New Delhi: The UK Police are investigating the mysterious death of a 37-year-old man charged with spying for Hong Kong’s intelligence services.
Matthew Trickett, a former Royal Marine who was working as an immigration enforcement officer at the UK’s home office, was one of three men charged for engaging in information gathering, surveillance, and acts of deception since late 2023.
Police said that they found his body was found under “unexplained circumstances” at Grenfell Park in Maidenhead in Southern England after they received a call from a member of the public.
Formerly employed by the UK Border Force at Heathrow Airport, Trickett was also the director of MTR Consultancy, a security firm set up in April 2021, according to the South China Morning Post.
Arrested under the UK’s National Security Act, Trickett and two others were out on bail until a hearing set for 24 May.
Trickett’s lawyer Julian Hayes refused to issue an official statement until the investigation was complete.
“Following a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, due to the prior contact with police, the matter has now been passed on to Thames Valley police’s professional standards department. It would therefore not be appropriate for us or the family to comment any further at this stage,” he said.
Also Read: Espionage, IP theft, hacking— Five Eyes chiefs sound alarm about China ‘threat’
Rise of cases of espionage in Europe
Allegations of cyber espionage have increased in Europe over the last few months, with countries like the UK, Germany, and Sweden flagging suspicions of the presence of Chinese and Russian spies on their soil.
In April, Germany arrested six people while Sweden expelled a Chinese journalist on such allegations.
Last month, US and British officials warned of a growing cyber threat from China, with Anne Keast-Butler, director of Britain’s surveillance agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), claiming that China’s capacity to wreak havoc in cyberspace was posing an “epoch-defining” challenge.
The remark came after Britain charged Trickett and two others — Chung Biu Yuen, 63, Chi Leung Wai, also known as Peter Wai, 38 — with spying.
This, in turn, came less than a fortnight after two men, including a UK parliamentary researcher, were charged with espionage under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly relayed information to Beijing.
On 14 May, the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) summoned the Chinese envoy Zheng Zeguang following allegations of foreign interference on UK soil.
“The FCDO was unequivocal in setting out that the recent pattern of behaviour directed by China against the UK including cyberattacks, reports of espionage links, and the issuing of bounties is not acceptable,” said the FCDO’s spokesperson.
The Chinese foreign ministry has called these charges “slanderous” but UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the country and its democratic process were facing threats from an “axis of authoritarian states” — including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
Also Read: Indian spies ‘kicked out’ of Australia for trying to steal defence secrets — ABC News report