The flatmate of a former MI6 agent accused of trying to sell secret intelligence files for £2m said today she felt like she was starring in her own episode of Law and Order as counter-terrorism officers raided their shared apartment.
Daniel Houghton, who holds joint British and Dutch nationality, was arrested at a London hotel on Monday after an undercover operation involving Scotland Yard and security service agents.
The 25-year-old, said to have worked for MI6 from September 2007 until May last year, is alleged to have stolen top security files from MI5, the domestic security agency, and attempted to sell them to a foreign intelligence service.
Speaking at the rented flat she shares with Houghton in Hoxton, north London, Kimberly Peterson, 27, an American student, said she had no idea he used to work for MI6 and believed he was a graduate trainee with Lloyds TSB. [...]
Source: The Guardian
LONDON — A former MI6 spy stole top secret files on intelligence gathering techniques and offered to sell them for 2 million pounds ($2.9 million) to an unspecified foreign government, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Prosecutor Piers Arnold told a London court that Daniel Houghton, 25, is alleged to have attempted to sell the highly classified documents, but was arrested Monday after British intelligence officials posed as the potential buyer.
Houghton was not asked to enter a plea during a brief hearing.
Arnold said Houghton, who is a dual Dutch and British national, is accused of copying top secret files from the domestic agency MI5 to CD and DVDs while working for the MI6 overseas intelligence service between September 2007 and May 2009.
He did not specify what job Houghton had with MI6, but said the alleged attempted sale came after he left the agency.
Arnold told the court that disclosure of the files would compromise the ability of MI5 and MI6 to gather intelligence, and could potentially endanger national security.
"Some of these files had a security classification of top secret, others were classified as secret," Arnold said.
Britain's intelligence agencies are notoriously protective of their intelligence gathering techniques.
Houghton faces two charges, one for theft and another for violating Britain's official secrets act — the confidentiality law that all intelligence officers are expected to abide by. The theft charge carries a maximum possible penalty of seven years in jail; the official secrets act offense has a potential punishment of two years in prison.
The suspect was arrested Monday in a central London hotel, Arnold told the court. Houghton was ordered held until March 11, when he will have a hearing at a London magistrates court.
Houghton's mother and brother attended the hearing, but declined to comment to reporters on the case as they left.
Source: The Associated Press
[...] Houghton appeared in custody at City of Westminster magistrates' court today to face a charge of theft and breaching the Official Secrets Act.
He is accused of stealing electronic files containing techniques for intelligence collection from MI5 and then disclosing them illegally.
The graduate worked for the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, between September 2007 and May last year.
He was arrested at a central London hotel on Monday after an undercover operation involving Scotland Yard detectives and security service agents.
Houghton, who holds British and Dutch nationality, was remanded in custody and ordered to appear at the same court on March 11.
The two charges Houghton faced were:
Between September 1, 2007, and May 31, 2009, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court you stole property, namely a number of electronic files containing techniques for intelligence collection, belonging to the British Security Service, contrary to section 1(1) Theft Act 1968.
On March 1, 2010, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, being a person who has been a member of the security and intelligence services, without lawful authority you disclosed articles relating to security or intelligence, namely a number of electronic files containing techniques for intelligence collection, which were in your possession by virtue of your position as a former member of the British Secret Intelligence Service, contrary to section 1(1) Official Secrets Act 1989.
Source: Daily Record
Submitted by Poseidon on Thu, 2010-03-04 03:05
- Poseidon's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- 192 reads
-
