A British immigration official and a retired Hong Kong police officer have been jailed after being caught spying for China.

Dual Chinese-British national Peter Wai, 40, conducted "shadow policing" operations on Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters and dissidents living in the UK on the orders of handler Bill Yuen, 65.

He abused his position to gather intelligence on targets and was asked to pay "special attention" to British politicians, including senior Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

At the time, ex-Metropolitan Police officer Wai was working at Heathrow Airport for the UK Border Force, as a special constable with City of London Police, and had set up a private security firm.

His taskmaster and handler, ex-Hong Kong superintendent Yuen, was a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in London, said to be an extension in the UK of the Hong Kong government.

Yuen was linked directly back to the Chinese Security Bureau through his contact with another ex-police chief, the Old Bailey has heard.

Wai and Yuen were arrested after a failed bid to snatch a former Hong Kong resident, Monica Kwong, from her flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, on May 1 2024.

Following a two-month trial, the pair were convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act 2023.

Former Metropolitan Police officer Wai was also convicted of misconduct in a public office by searching the Home Office computer system for people of interest to Hong Kong authorities.

On Thursday, Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, and Yuen, from Hackney, were jailed for 10 years and eight years respectively at the Old Bailey by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.

Wai and Yuen had been accused alongside Matthew Trickett, 37, an immigration enforcement officer and ex-Royal Marine, who was found dead in woodland near Maidenhead, Berkshire, a week after being charged.