Royal Navy member Teddy Young faces national-security charges
Teddy Young, a 24-year-old serving Royal Navy member, faces two charges under Britain’s National Security Act. He is accused of preparing to disclose protected information and retaining it to benefit a foreign power. Arrested on October 6, he was due before a London court on October 8. The charges remain allegations, with no conviction announced.
Geopolitics··Evening
A serving sailor faces two protected-information charges
Teddy Young, a 24-year-old member of Britain’s Royal Navy, has been charged with two national-security offences. The Crown Prosecution Service, the British body that authorises criminal prosecutions, authorised the charges on October 7. Young was arrested at his home in Bedfordshire, north of London, the previous day and taken into police custody in the capital.[1], [2]
One allegation concerns preparing to commit an offence of disclosing protected information. The other concerns obtaining, copying, recording or retaining protected information with the intention of benefiting a foreign power. Both relate to alleged conduct between November 26, 2024 and May 21, 2025. Police and prosecutors have not named the foreign state in the announcements describing those charges.[1], [2]
The case proceeds under the National Security Act
The formal charge about obtaining or retaining information alleges that Young knew the conduct was prejudicial to the United Kingdom’s safety or interests. It also covers the alternative that, given other matters he knew, he reasonably ought to have known this. The accusation therefore describes both the handling of protected information and the knowledge attributed to the defendant at the time.[1]
The preparation allegation was brought under section 18 of the National Security Act 2023, while the protected-information allegation falls under section 1. Young was held in police custody for an appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on October 8. The charges are allegations to be considered through the courts; the announcements did not report a conviction or a completed trial.[2]
Police worked with defence officials on potential risks
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, described the charges against a serving armed-forces member as very serious. She said investigators had worked closely with relevant Ministry of Defence colleagues as the inquiry progressed. The cooperation was intended to ensure that measures could be taken to reduce potential risks linked to the case, according to her statement.[1]
Police said Young’s arrest and charges were not connected to the investigation into the recent incident at RAF Fairford, a British military airbase. The statement keeps the two inquiries separate despite their national-security context. Flanagan also called for further speculation to be avoided so that the case could progress through the courts without the justice process being impeded.[1], [2]
