British authorities have charged 31-year-old Joshua Cammidge with assisting Russian military intelligence, the BBC reported earlier today. According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Cammidge allegedly received instructions from a person linked to the GRU Volunteer Corps, a group British authorities say is controlled by Russia’s GRU military intelligence service.Cammidge has a previous conviction for serious violent crimes. In 2013, when he was 18, he was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for taking part in a series of robberies in York. The group’s victims were beaten with a metal bar, kicked, and punched; one was beaten so badly that his face was described as “unrecognisable.”Cammidge now stands charged under Section 3 of Britain’s National Security Act 2023 with assisting a foreign intelligence service and with carrying out preparatory conduct under Section 18 of the same law. He is due to appear before the Westminster Magistrates’ Court.Cammidge was arrested on Sept. 4 in Swindon by officers from London’s Counter Terrorism Command, with support from Wiltshire Police. He was taken to a police station in London while officers searched another address in Swindon. The following day, he was additionally detained under the National Security Act. The authorities have not disclosed further details about what assignments he may have been given or what actions investigators believe he had already taken.In recent years, Russian intelligence services have recruited figures like Cammidge — economically vulnerable people with criminal records — to carry out various assignments in Western countries. Back in 2013, The Press in York reported that he was one of five young men convicted over the aforementioned series of brutal attacks and robberies in York. Judge Tony Hawks described the group’s actions as “disgusting, dangerous and repellent,” saying they deliberately targeted vulnerable victims and used substantially more violence than was necessary to carry out the robberies.In one attack, two young men were walking home from York railway station. One of them was struck on the head, legs, and arm with a metal bar. Both were knocked to the ground and prevented from helping each other.Police later found headphones and other belongings that had been stolen from the victims at the home of one member of the group; Cammidge was living there at the time.Three days later, the group attacked another man near the River Ouse. He was knocked to the ground, beaten unconscious, and left lying in a pool of blood. His face was so badly disfigured that the judge described it as “unrecognisable.” The man spent two days in the hospital and needed two metal plates inserted to repair his shattered jaw. The attackers stole £10 from him.Another man who was beaten was left with the imprint of a boot on his face. The judge compared the attackers’ behavior to that of “a pack of wild animals.”In July 2013, a jury found Cammidge guilty of all three robberies. He was sentenced to five years and three months in prison. The five members of the group received a total of more than 25 years in prison.Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said prosecutors believe the evidence pointing to Cammidge’s recent involvement with Russian intelligence is sufficient for the new case against him to proceed to court. He also stressed that the defendant has the right to a fair trial.The UK’s Security Minister Dan Jarvis, commenting on the case, said Russia’s actions are “intended to sow fear, create disruption, and undermine support for Ukraine.”“They will not succeed,” Jarvis added.