A Royal Navy sailor accused of plotting to leak classified information to Russia has appeared in court for the first time.
Teddy Young, 24, is alleged to have abused his high-level security clearance to access secret defence and intelligence data after being deployed on a Navy vessel. It is said he had drafted a message in Russian containing classified information and had allegedly taken steps to make direct contact with the Russian authorities.
Young, who lives in a semi-detached house in the village of Clapham, on the outskirts of Bedford, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to face the charges for the first time.
Allegations of preparing to pass protected information
“The allegation is that while serving as a Royal Navy warfare intelligence rating with high level security clearance and intelligence-system access, Teddy Stanley Greenidge Young accessed and retained sensitive UK defence and intelligence material and engaged in activity consistent with preparing to pass protected information to a foreign power,” the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told the court in a written summary of the allegations.
It is said Young, who joined the Navy in April 2024, committed the offences on his first deployment, which began on November 4 2024. He is accused of using the dark web to try to make contact with Russian authorities, drafting a message which “sought to make contact with a potential threat actor”, and breaking Navy rules by copying information to a private email account.
Young wore a grey sweatshirt and joggers as he appeared in the dock in front of District Judge Annabel Pilling. He was arrested by counter-terror police at his home in Bedfordshire on Tuesday, having previously been arrested in Hampshire last year.
Charges and next steps
He is charged with engaging in conduct preparatory to the commission of an offence under the National Security Act 2023 and a second allegation of obtaining, accepting or retaining material benefit from a designated body.
According to the charges, it is said that between November 26 2024 and May 21 2025 Young “disclosed protected information for a purpose which he knew, or having regard to other matters known to him ought reasonably to have known, was prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK intending the conduct to benefit a foreign power, engaged in conduct in preparation for the commission of such an act”.
Over the same six-month period, Young is said to have “obtained, copied, recorded or retained protected information, intending the conduct to benefit a foreign power”.
Young was not asked to enter any pleas during the four-minute court hearing on Thursday. The judge told him: “As you know the matters that you have been charged with are too serious to be dealt with at this court and need to be dealt with at a crown court.”
Judge Pilling sent the case to the Old Bailey, where Young is due to appear on October 16, and remanded him in custody. When announcing the charge, police stressed there was no link between this investigation and the ongoing RAF Fairford probe.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: “A member of the Royal Navy has been charged with National Security Act offences following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing London. As legal proceedings are ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”
