An Edinburgh man accused of spying for China while working for Conservative MPs is to stand trial next year.
Christopher Cash, 29, is accused of the offence under the Official Secrets Act alongside Christopher Berry, 32, of Witney in Oxfordshire. They appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday where Mr Justice Jeremy Baker told them their trial is "likely to be in the spring or summer of next year" and on a date that has yet to be set.
Cash and Berry spoke only to confirm their personal details. No pleas were given. They were both conditionally bailed to appear at the Old Bailey for a further preliminary hearing on October 4.
Cash, who lives in Whitechapel, east London, worked as a parliamentary researcher and was closely linked to senior Tories. He was educated at a private school in the capital and at a university in Scotland.
Berry worked in various teaching posts in China from September 2015 and was arrested while on holiday in the UK.
The charge alleges that between January 2022 and February 2023, Cash, "for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State, obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be, might be, or were intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy".
Berry is accused of the same offence between December 2021 and February 2023.
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