Geoffrey Prime
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Prime is a British
former spy
for the Soviet Union
while working for the Royal Air Force
and later for Government Communications Headquarters
, the British cryptography
agency, during the 1960s and 1970s. He was eventually convicted for espionage as well as for child sexual abuse
.
, a pro-paedophile activism group being watched by the British government. Members of the group used secret codes to communicate. He was subsequently identified as supplying information to the Soviets, and was tried convicted, and imprisoned in 1982. His defence counsel was George Carman
QC. He was sentenced to a total of 38 years, 35 for offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911
and 3 for sex offences against children
. The information he disclosed was publicly represented as having been damaging to the UK and beneficial to the Soviets, but details were not released. His position at GCHQ made him privy to information which would have been damaging had he turned it all over to the Soviets.
His sentence was the second-longest jail sentence in British legal history. The judges at his trial and his appeal said that if Britain had been at war with the Soviet Union, his crimes would make him eligible for the death penalty — it remained the punishment for treason until the Human Rights Act of 1998
— and that they would have had no compunction about imposing it. He was released from prison in 2001. He currently lives quietly in an originally undisclosed area, though The Daily Mail has released some information of his whereabouts. He was released on licence, but the parole board also decided that his name remains on the sex offenders register.
In 2009 it was revealed that Prime had revealed to the KGB that Britain and the United States had cracked high-level Soviet codes. As a result, the Soviet government changed them, making their military ciphers unreadable by the UK and US until the end of the Cold War.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
former spy
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
for the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
while working for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and later for Government Communications Headquarters
Government Communications Headquarters
The Government Communications Headquarters is a British intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the UK government and armed forces...
, the British cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
agency, during the 1960s and 1970s. He was eventually convicted for espionage as well as for child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
.
Sentencing
Prime was first detected when his wife persuaded him to turn himself in, and he later participated in the Paedophile Information ExchangePaedophile Information Exchange
The Paedophile Information Exchange was a UK pro-paedophile activist group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984. In January 2006 the Paedophile Unit finally arrested the last of its members on child pornography charges, with David Joy warned by his sentencing judge that his...
, a pro-paedophile activism group being watched by the British government. Members of the group used secret codes to communicate. He was subsequently identified as supplying information to the Soviets, and was tried convicted, and imprisoned in 1982. His defence counsel was George Carman
George Carman
George Alfred Carman, QC , was a leading English barrister of the 1980s and 1990s. He first came to the attention of the general public in 1979, when he successfully defended the former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe after he was charged with conspiracy to murder...
QC. He was sentenced to a total of 38 years, 35 for offences under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911
Official Secrets Act 1911
The Official Secrets Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaces the Official Secrets Act 1889....
and 3 for sex offences against children
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
. The information he disclosed was publicly represented as having been damaging to the UK and beneficial to the Soviets, but details were not released. His position at GCHQ made him privy to information which would have been damaging had he turned it all over to the Soviets.
His sentence was the second-longest jail sentence in British legal history. The judges at his trial and his appeal said that if Britain had been at war with the Soviet Union, his crimes would make him eligible for the death penalty — it remained the punishment for treason until the Human Rights Act of 1998
Human Rights Act 1998
The Human Rights Act 1998 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on 9 November 1998, and mostly came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim is to "give further effect" in UK law to the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights...
— and that they would have had no compunction about imposing it. He was released from prison in 2001. He currently lives quietly in an originally undisclosed area, though The Daily Mail has released some information of his whereabouts. He was released on licence, but the parole board also decided that his name remains on the sex offenders register.
In 2009 it was revealed that Prime had revealed to the KGB that Britain and the United States had cracked high-level Soviet codes. As a result, the Soviet government changed them, making their military ciphers unreadable by the UK and US until the end of the Cold War.
Further reading
- Cole, D. J. Geoffrey Prime: The Imperfect Spy.