A 24-year-old Royal Navy rating accused of trying to pass classified intelligence to Russia appeared before the Old Bailey on Friday to answer an expanded set of charges, including misconduct in a public office and two counts under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act. Teddy Young, who held high-level security clearance while serving as a warfare intelligence rating, is alleged to have drafted a message in Russian containing sensitive material and attempted to contact Russian authorities through the dark web.
What the prosecution alleges
According to prosecutor Kelly Brocklehurst, the case centres on Young's conduct during his first operational deployment, which began in November 2024, shortly after he joined the Navy earlier that year. The Crown says he accessed and retained sensitive intelligence without authority while communicating with an overseas third party, and that he intended to share some or all of that material with a foreign power. The original charges under the National Security Act 2023 have now been joined by a charge of misconduct in a public office, covering a period between February 2024 and March 2025, during which Young allegedly sent classified information to a personal email account and through WhatsApp and Discord, and kept classified material on personal devices.
Two further charges concern alleged failures to comply with notices issued under section 53 of Ripa, relating to a Sandisk USB stick and an SD card. Ripa notices compel individuals to hand over encryption keys or disclose protected data to investigators; refusal or failure to comply is itself a criminal offence, separate from whatever the underlying material might reveal. Their inclusion here suggests investigators believe encrypted or password-protected devices may hold material central to the case.
Why the National Security Act matters
The National Security Act 2023 replaced much of Britain's old espionage framework, which dated to the early twentieth century and struggled to address digital communication, cloud storage and online recruitment by hostile states. The Act introduced offences covering "protected information" disclosed with intent to benefit a foreign power, alongside new powers aimed at state-linked interference activities. Cases brought under the legislation remain rare, making this prosecution one of the more closely watched tests of how the courts will interpret its provisions, particularly around what constitutes conduct "preparatory" to an offence rather than the offence itself.
The legal process ahead
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb set a timetable for proceedings, with a plea hearing scheduled for March 12 and a provisional trial date of October 8 at the Old Bailey, expected to last around eight weeks before a High Court judge. Young, who appeared by videolink from Belmarsh prison, spoke only to confirm his identity and was remanded into custody. He was first arrested in May 2025 and rearrested in October, a gap that typically reflects the time needed to analyse digital devices, correlate access logs against classified systems, and build a case capable of withstanding scrutiny over material that may itself remain partly classified during trial.
- Original charges: two offences under the National Security Act 2023
- New charges: misconduct in a public office; two counts of failing to comply with a Ripa section 53 notice
- Plea hearing: March 12
- Provisional trial start: October 8, Old Bailey