Former Defence Worker Pleads Guilty To Breaching Official Secrets Act

A former defence worker who disclosed secret details of a UK missile system has changed his plea and admitted breaching the Official Secrets Act.

Simon Finch, 50, had become disillusioned by British authorities after he reported being the victim of homophobic attacks in 2013.

In 2018, he sent an email containing secret information to eight people, which he also claimed to have shared with "hostile" foreign states, the Old Bailey heard.

He had initially pleaded not guilty to two charges of breaching the Official Secrets Act and a charge of refusing to give authorities access codes to three electronic devices.

Giving evidence in his trial, he denied having actually leaked the document to hostile states.

Explaining his actions, he said: "I had to do something to generate national exposure.

"It had to be quite serious. It had to be something to gather national attention."

On Monday, the trial judge Mrs Justice Whipple ruled out his "duress of circumstance" defence and Finch admitted all charges against him.

In her ruling in the absence of the jury, the senior judge said such a defence could be made in an "extreme case" where a person faced an "impossible choice".

She said Finch's case did not come anywhere near to meeting the threshold of "seriousness and imminence of threat" and other options were open to him.

The judge also rejected Finch's psychiatric defence based on a diagnosis of autistic traits.

Previously, the prosecution had said Finch had been motivated by a desire to exact retribution on the British system, which he felt had let him down.

The trial had heard how the mathematics graduate had worked for BAE Systems and QinetiQ which provide contracted services to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), as well as the MOD itself in the "distant past".

He went into a "downward spiral" after suffering two alleged homophobic assaults in Merseyside in 2013.

Finch accused Merseyside Police of failing to investigate or classify the attacks as hate crimes when he reported them later.

He went on to allege he was taken to a police station in Bootle and subjected "to inhumane and degrading" treatment which amounted to "torture".

The defendant left his job at BAE Systems in February 2018 and moved to Swansea.

In October of that year, Finch disclosed technical details classified as "secret" and "top secret" in an email containing operational information about the weapons system, which is still in use by the Armed Forces.

The unencrypted email was sent to eight recipients including members of charities, law firms, trade unions, and an MP.

Outlining his grievance, Finch wrote: "Since the UK has refused me any justice, compensation, or even treatment for these appalling crimes then it has no right to expect my loyalty.

"It is particularly foolish to do this to someone who works upon classified systems, particularly if they are somewhat autistic and have a near-photographic memory.

"Therefore it gives me very great pleasure to say that I have spent the last 10 months documenting SECRET, TOP SECRET, and CODEWORD information on the wide range of military systems which I have worked upon.

"This information has been sent (freely) to a number of hostile foreign governments.

"If the nation does not care for my security then why should I care for national security?"

Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC said Finch's acts were "retributive".

"His lack of redress and refusal, as he saw it, of justice to him led him to the conclusion that he should not care for national security if the nation had no care for his security," Mr Heywood added.

Stuart Trimmer QC, defending, said the treatment Finch had received had "quite literally ruined his life".

He said: "Some might say he became obsessed by the issue, it seems to have consumed his thinking."

The court had heard it had not been possible to verify if any classified intelligence had fallen into the hands of foreign governments or hostile groups or individuals.

An expert damage assessment found the release of the information contained in a "Systems.doc" attachment could give "a hostile adversary of the UK... an understanding of the function" of the system and "methods of countering it".

Discharging the jurors, Mrs Justice Whipple warned them to "never, ever" discuss the content of material they had seen during secret elements of the trial held in the absence of press and public.

Finch was remanded into custody to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

Cover image: PA.