Prosecutors have dropped charges against two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, who had been accused of spying for China.

Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, had both denied accusations of providing information prejudicial to the interests of the state in breach of the Official Secrets Act between December 2021 and February 2023.

It was alleged they obtained, recorded and published information “for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state” and which could be “directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy”.

They were due to go on trial next month, but prosecutor Tom Little told London’s Old Bailey they would offer no evidence against the pair.

He said: “We simply cannot continue to prosecute.”

A spokesperson for the Home Office said it was “disappointing” the pair would not face trial “given the seriousness of the allegations”.

They said the decision was made by the Crown Prosecution Service “entirely independently of government”.

“National security is the first duty of government and we remain steadfast in upholding this responsibility,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to use the full range of tools and powers to guard against malign activity.”

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “In accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors, the evidence in this case has been kept under continuous review and it has now been determined that the evidential standard for the offence indicted is no longer met. No further evidence will be offered.”

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Mr Cash’s lawyer said his client was “entirely innocent and should never have been arrested, let alone charged”.

Speaking outside court, Mr Cash said: “While I am relieved that justice has been served today, the last two and a half years have been a nightmare for me and my family.”

He said he hoped “lessons are learned from this sorry episode”.

China had dismissed the charges as “self-staged political farce”.

Mr Cash previously worked as a parliamentary researcher and was closely linked to senior Tories including former security minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, who served as chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

He was director of the China Research Group, which was chaired by Mr Tugendhat and then Ms Kearns.

Mr Berry has worked in various teaching posts in China since September 2015.

New evidence has emerged of earlier opportunities to have stopped the Southport attacker before he was able to murder three young girls, according to the lawyer representing their families.

The parents of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice da Silva Aguiar will today give evidence to the inquiry which was set up to establish firstly how Axel Rudakubana was able to carry out the attack last July and also to identify lessons to avoid a repeat.

In July, a major review found the government’s Prevent counter-terrorism scheme missed an opportunity to intervene in Rudakubana’s life and potentially turn him away from violence.

Officials with Prevent had been warned three times by teachers that Rudakubana was obsessed with violence – but the case was closed on each occasion because he was not found to have a terrorist ideology.

Now, the lawyer representing the families of Bebe, Elsie and Alice has told Sky News “significant” evidence is emerging of earlier opportunities to have identified Rudakubana as a threat.

Chris Walker said: “We know there have been failings with the Prevent process but, as we are delving deeper and the deeper into the evidence which has been disclosed to us continuously, it is becoming apparent that there were more opportunities and more failings before the Prevent failings.

“It would be inappropriate for me to comment on what exactly those are at this stage. It is evident that the problems with him occurred several years before the Prevent system failed.”

Mr Walker said the families wanted “individual accountability, systemic accountability and systemic reform” to come from the inquiry and an understanding of how and why mistakes occurred.

“We can’t have a system which is designed to prevent evil murderers committing tragedies of this nature being able to continue with their conduct because of individual errors,” he said.

“The system must be robust enough to absorb individual errors to ensure these tragedies will never happen again.”

The Southport inquiry, chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford, was set up to examine the circumstances surrounding the attack and the events leading up to it. It will examine Rudakubana’s history and interactions with local services and agencies and their decision-making and information-sharing.

Rudakubana is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 52 years for murdering six year old Bebe, Elsie, who was seven, and Alice, aged nine, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event.

He seriously injured eight more girls and two adults who had tried to stop him.

Between 2019 and 2021 teachers reported him three times to Prevent under a national duty to alert police and other agencies to potential extremists. On each occasion his case was rejected.

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The injury has already heard evidence from the parents of other children about the life-changing impact on them of what happened inside the dance studio on 29 July last year.

Families ‘cannot grieve’

For the parents of Bebe, Elsie and Alice, Mr Walker said, the process has been a difficult one.

“The families remain traumatised. It has been approximately 14 months since this horrific attack occurred. Within that time they’ve conducted themselves with dignity and, as a consequence of that, they present extremely well.

“The reality is when they close their front door they remain traumatised and this inquiry is going to continue with that traumatisation for another 12 months, at least, so they’ve not been able to start the next stage of their grieving process.

“But the families are committed to the inquiry. They appreciate and understand the significance of it and the reason for it and they remain committed.”

The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has refused to be interviewed by the Metropolitan Police.

German drifter Christian B, as he is known under privacy laws, became a leading person of interest following the three-year-old British girl’s disappearance from a holiday resort in Portugal in 2007.

He is expected to be released from a jail in Germany as soon as Wednesday, at the end of a sentence for raping an elderly woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.

The Met said it sent an “international letter of request” to the 49-year-old for him to speak with them – but he rejected it.

Madeleine vanished shortly after she was left sleeping by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, who went for dinner in a nearby restaurant in Praia da Luz.

The Met said Christian B remains a suspect in its own investigation – with Portuguese and German authorities also probing Madeleine’s disappearance.

He has previously denied any involvement.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, a senior investigating officer, said the force will “continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry” in the absence of an interview with Christian B.

He said: “For a number of years we have worked closely with our policing colleagues in Germany and Portugal to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and support Madeleine’s family to understand what happened…

“We have requested an interview with this German suspect but, for legal reasons, this can only be done via an International Letter of Request which has been submitted.

“It was subsequently refused by the suspect. In the absence of an interview, we will nevertheless continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry.”

In June, a hit-and-run theory emerged in connection with Madeleine’s death.

But her mother, Kate, has long dismissed the suggestion her daughter managed to get out of the apartment alone.

A number of searches have been carried out by German, Portuguese and British authorities since her disappearance – with the latest taking place near the Portuguese municipality of Lagos in June.

In 2023, investigators carried out searches near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.

Christian B spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017 and had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.

In October last year, the suspect was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

The total funding given to the Met’s investigation, titled Operation Grange, has been more than £13.2m since 2011 after a further £108,000 was secured from the government in April.