Submariner jailed over offer to pass on British secrets

A Royal Navy petty officer has been jailed for eight years today for trying to disclose the secret movements of British nuclear submarines.

Edward Devenney, 30, began plotting the treachery after he was passed over for promotion.

He was caught by an MI5 sting earlier this year after meeting two intelligence officers posing as Russians.

He pleaded guilty to breaching the Official Secrets Act by gathering classified information and misconduct in public office.

ITV News' Crime Correspondent Jon Clement reports.

Sentencing him at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Saunders said Devenney knew what he was doing when he met the 'spies'.

During the trial, the court had heard that Devenney rang the Russian Embassy in November last year, after what he said was a 12-hour drinking binge.

He thought he had been treated badly by the Royal Navy because he was not promoted to chief petty officer.

Two days later, he managed to get into a locked safe on board HMS Vigilant and take three photographs of part of a secret code for encrypted information.

The judge said: "The photographs could, with other information, have led to the breaking of the code."

Outside court, Devenny's solicitor Richard Cannon read a statement on his behalf, which said:

Mari Reid, unit head for the CPS counter-terrorism division, said: