Overview
- MI5’s former head of HR told the court that Joseph’s Developed Vetting was withdrawn in 2020 over concerns about mental fragility, after which his contract ended and he signed an Official Secrets Act declaration.
- The witness said Joseph lodged multiple grievances that included highly disturbing but unsubstantiated allegations of rape, child abuse, torture and conspiracies, which MI5 maintains were not true.
- Prosecutors say Joseph sent sensitive material to a foreign‑linked address in November 2024 and again in January 2025, and that he tried to arrange a meeting at an embassy in Riga during a December 2024 trip.
- Police presented evidence of seized devices and photographs taken near the embassy, and said they arrested Joseph on January 30, 2025 in Sutton, recovering a folding lock knife and a homemade card purporting to identify him as an MI5 officer.
- Joseph denies offences under the Official Secrets framework and the National Security Act 2023, with the jury to consider psychiatric evidence as parts of the trial proceed in closed session and the foreign state remains unnamed.