Liverpool man charged under UK National Security Act for espionage suspicion

Vahid Aberi of Liverpool is accused of a National Security Act offence, the latest sign that the UK is using its new espionage law against suspected foreign intelligence activity. In plain English, prosecutors say the conduct went beyond ordinary contact and into covert help for a foreign service.

The charge sits inside a broader rollout of the National Security Act, which has become the legal route for cases authorities treat as hostile-state activity. In April 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges against a British man accused of conducting hostile state activity to benefit Russia, and described that case as the first time it had charged offences available under the new legislation.

The same framework has since been used in other prosecutions. Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said in one case: "We have decided to prosecute two men for an offence under the National Security Act." The men were named as Nematollah Shahsavani, 40, and Alireza Farasati, 22, who were each charged with engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service between 9 July 2025 and 15 August 2025, contrary to section 3(2) of the Act.

The security backdrop has also widened beyond Russia. A March 2026 Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism investigation led to four arrests in London on suspicion of assisting Iran's intelligence service. Police treated the alleged activity as spying on people and places linked to London's Jewish community.

Taken together, those cases show how quickly the National Security Act has moved from statute to active use in alleged espionage investigations. Aberi's case adds Liverpool to a growing list of places and defendants now passing through the new law's reach.