Ex-spy 'tried to sell top secret files'
Former Dartmouth Community College student Daniel Houghton is alleged to have handed over confidential electronic files, including memory sticks and a laptop computer's hard drive detailing MI5's intelligence-gathering techniques.
A court heard the former spy allegedly copied top-secret files from the domestic security service to CD and DVDs while working for MI6 in London between September 2007 and May last year.
Houghton, whose mother Elizabeth Havinga lives at Holne, near Newton Abbot, arranged to meet potential buyers at a London hotel last month, it is claimed. His mother's farmhouse home in Devon was also searched by police.
He was arrested at a central London hotel in an undercover sting operation by police and security services. The court was told that he was detained shortly after the "buyers" handed him a suitcase containing £900,000 in cash in return for the files.
The money had been handed over by British intelligence officials and Houghton was charged with theft and breaching the Official Secrets Act.
After the short hearing, his mother said: "I'm very, very shocked. It's come as a great surprise."
His older brother Aren, 28, added: "It's really bad. I certainly had no idea what was going on."
Prosecutor Piers Arnold told the court that the disclosure of the files could have damaged national security and would have compromised the ability of MI5 and MI6 to gather intelligence.
He said: "Some of these files had a security classification of top secret, others were classified as secret."
Houghton, who studied graphic design at Exeter College, appeared in court wearing faded, low-slung baggy jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt.
He spoke only to confirm his name and was not asked to offer a plea to the charges. He could face up to nine years in prison, if convicted.
Born in Holland, Houghton has dual British-Dutch nationality and is fluent in English and Dutch. He studied computer interactive systems at Birmingham University, achieving top marks and attracting the attention of the security services.
His arrest has shocked family and friends, many of whom thought he worked for a bank.
Flatmate Kimberly Peterson, 27, said she had no idea the quietly spoken graduate used to work for MI6. Speaking at the £250,000 ex-council flat they shared in Hoxton, north London, Miss Peterson said Houghton told her he worked for Lloyds Bank as a graduate trainee.
She said: "It's been an unbelievable few days. I arrived at the flat block on Monday night after meeting a friend and was greeted by a man who said 'are you Kimberly?'
"When we got inside he showed me his Metropolitan Police ID and said he was counter-terrorism. There were five officers searching through our flat. They have taken our computers and memory sticks.
"My family back home in Seattle are terrified. They wanted me to jump straight on the first flight home. I had no idea he had worked for MI6. I have been phoning the police all day to see if I can get my computer equipment back. I have contacted the US embassy. It feels like I am in my own episode of Law and Order."
District Judge Timothy Workman remanded Houghton in custody and adjourned the case until March 11 at the same court. The two charges Houghton face are:
Between September 1, 2007 and May 31, 2009, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, you stole property, namely a number of electronic files containing techniques for intelligence collection, belonging to the British Security Service, contrary to section 1(1) Theft Act 1968.
On March 1, 2010, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, being a person who has been a member of the security and intelligence services, without lawful authority you disclosed articles relating to security or intelligence, namely a number of electronic files containing techniques for intelligence collection, which were in your possession by virtue of your position as a former member of the British Secret Intelligence Service, contrary to section 1(1) Official Secrets Act 1989.
