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Hong Kong-UK spying row
Hong KongPolitics

Death of Matthew Trickett, suspect in spy case tied to Hong Kong trade office in UK, may complicate trial: legal expert

  • Professor Simon Young says Matthew Trickett, who was found dead on Sunday, might have shed light on spying accusations if he had chosen to testify at trial
  • Ex-Royal Marine Trickett was one of three suspects released on bail after being charged with spying for Hong Kong

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Former Home Office immigration officer Matthew Trickett was found dead in a park in the UK. Photo: AP
Edith LinandKahon Chan
The unexplained death of Matthew Trickett, a suspect in an espionage case tied to Hong Kong’s trade office in London, may complicate court proceedings, with a legal scholar saying that more might have been learned about the spying accusations if he had chosen to testify.
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Ex-Royal Marine Trickett, 37, was one of the three suspects charged with assisting an overseas intelligence service and foreign interference between December 2023 and May this year. British authorities alleged the trio were acting on behalf of Hong Kong.

Trickett was released on bail by a court last Monday along with Bill Yuen Chung-biu, 63, the office manager of the Economic and Trade Office in London, and Peter Wai Chi-leung, 38, a director of a private security firm.

The trio were originally expected to attend a hearing at Central Criminal Court in London on Friday, 11 days since the first one took place.

Simon Young Ngai-man, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said it was difficult to say whether the death would affect the case but noted there appeared to be no suggestion Trickett was set to testify against the other defendants.
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“[In] that sense his death does not appear to affect the prosecution’s case against the other two. If he was alive to testify it might help to clarify the circumstances of the case from the defence perspective,” he said.

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