UK Media: Highly Sensitive Military Documents Found at Garbage Station, UK Defense Ministry Senior Officials Involved in Investigation

[Global Times Comprehensive Report] The British Army has once again fallen into a leak scandal. According to the UK’s The Sun on July 5, a batch of highly sensitive military documents was discovered at a waste station in northern England, which included personal information of soldiers from nearby military bases, duty rosters, weapon storage lists, and even reports of certain security incidents.

Currently, senior officials from the UK Ministry of Defence have intervened in the investigation, and the Royal Military Police are tracing the specific leak process of these classified documents. It is reported that the leak occurred around the Catterick military base in Yorkshire, which is home to approximately 13,000 army soldiers. A local citizen discovered these military documents while disposing of trash in a recycling bin and subsequently handed them over to The Sun. The anonymous citizen expressed helplessness, stating, “These documents were just lying quietly on top of the garbage pile, with the cover printed ‘Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom’; they should have been shredded or stored in a secure place.”

Reports indicate that these documents include the “daily situation logs” from the guard rooms of the 5th Regiment Royal Artillery and the 32nd Engineer Regiment. The logs even reveal several security incidents, such as valuable and sensitive military supplies being stolen from a vehicle through a broken window, and a large hole being cut in one of the base's gates for entry and exit. Additionally, there are reports of soldiers being investigated for racist remarks or driving under the influence.

Colonel Philip Ingram, a former senior intelligence and security officer in the British Army, stated that this leak demonstrates the military's “lack of accountability and poor oversight,” and the army should take this matter seriously, as individuals with ill intentions could easily use the security information in the documents to plan attacks on military bases. Conservative MP and former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson believes that the appearance of relevant military documents in a civilian waste station is an undeniable security issue and scandal. Given that these documents contain personal information of soldiers, it is even more concerning; the relevant documents should be strictly regulated from printing to destruction.

In recent years, the British Army has repeatedly been embroiled in leak scandals. As early as 2021, a confidential document of up to 50 pages was found at a bus station in Kent, which included information about the operations of the Royal Navy in the Black Sea region. At the end of March 2025, a batch of documents involving sensitive military information from the UK was found scattered on the streets of Newcastle, also containing sensitive information related to the Catterick military base. (Zhang Jiu)