No “outside pressure” influenced the decision to drop charges against a former parliamentary researcher and another man accused of spying for China, the director of public prosecutions has said.
Christopher Cash, 30, from Whitechapel, east London, and Christopher Berry, 33, of Witney, Oxfordshire, were each charged with the offence of spying under the Official Secrets Act.
They were set to face trial in October, but proceedings against them were stopped on Monday, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs.
Stephen Parkinson, the chief prosecutor in England and Wales, said he shared “the disappointment, and indeed frustration, expressed by many Parliamentarians, as well as members of the public, that this prosecution had to stop”.
He said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which he leads, had determined the case had to be stopped because of “an evidential failure”.
In a letter to Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp, he said that on “the question of outside pressure”, prosecution counsel Tom Little KC “confirmed that there had not been any disclosure or pressure, and I can give you my own assurance that this was the case”.
Mr Cash and Mr Berry had denied allegations that they collected and communicated information which could be “useful to an enemy” between December 2021 and February 2023.
On Monday they found out they no longer faced prosecution as Mr Little told the Old Bailey that the “evidential stage of the case” was “no longer met”.
Mr Parkinson said in his letter: “Although I am not in a position to address in detail the reasons that we came to our decision, I think it important to highlight two points stated in court that were not repeated in all sections of the media.
“First, prosecution counsel Tom Little KC informed the court that, having kept the case under review, we had determined that the case could no longer proceed to trial since the evidence no longer met the evidential test (which you will be aware is the requirement that there is a realistic prospect of a conviction).
“Accordingly, the reason that this case had to be stopped was due to an evidential failure. It is important that I reiterate that at the time the charging decision was made it concluded, correctly in my view, that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute.”
Mr Parkinson noted that securing a conviction would have required proving China was an “enemy” as stated in the Official Secrets Act 1911.
The law has since been changed with the National Security Act 2023, which he said “contains more extensive provisions to deal with espionage and those who are acting on behalf of foreign powers”.
The top prosecutor also wrote: “We did consider whether any alternative offences to the offence under the Official Secrets Act 1911 might be appropriate, but concluded that none was suitable in the circumstances.
“This decision was made in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, which underscores the constitutional importance of prosecutorial independence.
“The independence of prosecutors is fundamental to the integrity of the criminal justice system in a democratic society. It is taken extremely seriously by all prosecutors, and in my experience completely respected within Whitehall and government.”
No 10 described the CPS’s decision as “extremely disappointing”, while security minister Dan Jarvis said “the Government remains gravely concerned about the threat of Chinese espionage”.
Mr Cash, who worked as a parliamentary researcher and was director of the China Research Group (CRG), was closely linked to then-senior Tories including Alicia Kearns, who served as chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
Ms Kearns branded the move to drop the case “disastrous”, telling the Commons: “It remains unclear to me why Chris Cash and Christopher Berry cannot be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. The evidence shows a clear line between these two, the United Front Work Department and the politburo, the very top of the Chinese Communist Party.”
