Crispin Aubrey

John Nicholas Crispin Aubrey (3 January 1946 – 28 September 2012) was a British journalist. He was one of the defendants in the ABC trial in 1978, named after the initials of the defendants' surnames, in which he and freelance journalist Duncan Campbell were convicted under the Official Secrets Act 1911 for receiving classified information from John Berry, a former signals intelligence (SIGINT) operator. The controversy over the case eventually led to amendments to the law in the Official Secrets Act 1989.

Aubrey was born in Chipstead, Surrey. His father was an insurance broker, and his mother was an illustrator. He was educated at Leighton Park School, an independent Quaker school in Reading, and studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. He married Susan Jacob in 1968. They had three daughters.

He worked as a journalist at the Hampshire Chronicle, before moving to Time Out in 1974 as an investigative reporter concentrating on environmental issues. He became involved in an unsuccessful campaign to prevent the government deporting two Americans - former CIA case officer Philip Agee and Time Out journalist Mark Hosenball - on national security grounds after they wrote an article on GCHQ.

In February 1977, Aubrey and freelance journalist Duncan Campbell were arrested as the left the flat where they had been interviewing John Berry, a former member of Signals Intelligence, which is based at GCHQ. They were charged with unlawful disclosure and receipt of classified information, contrary to section 2 of the Official Secrets Act 1911, and charges were later added under section 1 of the Official Secrets Act. During a period of a year while they were awaiting trial, all three suffered intimidation and harassment, including house searches, were followed by plain clothes officers, and were required to report to the police each day.

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