A 24-year-old Royal Navy rating accused of trying to pass classified intelligence to Russia has appeared before the Old Bailey as prosecutors laid out a substantially widened set of charges against him. Teddy Young, who held high-level security clearance while serving on a Navy vessel, 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, only months after he joined the Navy. The Crown says he accessed and retained sensitive intelligence without authorisation while communicating with a party overseas, and that he "intended to share some or all of the intelligence with a foreign power". Young was initially charged with two offences under the National Security Act 2023, legislation introduced to modernise Britain's espionage laws and close gaps exposed by digital communication tools that make unauthorised data transfer far easier than in earlier eras of state secrecy.
The court heard he now faces additional charges of misconduct in a public office, along with two counts of failing to comply with a notice under section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. That Ripa provision compels individuals to hand over encryption keys or passwords to protected electronic data when lawfully required to do so; refusal is itself a criminal offence, reflecting how encrypted storage devices have become a recurring complication in national security investigations.
The specific allegations
The first National Security Act charge accuses Young of conduct preparatory to disclosing protected information for a purpose prejudicial to UK safety, with intent to benefit a foreign power. The second alleges unauthorised obtaining or disclosure of protected information between late November 2024 and May 2025, when he was first arrested. The misconduct in public office charge spans February 2024 to March 2025 and alleges he sent classified information to a personal email address and via WhatsApp and Discord, while also retaining classified material on personal devices - a detail that underscores how consumer messaging platforms, designed for convenience rather than security clearance protocols, have become a persistent vulnerability in cases involving protected state information.
The two Ripa charges relate to a Sandisk USB drive and an SD card, suggesting investigators sought access to physical storage media they believe may hold further evidence.
What happens next
Young, from Clapham in Bedford, appeared by videolink from Belmarsh prison, wearing a grey tracksuit, and spoke only to confirm his identity before Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb. He was rearrested in October having first been detained in May. A plea hearing has been scheduled for March 12, with a provisional trial date set for October 8 at the Old Bailey, expected to last eight weeks before a High Court judge. Young was remanded into custody. Cases prosecuted under the National Security Act remain relatively rare, and the outcome is likely to be watched closely as an early test of legislation designed specifically to address espionage conducted through modern digital channels rather than traditional physical tradecraft.
