Former defence worker jailed for disclosing secret UK missile details

A disillusioned former defence worker has been jailed for disclosing “damaging” and top secret details of a UK missile system, which he initially claimed to have shared with “hostile states”.

Simon Finch was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

The 50-year-old pleaded guilty to breaching the Official Secrets Act by assembling classified information from memory in a Swansea library and disclosing it in emails to eight recipients from a Frankfurt hotel, after a judge threw out his defence of “duress by circumstance”.

He also admitted failing to give authorities access codes to three electronic devices.

A mathematics graduate boasting a “near-photographic” memory, Finch had worked for BAE Systems and QinetiQ, arms and military services companies which provide contracted services to the Ministry of Defence. He had also worked for the MoD itself in the “distant past”.

The court heard that his life began to unravel after he reported being the victim of homophobic attacks in 2013, for which he alleged receiving no “justice, compensation or treatment” from British authorities.

Finch began carrying weapons including nunchucks “for protection” when he went out in Southport in Merseyside, and was detained for psychiatric assessment in 2016 and later handed a suspended sentence for having a hammer and machete in public.

He left his job at BAE Systems in February 2018 and moved to Swansea before sending his unencrypted email in October that year.

In his email, he referred to his treatment by Merseyside Police in 2013, writing: “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.

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

Giving evidence in court, Finch told jurors: “I had to do something to generate national exposure. It had to be quite serious. It had to be something to gather national attention.”

He denied having actually leaked the document to hostile states.

Sentencing on Tuesday, Ms Justice Whipple said: “This was serious offending which damaged the interest of the UK government and its citizens.

“These were carefully planned and deliberate offences. Your motives were completely misconceived. You have no justification either legal or moral for what you did.”

On the harm caused, she added: “There is the potential compromise of the missile system itself.

“If classified details about the workings of the missile fall into enemy hands, that might diminish the operational effectiveness of the missile system.

“That puts in jeopardy those United Kingdom servicemen and women who may be engaged in combat operations relying on the missile system.

“It puts in jeopardy members of the public whom the United Kingdom seeks to protect by its military operations.”

There was also a “wider harm to the reputation of the United Kingdom”, Mrs Justice Whipple said.

She made Finch subject to a five-year serious crime and prevention order aimed at stopping him from disclosing any more classified information.

In mitigation, Stuart Trimmer QC told how Finch's attempts to pursue his complaint against police had left him “at the end of his tether”.

He said: “The events, whether true or not, are in his mind fixed and real.”

Finch was “not a spy” but had been motivated “because of what he understands in his head has happened and his failure to have it rectified”, the barrister said.

Parts of the Old Bailey trial were held in secret to prevent the disclosure of the material in the national interest and jurors were warned “never ever” to reveal what they had heard in the absence of press and public.

Additional reporting by PA