UK Royal Navy sailor appears in court charged under National Security Act

A junior member of ​Britain's Royal Navy accused of ​collecting secret information ‌and researching a ​website linked to Russia's foreign intelligence service appeared in a London court on Friday ‌charged under the National Security Act. Teddy Young is charged with having "obtained, copied, recorded or retained protected information" between November 2024 and May 2025.

Young's role ‌in the Royal Navy related to "warfare intelligence", prosecutors said at ‌his first appearance earlier this month. The 24-year-old was allegedly "interested in a website set up by a foreign intelligence service", prosecutor Kelly Brocklehurst said at London's Old ⁠Bailey court ​on Friday.

"The ⁠website that he appears to have taken a particular interest in is the ⁠foreign intelligence service of Russia, the SVR," Brocklehurst added. Young, who appeared by ​video link from Belmarsh prison, is charged with five offences, ⁠including two under the National Security Act and one count of misconduct in ⁠public ​office.

He was not asked to enter any pleas and his trial was provisionally listed to begin in October 2027. Police ⁠previously said the charges were not connected to the recent, ongoing investigation ⁠into an ⁠incident at the RAF Fairford airbase, from where US bombers had carried out strikes on Iran before they ‌were ‌withdrawn.