Death of immigration officer accused of spying for Hong Kong 'not suspicious', police say

Death of immigration officer accused of spying for Hong Kong ‘not suspicious’, police say

May 24, 2024

The death of an immigration officer accused of spying for the Hong Kong intelligence service is not being treated as suspicious, police have said.

Immigration enforcement officer Matthew Trickett, who was also a private investigator, was found dead in a park in Berkshire on Sunday afternoon after a report from a member of the public.

Thames Valley Police (TVP) has said that following a Home Office post-mortem completed on Wednesday, his death “is not being treated as suspicious”.

The former Royal Marine, 37, was also accused of foreign interference and had appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court alongside Chi (Peter) Leung Wai, 38, from Staines, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, from Hackney, east London.

At that hearing, the prosecution had asked for Mr Trickett to be remanded in custody for his own welfare ahead of his next hearing at the Old Bailey.

Prosecutor Kashif Malik told the hearing that Mr Trickett had attempted to take his own life after being charged.

However, he was granted bail and on 19 May he was found dead in Grenfell Park in Maidenhead.

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At the time, police said that while the alleged offences were “concerning”, there was not believed to be any wider threat to the public.

Mr Trickett, from Maidenhead, joined the home office’s immigration enforcement team in February 2021 after working for the UK Border Force at Heathrow Airport.

He was also the director of MTR Consultancy, a security firm formed in April 2021.

Mr Trickett’s family are being supported by specialist officers, a TVP spokesperson said.

At the time of his death, his family said in a statement: “We are mourning the loss of a much-loved son, brother and family member” as they appealed for privacy “at this difficult time”.

The case against Mr Trickett would be formally “discontinued”, prosecutor Alistair Richardson told a hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday as where he asked for the formal revocation of his electronic tag.

The force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) because Mr Trickett’s bail condition required him to regularly register at a police station.

The IOPC has assessed that referral and decided the matter should be investigated by TVP’s professional standards department.

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