Ex-Parliamentary researcher, 29, and teacher, 32, to face trial next year after pleading not guilty to spying for China
Two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, have pleaded not guilty to spying for China.
Two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, have pleaded not guilty to spying for China.
Christopher Cash, 29, from Whitechapel, east London, and Christopher Berry, 32, of Witney in Oxfordshire, both denied the offence of spying under the Official Secrets Act at the Old Bailey on Friday.
Cash worked as a parliamentary researcher and was closely linked to senior Tories including Conservative leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat.
The charge alleges that between December 28 2021 and February 3 2023 they for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State, obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be, might be, or were intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy.
In April it was revealed that the two alleged spies both secured teaching jobs in China.
Parliamentary aide Chris Cash (left) and teacher Christopher Berry have pleaded not guilty to spying for China
Cash, who insists he is completely innocent, grew up in a wealthy suburb of Edinburgh and attended £5,000-a-term George Watsons College
As young graduates, they taught together at Hangzhou Oriental Middle School near Shanghai in 2018.
The son of a GP, Cash enjoyed a privileged upbringing, attending the £5,000-a-term George Watsons College in Edinburgh before studying at the University of St Andrews.
He taught English for two years in China then returned to the UK to study for an MSc in China and globalisation at Kings College London. In 2021, he started work in Parliament as a researcher employed by Ms Kearns.
Cash worked for the China Research Group which was set up by Mr Tugendhat, but abruptly disappeared from Westminster after his arrest last March.
He later released a statement through the law firm Birnberg Peirce, saying the allegations were against everything I stand for.
In a YouTube video posted two years ago, Chris Berry praises a lake in the Zhejiang province
Berry, 32, from Oxfordshire, is accused of spying between December 28, 2021 and February 3, 2023, under the Official Secrets Act 1911. He previously taught in the Hangzhou region
Cash said at the time he had spent his career trying to educate others about the challenge and threats presented by the Chinese Communist Party.
Berry initially taught economics and English in China, but later moved to promoting Chinese landmarks, making YouTube videos about heritage sites and extolling the virtues of Zhejiang provinces lakes.
In an online blog, he posted clips describing a typical day as a teacher in China.
A further case management hearing will be scheduled for a date in January or February next year, and a provisional trial date has been set for October 6 at Woolwich Crown Court with a time estimate of five to seven weeks.
