Two men convicted of National Security Act offences

Two men have been convicted offences under the National Security Act after an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing.

The investigation found they were illegally gathering information for the benefit of Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.

The offences were discovered when police arrested a group of people who were carrying out activity targeting a woman based in Pontefract, who was being accused by her former employer in Hong Kong of fraud.

Chi Leung (Peter) Wai and Chung Biu Yuen have been found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service, which is an offence under the National Security Act (NSA), 2023. The jury could not reach a verdict on charges against both men of foreign interference.

Wai was also found guilty of misconduct in public office – relating to the misuse of Home Office systems he accessed while working as an officer in Border Force.

On 1 May 2024, police arrested nine people at a flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. They were arrested after breaking into the property, which belonged to a woman who moved to the UK from Hong Kong in 2023. The group had broken into the property, which belonged to a woman who moved to the UK from Hong Kong in 2023.

The woman was accused of fraud by her former employer in Hong Kong. She denied this and said she had been set up. The group of people arrested at her flat included Wai, a man called Matthew Trickett, two former Hong Kong police officers and her former boss. They had travelled to the flat the day before to try to locate her.

They attempted to gain access by pretending to be maintenance workers and poured water under the door to try to convince her she had a water leak.

The group then forced entry into the flat. Counter Terrorism Police officers then arrived and arrested the group. Yuen, who had been keeping in contact with the group from London was also arrested and Wai, Yuen and Trickett were subsequently charged. The others were released while the investigation continued.

Through forensic examination of digital devices, detectives discovered how Yuen, in his role as the head of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), was in contact with individuals linked to the Hong Kong authorities. uen was then then tasking Wai with spying and surveillance activities focusing on UK-based pro-democracy campaigners.

Detectives also discovered that Wai had been exploiting his position as a Border Force officer, finding several examples of where he accessed the files of several Chinese and Hong Kong nationals in the UK.

Wai climbed he was carrying out legitimate private security work linked to some of these individuals. However, evidence from Trickett’s phone showed there was a clear awareness by Wai and Trickett of the significance of the people they were targeting and the links back to the Hong Kong authorities. Evidence was found that Yuen was making payments to the pair – despite Yuen claiming that he was not involved in what they were doing.

There was also evidence that showed how requests from Hong Kong were coming into Yuen and then being onward-tasked to Wai and Trickett to carry out. This included a request from Hong Kong to Yuen for information about a specific individual. The same person’s details were then passed from Yuen to Wai and officers found evidence of Wai carrying out illicit checks on Home Office systems for that same person.

Yuen, Wai and Trickett were all charged on 12 May, 2024. However, after being released on bail, Trickett was found dead in a park in Maidenhead on 19 May, 2024. An inquest into his death is due to take place after these criminal proceedings.

Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, which led the investigation said: “The activity by Wai and Yuen was both sinister and chilling. Our investigation found they were spying for the Hong Kong authorities, targeting UK-based pro-democracy campaigners.

“It is completely unacceptable for anyone to carry out this kind of activity on behalf of a foreign state here in the UK. I hope this outcome provides reassurance to those living in the UK who may be concerned about being targeted by any foreign state, that we will do everything we can to help keep them safe.”