British defence contractor, Simon Finch, claimed he had passed on top-secret military information to foreign governments and was charged under the official secrets act.

Finch worked for BAE systems and described himself as ‘someone who works upon classified systems’ and added that he is ‘somewhat autistic and [has] a near-photographic memory’. He claimed that he had taken revenge on UK authorities by distributing the restricted information to ‘a number of hostile foreign governments’ following a row with UK police.

Defence Contractor Share UK State Secrets

Finch has been charged with unlawfully disclosing defence information and is accused of ‘damaging disclosure’ of defence secrets. The Official Secrets Act of 1998 defines a disclosure as damaging if it damages the capability ofthe Crowns armed forces, leads to loss of life or injury to members of the forces, leads to serious damage to the equipment or installations of those forces, or compromises UK interests abroad.

An investigation led by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command was launched around the end of October last year when the offence is alleged to have taken place.

It’s been suggested that Finch, of Swansea, South Wales, used his near-photographic memory in order to steal the UK state secrets. Finch stated that he been working in the defence industry for 20 years and that he had access to both secret and top-secret information. He says that he spent ten months leading up to October of last year documenting the classified information and systems that he had been working with.

Simon Finch has been bailed and is due to appear in court next month.