communist party.

On Monday, a Downing Street spokesman said that “these individuals would not be tried very disappointment”. Similar comments were made by the Minister of Security Dan Jarvis during a Commons debate on Monday, which criticized the result of more than one deputy. Jarvis said that the decision to quit the case was a “independent decision için for prosecutors.

Luke de Pulford, the general manager of the Parliamentary Alliance in China, believes that if the case has not progressed, the defendants would try to “sue the question of whether China is an enemy”. Although such a definition is not necessary by the 2023 National Security Law, it is necessary by the 1911 Official Secrets Law, where the two were tried.

Describing China as an enemy goes beyond the normal government language and may not satisfy Beijing. Last June, strategic defense examination was told that China created a “sophisticated and permanent challenge for England. However, the problem was well established and was known about when cash and Berry were collected.

Prosecutors any external pressure He played a role in his decisions. This could have been a surprise, but CPS said the case was no longer strong enough and then quit two ruined life. Berry’s lawyer, Armstrong, said that his client, who is now a self -employed financial analyst, was “trying to buy only pieces”.

Meanwhile, Cash said he was pleased to see that some MPs are still trying to imply that they had a case that would respond. “My arrest destroyed my life and my favorite career,” he said. “To claim my guilt, this advanced campaign increases the injustice that I have to face. I will make more comments on time.”