Royal Navy service member charged with spying for an unnamed foreign power, accused of obtaining and leaking protected information to benefit that power.

Intelligence & EspionageHuman Intelligence (HUMINT)Recruitment of locals

Aggressor

Summary

A 24-year-old Royal Navy service member, Teddy Young from Bedfordshire, has been charged with espionage-related offenses under the UK's National Security Act. The allegations include obtaining and preparing to disclose protected information to benefit an unnamed foreign power between 26 November 2024 and 21 May 2025. Young was arrested at his home in Bedfordshire and remanded into custody, due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court. The police clarified that the charges are unrelated to the recent RAF Fairford incident. The investigation is ongoing with close cooperation from Ministry of Defence and counter-terrorism policing.

Classification

Confidence: High

The incident involves a serving Royal Navy member accused of spying for an unnamed foreign power, indicating hostile intelligence activity against the UK, fitting the definition of a hybrid warfare signal involving espionage.

Source URL

https://bbc.com/news/articles/cw203n6emde8o

Open source

Provenance

Publisher: hwt_web_submit
Submitted: Oct 8, 2026, 08:47 UTC
Last updated: Nov 4, 2026, 02:48 UTC
Event time: Nov 26, 2024, 00:00 UTC

Published as a hybrid-warfare signal with a public source and reviewer-approved assessment bands. See the methodology for how records are assessed.

Raw record

{
  "id": "dfb6a428-94c9-4e6c-8d5c-3fcfdcaa0fe8",
  "url": "https://bbc.com/news/articles/cw203n6emde8o",
  "source": "hwt_web_submit",
  "status": "processed",
  "category": "Intelligence & Espionage",
  "subcategory": "Human Intelligence (HUMINT)",
  "incident_type": "Recruitment of locals",
  "country": "United Kingdom",
  "source_reliability": "B",
  "info_credibility": "2",
  "tags": [
    "espionage",
    "Royal Navy",
    "National Security Act",
    "foreign power",
    "counter-terrorism",
    "United Kingdom"
  ],
  "nodes": [],
  "countries": [],
  "where_text": "Land",
  "headline": null,
  "description": "A 24-year-old Royal Navy service member, Teddy Young from Bedfordshire, has been charged with espionage-related offenses under the UK's National Security Act. The allegations include obtaining and preparing to disclose protected information to benefit an unnamed foreign power between 26 November 2024 and 21 May 2025. Young was arrested at his home in Bedfordshire and remanded into custody, due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court. The police clarified that the charges are unrelated to the recent RAF Fairford incident. The investigation is ongoing with close cooperation from Ministry of Defence and counter-terrorism policing.",
  "summary_short": "Royal Navy service member charged with spying for an unnamed foreign power, accused of obtaining and leaking protected information to benefit that power.",
  "summary_extended": null,
  "actor_primary": "Teddy Young",
  "target_primary": null,
  "location_text": "Bedfordshire, United Kingdom",
  "location_region": null,
  "location_coordinates_lat": 55.378051,
  "location_coordinates_lon": -3.435973,
  "location_precision": "Exact",
  "is_aggressor_signal": true,
  "signal_type": "HYBRID_SIGNAL",
  "is_hybrid_war_signal": true,
  "classification_complete": true,
  "hybrid_signal_complete": true,
  "classification_confidence": "High",
  "classification_rationale": "The incident involves a serving Royal Navy member accused of spying for an unnamed foreign power, indicating hostile intelligence activity against the UK, fitting the definition of a hybrid warfare signal involving espionage.",
  "event_time_utc": "2024-11-26T00:00:00.000Z",
  "end_time_utc": "2025-05-21T00:00:00.000Z",
  "event_time_confidence": "pm24h",
  "created_at": "2026-10-08T08:47:00.043Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T02:48:07.560Z",
  "reliability_band": "strong",
  "location_precision_band": "exact",
  "time_precision_band": "within_24h",
  "severity_band": "significant",
  "attribution_confidence_band": "high",
  "attribution_basis": "single_source"
}

Public assessmentReliability: StrongSeverity: SignificantAttribution: HighSingle sourceTime: Same dayLocation: Exact

Source reliability

Info credibility

Event time

Nov 26, 2024, 00:00 UTC

End time

May 21, 2025, 00:00 UTC

Event time confidence

pm24h

Location

Bedfordshire, United Kingdom

Primary actor

Teddy Young

Country

United Kingdom

Tags

espionage, Royal Navy, National Security Act, foreign power, counter-terrorism, United Kingdom

Loading signal...

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