Pole ‘tried to sell sub secrets’

A LONER stole sensitive papers on Royal Navy nuclear submarines from his neighbour before trying to sell them to the Polish government for £50,000, a court has heard.

Marcin Kostrzewa, a Polish factory night shift worker, was arrested after allegedly trying to broker a deal for the documents with an undercover agent.

The files – a reference guide to submarine electrics – were stolen from neighbour Shane Spencer who was working as an engineer in a Royal Naval dockyard. The 32-year-old Pole had used Google to search for terms including ‘spies’ and ‘secret documents’ in the month before the crime, Plymouth Crown Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Alexander Chalk said Kostrzewa – who told police he was living alone and was £8,000 in debt – thought he was in contact with a man from the Polish government, but in fact he was a British agent.

He said the two men met in a hotel and discussed a deal to sell the documents for £50,000. But the conversation was recorded by hidden microphones and as he left the hotel room he was arrested on suspicion of breaking the Official Secrets Act.

He later told police he found the documents in a rubbish bin. Kostrzewa denies a charge of burglary. The trial continues.