Latest news with #Ledward
Hindustan Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
UK man accused of offering ex-defence minister Grant Shapps' information to Russian intelligence
A British man offered personal information about former defence minister Grant Shapps to Russian intelligence for money, prosecutors said on Wednesday at the start of his trial for a National Security Act offence. Grant Shapps is a former British defence minister(Reuters) Howard Phillips is accused of offering Shapps' home address and phone number to two people he believed were Russian agents, but were in fact British undercover officers. The 65-year-old denies one count of engaging in conduct intended to materially assist a foreign intelligence service, a crime that carries a potential sentence of up to 14 years in jail. His trial began at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday, when prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said Phillips offered to help Russian intelligence "not necessarily for ideological reasons or because he sympathised with the Russian state". Ledward said Phillips had sought to carry out "easy – and, perhaps, interesting or exciting – work for easy money". Phillips in October 2023 applied for a job with the United Kingdom's Border Force and was approached in March 2024 by purported Russian agents, using the names Sasha and Dima, Ledward said. She added that Phillips maintained his job application despite his apparent contact with Russian agents in the belief the job "might give him access to information that he could later provide". Ledward said Phillips was asked to save a file onto a clean USB stick, stating what he could offer and why, and hide it inside a parked bicycle on a London street in April 2024. The document stated that Phillips could "facilitate the collection of an operative from any port of entry, provide them with safe harbor, travel, assistance and return them to a designated place of embarkation undetected". Phillips met Sasha and Dima in a London hotel later that month, and then met Dima in May 2024, saying he knew Shapps' home address, telephone number and where his private plane was kept as he had visited Shapps' house, Ledward said. Phillips, whose trial is due to take up to three weeks, is also accused of offering logistical support, booking a hotel and buying a mobile phone for a foreign intelligence service.
Straits Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
British man accused of offering minister's information to Russian spies
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Former British defence minister Grant Shapps' home address and phone number were offered to two men that defendant Howard Phillips thought were Russian spies, but who were in fact undercover British agents. LONDON - A British man offered personal information about former defence minister Grant Shapps to Russian intelligence for money, prosecutors said on July 9 at the start of his trial for a National Security Act offence. Howard Phillips is accused of offering Mr Shapps' home address and phone number to two people he believed were Russian agents, but were in fact British undercover officers. The 65-year-old denies one count of engaging in conduct intended to materially assist a foreign intelligence service, a crime that carries a potential sentence of up to 14 years in jail. His trial began at Winchester Crown Court on July 9, when prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said Phillips offered to help Russian intelligence 'not necessarily for ideological reasons or because he sympathised with the Russian state'. Ms Ledward said Phillips had sought to carry out 'easy – and, perhaps, interesting or exciting – work for easy money'. Phillips in October 2023 applied for a job with the United Kingdom's Border Force and was approached in March 2024 by purported Russian agents, using the names Sasha and Dima, Ms Ledward said. She added that Phillips maintained his job application despite his apparent contact with Russian agents in the belief the job 'might give him access to information that he could later provide'. Ms Ledward said Phillips was asked to save a file onto a clean USB stick, stating what he could offer and why, and hide it inside a parked bicycle on a London street in April 2024. The document stated that Phillips could 'facilitate the collection of an operative from any port of entry, provide them with safe harbor, travel, assistance and return them to a designated place of embarkation undetected'. Phillips met Sasha and Dima in a London hotel later that month, and then met Dima in May 2024, saying he knew Mr Shapps' home address, telephone number and where his private plane was kept as he had visited Shapps' house, Ms Ledward said. Phillips, whose trial is due to take up to three weeks, is also accused of offering logistical support, booking a hotel and buying a mobile phone for a foreign intelligence service. REUTERS
Straits Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
UK man on trial accused of offering minister's information to Russian spies
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox LONDON - A British man offered personal information about former defence minister Grant Shapps to Russian intelligence for money, prosecutors said on Wednesday at the start of his trial for a National Security Act offence. Howard Phillips is accused of offering Shapps' home address and phone number to two people he believed were Russian agents, but were in fact British undercover officers. The 65-year-old denies one count of engaging in conduct intended to materially assist a foreign intelligence service, a crime that carries a potential sentence of up to 14 years in jail. His trial began at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday, when prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said Phillips offered to help Russian intelligence "not necessarily for ideological reasons or because he sympathised with the Russian state". Ledward said Phillips had sought to carry out "easy – and, perhaps, interesting or exciting – work for easy money". Phillips in October 2023 applied for a job with the United Kingdom's Border Force and was approached in March 2024 by purported Russian agents, using the names Sasha and Dima, Ledward said. She added that Phillips maintained his job application despite his apparent contact with Russian agents in the belief the job "might give him access to information that he could later provide". Ledward said Phillips was asked to save a file onto a clean USB stick, stating what he could offer and why, and hide it inside a parked bicycle on a London street in April 2024. The document stated that Phillips could "facilitate the collection of an operative from any port of entry, provide them with safe harbor, travel, assistance and return them to a designated place of embarkation undetected". Phillips met Sasha and Dima in a London hotel later that month, and then met Dima in May 2024, saying he knew Shapps' home address, telephone number and where his private plane was kept as he had visited Shapps' house, Ledward said. Phillips, whose trial is due to take up to three weeks, is also accused of offering logistical support, booking a hotel and buying a mobile phone for a foreign intelligence service. REUTERS
