UK submariner jailed after 'spy' sting
2012-12-12 20:26
London - A British Royal Navy submariner caught in a
sting operation trying to pass military secrets to men he thought were Russian
agents was jailed for eight years on Wednesday at London's Central Criminal
Court.
Petty officer Edward Devenney, 30, from Northern Ireland,
offered to hand over encryption codes and sailing dates of British nuclear
submarines.
In reality, the agents he met were undercover MI5
officers from Britain's secret service, the court had heard.
Devenny, in the Navy for 11 years, appeared to be seeking
revenge over dashed career prospects rather than financial gain.
He was secretly recorded complaining that a course he had
been due to take had been "binned" and that he wanted to "hurt
the Navy".
He had been in custody since his arrest in March this
year in the south-western English port of Plymouth, admitting at an earlier
court hearing to breaking Britain's Official Secrets Act.
