Member of armed forces cleared of breaching Official Secrets Act
A serving member of the armed forces accused of sharing documents containing ‘highly sensitive military information’ has been cleared.
Thomas Newsome had been charged with two offences by counter terrorism police after he was alleged to have breached the Official Secrets Act.
But both charges against the 37-year-old were dropped at the Old Bailey on Friday after the Crown offered no evidence.
Prosecutor Tom Little KC said the decision had been made in light of a report on Mr Newsome’s mental health and took into account the length of time he had already spent in custody.
He said the defendant, who denied wrongdoing, had been suffering from a mental health condition which was linked to the reasons for his prosecution.
Mr Newsome was arrested in April on the same day he had returned to the UK from an overseas deployment.
It had been claimed that on April 17 this year, Mr Newsome shared a 10-page document containing ‘highly sensitive military information’.
He was accused of making the ‘damaging disclosure of information relating to defence’ to two senior officers and a civilian.
A second allegation related to a USB stick said to also contain ‘highly sensitive material’.
It stated that on April 18 he failed to take care of documents or ‘prevent the unauthorised disclosure of those documents as a person in his position may reasonably be expected to take’.
Mr Newsome, who was on bail, had been due to face a trial at Kingston Crown Court in south-west London on April 8 next year.
He had appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from his home for the brief hearing before Mr Justice Jeremy Baker.
Wearing a pale blue polo shirt, Mr Newsome formally pleaded not guilty to an offence under the Official Secrets Act.
Earlier this year, the Royal Marines sparked a security scare after losing an assault rifle on Dartmoor.
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