The Independent
01-04-2025
- The Independent
Prisoner told fellow inmate he was involved in killing of teenager, court hears
A prisoner confessed to a fellow inmate about the murder of a teenage girl who was shot dead during a gang 'ride-out', a court has heard. Tanesha Melbourne-Blake was standing with friends on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham, north London, on the evening of Easter Monday in 2018 when a car pulled up and an occupant opened fire, jurors were told. Two years after the shooting, police made a breakthrough in the case when a prisoner at HMP Pentonville, north London, came forward to report an alleged confession made by Marcus La Croix, 37. La Croix had been 'boasting' and 'showing off' to fellow inmates in 2020, the Old Bailey heard. The inmate told police La Croix admitted the killing after the two men spent time together and became close. Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC said: 'Some time in 2020, Mr La Croix told this other prisoner he had been involved in the murder of a 16 or 17-year-old girl. 'Whatever that witness's reasons for making that disclosure – what he did report was both credible and, insofar as he was able to provide detail, reliable. 'So far as Mr La Croix is concerned – it starts really where I ended – he told somebody he was in prison with precisely what happened. 'If you work backwards, there is nothing inconsistent that makes what he told that prisoner impossible. 'There are details he provided that he could not have got anywhere else. 'When you come to hear that evidence, you may seek to consider: how could he have known?' Jurors were also shown CCTV of an attack on La Croix the day before the shooting by members of a rival gang. Referring to the incident, Ms Ledward said: 'There is the motive for the Tinseltown attack – a very personal slight on him – which the prosecution say he would not have been prepared to let lie.' The prosecution alleges La Croix and co-defendant Michael Clarke, 35, were among a group of men who travelled from Wood Green into rival territory that night before fatal shots were fired. Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the silver Vauxhall Meriva that the shots were fired from. The vehicle was later traced to a man who had bought it for £500 in cash under a false name. It was allegedly acquired with the intention of avoiding identification, the court heard. The court also heard how the Vauxhall was set alight days later outside a housing estate in Barnet, north London. Ms Ledward said it was 'plainly a deliberate fire designed to destroy either the vehicle or any traces of the offences'. Forensic evidence later confirmed the bullets were fired from the same self-loading pistol – a Czech-made CZ Model 50. La Croix and Clarke deny murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. The trial continues.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Prisoner told fellow inmate he was involved in killing of teenager, court hears
A prisoner confessed to a fellow inmate about the murder of a teenage girl who was shot dead during a gang 'ride-out', a court has heard. Tanesha Melbourne-Blake was standing with friends on Chalgrove Road in Tottenham, north London, on the evening of Easter Monday in 2018 when a car pulled up and an occupant opened fire, jurors were told. Two years after the shooting, police made a breakthrough in the case when a prisoner at HMP Pentonville, north London, came forward to report an alleged confession made by Marcus La Croix, 37. La Croix had been 'boasting' and 'showing off' to fellow inmates in 2020, the Old Bailey heard. The inmate told police La Croix admitted the killing after the two men spent time together and became close. Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC said: 'Some time in 2020, Mr La Croix told this other prisoner he had been involved in the murder of a 16 or 17-year-old girl. 'Whatever that witness's reasons for making that disclosure – what he did report was both credible and, insofar as he was able to provide detail, reliable. 'So far as Mr La Croix is concerned – it starts really where I ended – he told somebody he was in prison with precisely what happened. 'If you work backwards, there is nothing inconsistent that makes what he told that prisoner impossible. 'There are details he provided that he could not have got anywhere else. 'When you come to hear that evidence, you may seek to consider: how could he have known?' Jurors were also shown CCTV of an attack on La Croix the day before the shooting by members of a rival gang. Referring to the incident, Ms Ledward said: 'There is the motive for the Tinseltown attack – a very personal slight on him – which the prosecution say he would not have been prepared to let lie.' The prosecution alleges La Croix and co-defendant Michael Clarke, 35, were among a group of men who travelled from Wood Green into rival territory that night before fatal shots were fired. Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the silver Vauxhall Meriva that the shots were fired from. The vehicle was later traced to a man who had bought it for £500 in cash under a false name. It was allegedly acquired with the intention of avoiding identification, the court heard. The court also heard how the Vauxhall was set alight days later outside a housing estate in Barnet, north London. Ms Ledward said it was 'plainly a deliberate fire designed to destroy either the vehicle or any traces of the offences'. Forensic evidence later confirmed the bullets were fired from the same self-loading pistol – a Czech-made CZ Model 50. La Croix and Clarke deny murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. The trial continues.
