Courts and bug product

[Ian Batten]

On 16 Feb 2008, at 17:05, Nicholas Bohm wrote:
>
> Fuchs, Vassal, Blake, Houghton et al (Portland spy ring) (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_Spy_Ring 
>  - including:

Most of those were British citizens, prosecuted in British courts for  
crimes against British law committed at least partially on British (or  
Empire) soil.   Fuchs was given British Citizenship in 1942, about a  
year after the GRU established contact with him, but all the  
information he provided to the USSR was provided as a British citizen,  
and at least some of it when he was working at Harwell.   Vassal was  
British and working for the Admiralty, Blake was naturalised from a  
complex background, Houghton was a working class lad from  
Lincolnshire.  All were prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act, all  
having provided classified information they held under clearance to a  
foreign power.

They weren't illegals, they weren't foreign citizens (hence couldn't  
be deported without stripped them of citizenship as happened in Fuchs'  
case) and they weren't operating under diplomatic cover.  They may  
have been detected by spooks, but they were prosecuted through the  
courts on the basis of special branch type evidence.  I don't think we  
can extrapolate from those cases how intercept would be used to  
prosecute spies two generations later.

ian