A Royal Navy sailor who has been accused of “stealing secrets” from a nuclear submarine has been placed under investigation.
Able Seaman Marcus Gauntlett is being held on suspicion of breaking the Official Secrets Act after military police allegedly found confidential papers on his phone.
The 36-year-old was serving as a steward on a nuclear-armed Vanguard-class submarine, a vessel that provides the UK’s nuclear deterrent and is armed with Trident 2 D5 missiles.
Sources told The Sun that police stationed at the nuclear sub base HMNB Clyde, at Faslane in Scotland, found the documents when they seized Gauntlett’s Huawei mobile phone as part of a separate investigation.
The papers allegedly contained classified information about the movements of the submarine.
Sailors are prohibited from taking phones on submarines amid spying concerns.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a member of the Armed Forces is under investigation.”
It is understood that the investigators have ruled out espionage, the publication reports.
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Last month, a George Cross-winning former Royal Marine was arrested in Dubai and accused of spying “after accessing a public facility using illegal means of technology”, according to United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities.
Croucher, from Solihull, had been working in nearby Saudi Arabia and Qatar before stopping off in Dubai on the way home to the UK – but authorities took him in for a six-hour-long interrogation before being accused of espionage.
Dubai’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had grilled the 40-year-old for six hours for “intentionally and illegally accessing a telecommunications network”, and had pressed him on his links to British intelligence and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) before he was jailed.
He was kept in an Emirati prison for four days, where he ate “a primitive meal of rice and chicken twice a day with very unsanitary amenities” in the facility, according to a close friend who spoke to The Times.
Police stationed at the nuclear sub base HMNB Clyde, at Faslane in Scotland, found the documents when they seized Gauntlett’s phone
PA
The charges were later cleared as the “evidence was found to be inadequate”, and Croucher was allowed to leave the country.
In March, a group of Royal Navy sailors were arrested on suspicion of stealing laptops and iPads from a shop on an American base in Bahrain.
The servicemen were accused of later selling the stolen goods at less than half the retail price.
Some were arrested by “American armed military police” in January, whilst others were marched off British ship HMS Middleton in handcuffs as part of an investigation conducted by the UK and US.
A Royal Navy spokesman said: “We are aware of an alleged incident which is under investigation.
“As this is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further or provide a timeline to when a conclusion can be provided.”
Source Agencies
