London - Official secrets charges have been dropped against a former British army officer who was accused of passing information to an author about surveillance operations in Northern Ireland, reports Rachel Donnelly.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has told Lieut Col Nigel Wylde's lawyer, Mr John Wadham, who is the director of the human rights group, Liberty, that it will offer no evidence in the case. Lieut Col Wylde was charged under the Official Secrets Act with providing information to Mr Tony Geraghty, for his book, The Irish War, which described military intelligence methods in Northern Ireland.
In his book, Mr Geraghty described computer systems used by military intelligence that provided "total cover of a largely innocent population". Another secret computer system in use in Northern Ireland contained the names of "at least one million" people. The two men were arrested in December 1988, but charges against Mr Geraghty were dropped last year.