HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- BAE worker 'tried to sell secrets' secret
papers'
Owen
Bowcott
Tuesday March 26, 2002 The Guardian A BAE Systems defence worker who
allegedly tried to sell military secrets to the Russian embassy in London
appeared in court yesterday on nine charges of spying under the Official Secrets
Act.
Ian Parr, a 45-year-old test coordinator at the company's main plant in
Basildon, Essex, was remanded in custody after being arrested in Southend last
Friday following an operation involving police and intelligence services. Mr Parr, who wore a blue anorak, jeans and a green sweater, only answered
once during the half-hour hearing at Bow Street magistrates court in central
London to confirm his name. He also faces a tenth, related charge of theft. All the Official Secrets Act charges describe Mr Parr's actions as being "for
a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state ... which was
calculated to be or might be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy". The
offences are alleged to have taken place between January 1 and March 23 this
year. The "enemy" was not named in the charges but prosecutor Sally Walsh told the
court Mr Parr tried to sell a package of secret documents to someone purporting
to be from the Russian embassy for �25,000. He also allegedly offered to hand
over further secret papers. Most of the drawings and CDs he stole were rated either "UK restricted" or
"Nato restricted", relatively low in the hierarchy of classified material but
nonetheless subject to section (1) of the Official Secrets Act, 1911. Several of
the charges relate to the "Halo Project", understood to be a battlefield device
being developed by BAE Systems Avionics to help pinpoint enemy guns. Halo stands
for Hostile Artillery Locator. It consists of a network of microphones which
record and analyse the sound of incoming artillery shells, then compute a target
location for returning fire. Under section (1) of the Official Secrets Act it is an offence to, without
lawful authority, disclose any information, document or other article relating
to security or intelligence that may be damaging to the security of the nation
or the work of the intelligence services. BAe Systems Avionics employs around 1,300 staff at Basildon. It is one of the
UK's leading suppliers of civil and military electronic systems for air, land
and seas. The company has more than 50 years' experience designing equipment for
fighter jets, radar equipment, including systems for Tornado and Sea Harrier
jets. Other products include digital terrain navigation systems, helmet-mounted
displays and sights, target and detection systems, night bombing equipment, auto
tracking systems and night vision goggles. It has an annual turnover of of �12bn and employs a total of 120,000 workers
worldwide. If found guilty of the Official Secrets Act charges, Mr Parr, from Rochford,
Essex, faces a maximum sentence of 14 years on each count. A father of two, his
hobbies are understood to include rambling. He did not enter a plea and was
remanded to appear at the Old Bailey on April 3 for a further
hearing.
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