Royal Navy Able Seaman Teddy Young, 24, charged under National Security Act over alleged help for foreign power

A serving member of the Royal Navy has been charged with spying offences, London's Metropolitan Police said Thursday.

Able Seaman Teddy Young, 24, from Bedfordshire, faces two charges under the National Security Act 2023. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday and has been remanded in custody.

These are allegations. Nothing has been proven in court.

What police allege

The first charge alleges Young obtained, copied, recorded or retained protected information. Police say he intended the conduct to benefit a foreign power, and that he knew, or ought reasonably to have known, it was prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom. That charge falls under section 1 of the Act.

The second alleges conduct in preparation for committing an offence of disclosing protected information.

Both cover the same window: 26 November 2024 to 21 May 2025. One outlet printed 6 November as the start date, but the police charge wording gives 26 November.

Police have not named the foreign power. They have not said what information was involved, or whether any of it actually left the Navy's hands.

A 16-month gap

Young was arrested on 21 May 2025 and released on bail while the investigation continued. His security clearance was suspended and he was taken off duties. He then sat on what the Guardian described as gardening leave.

He was arrested again at his home in Bedfordshire on Tuesday, 6 October. The Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charges on Wednesday, and police announced them Thursday.

That is roughly 16 months between the first arrest and the charges. Complex national-security cases take time, and prosecutors need evidence that survives a courtroom. A serving sailor was drawing a service wage and sitting at home for most of that stretch.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, called them "very serious charges against a serving member of the armed forces." She said police worked "extremely closely" with Ministry of Defence colleagues "to ensure appropriate measures could be taken to mitigate any potential risks linked to this matter."

The Royal Navy confirmed a service member had been charged. "As legal proceedings are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage," a spokesperson said.

Not the Fairford case

Police were explicit that the charges are unrelated to the RAF Fairford incident. Three suspicious vans were found near the Gloucestershire base in the early hours of 27 September. Fairford is a base from which U.S. bombers have launched strikes on Iran, and U.S. officials have said the episode involved a potential Iranian drone attack.

Seven men have been arrested in that investigation and released on bail. Counter-terror police are still working it.

The two cases landed in the same news cycle, but police have drawn a hard line between them. Because the foreign power in Young's case is unnamed, no link to Iran or any other state has been established. Police have not suggested one.

What comes next

Thursday's hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court is the first step. Offences under the National Security Act are serious enough that the case is expected to move up to a higher court. Police and prosecutors have not said which foreign state is at issue, what Young is alleged to have taken, or how he is expected to plead. Those details, if they come out, will come out in court.