Latest news with #Gibbard
New York Times
29-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Found: British Military Documents, Scattered on the Street
As he was rushing to attend a soccer match in Newcastle, England, Michael Gibbard stepped on a pile of sensitive military documents. At first, he thought the papers scattered along a street near the stadium were trash, dumped there from a nearby office building. But when he bent down and examined them closely, he was stunned by what he saw. Names and ranks of soldiers. Detailed base patrols. Drug test results. Codes to weapon armories. 'I thought, bloody hell, this shouldn't be here,' said Mr. Gibbard, a 41-year-old owner of a delivery service. Mr. Gibbard's accidental discovery this month of what appeared to be hundreds of military documents on an industrial street in Northern England has shocked a country known for zealously protecting state secrets. It also comes as the United States, Britain's close military ally, has been facing its own crisis over the handling of sensitive national security information, after battle plans in Yemen were discussed in a group chat that included a journalist. But while the United States' security breach came about because of a technological blunder on the encrypted app Signal, the apparent error in the United Kingdom was much more analog. 'I thought a lot of this would be online, and there would be military software you'd need to access it,' Mr. Gibbard said. 'But here it was, printed off for all the world to see. It was very old-school.' As he picked documents off the street and out of the gutter, he became aware of just how much material, from threat assessments to mundane requests for leave, he had stumbled upon. 'It was like a library of information,' he said. A Ministry of Defense spokesperson said that the incident was being investigated and that 'no sensitive operational defense information is contained within the documents.' The papers appeared to originate from a black trash bag slumped against a nearby brick wall. As Mr. Gibbard dug through the bag, he noticed a name repeated on the top of some documents: Catterick Garrison. Mr. Gibbard, who said he had no interest in the military, didn't know what that was, so he typed the term into Google. The garrison, he discovered, is a major military base in North Yorkshire, about 50 miles south of Newcastle. It's the largest garrison in the British Army, and home to more than 13,000 people. 'I was like, How on earth has this bag traveled like 50 minutes away?' Mr. Gibbard said. More surprising, he added, was that the documents had been printed at all. 'You put your safety in the hands of the military and the government to make sure that this information is kept away from us, so it doesn't potentially get in the wrong hands,' he said. 'And they're still printing loads and loads of paperwork out, explaining everything.' After spending a few minutes reading through lists of weapons and phone numbers of high-ranking officers, Mr. Gibbard began to feel uneasy about the position he had found himself in. He decided to take a photograph — but only one, he said, because he didn't know if it was legal to have images of the documents. 'I can't imagine the army would let me into the base and start taking photos of all their paperwork, would they?' he said. 'So this felt no different.' After he snapped an image, he called the police. When no one arrived after about 15 minutes — and with the kickoff to the soccer match moments away — he collected what he judged to be the most sensitive documents and took them to the police at the soccer arena. They found his tale highly suspicious. 'Their reaction was like, 'Riiiiiight,'' he said. 'I said, 'Wait a minute, I've done nothing wrong here, I'm just passing on the information.'' A Northumbria Police spokesperson confirmed that the department had received a report on March 16 that potentially confidential documents had been found near the center of Newcastle, and said that they had been given to the Ministry of Defense. When Mr. Gibbard left the soccer match about four hours later, he said, many of the papers were gone, but some remained scattered in the area. 'The timing is quite ironic,' Mr. Gibbard said, pointing to the leaked Signal conversation in the United States. 'I mean, you've got these two powerhouses, the U.K. and America,' who, he said, love to 'brag about how great they are at everything.' If that's true, he added, then 'we're a country that should know how to handle our military paperwork better — same with America.'
The Independent
28-03-2025
- The Independent
Army papers with sensitive information found strewn across Newcastle street
Documents appearing to hold sensitive information from the British armed forces have been found scattered across a city street in Newcastle. The Ministry of Defence is investigating after a passerby picked up piles of papers containing information including army soldier ranks, emails, shift patterns and weapon-issue details. The papers were found by Gateshead man Mike Gibbard, who spotted them spilling out of a black binbag and scattered across a pavement in the Scotswood area of Newcastle on 16 March. He told the BBC it was 'crazy' to have found the documents as he passed by on his way to watch Newcastle United's cup final game against Liverpool. "I peered down and started to see names on bits of papers, and numbers, and I thought 'what's that?'," he told the broadcaster. 'They were piled up against a wall, in a black bag, in the road, underneath cars – spread all the way up the road.' He said he found more documents on the other side of the road and was alarmed by the contents. Mr Gibbard said he asked his wife: "Why is it here? This shouldn't be here, anyone could pick it up." He said the documents appeared to be connected to regiments at Catterick garrison, in North Yorkshire. Mr Gibbard told the BBC he saw 'details of the perimeter, the patrol, checking weapons in and out, requests for leave, mobile phone numbers, high ranking officers'. Some of the information was marked with 'official-sensitive', which is information 'that is not intended for public release'. Government guidance states that the unintended disclosure of official-sensitive information 'can lead to moderate damage (including to the UK's longer-term strategic/economic position) and, in exceptional circumstances, it could lead to a threat to life'. An MOD spokesperson said: 'We take the protection of our information very seriously and this incident is being closely investigated. 'We have rapidly reviewed the information and understand no sensitive operational defence information is contained within the documents.' Mr Gibbard handed the documents over the Northumbria Police, who have since handed them over to the Ministry of Defence. A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: 'Shortly before 3pm on Sunday, March 16, we received a report that potentially confidential documents had been found on Railway Street in the Scotswood area of Newcastle. 'The documents have now been handed to the Ministry of Defence.' Government guidelines recommend that sensitive documents be destroyed using shredders or 'burn bags'. A Number 10 spokesman added: 'The Ministry of Defence is currently looking at documents handed to the police, but the matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the army. 'As you will appreciate, I won't be able to comment on any specifics while that takes place, but you can expect that appropriate action will be taken in response to any potential information breach. 'It's obviously important that that investigation is allowed to take its course.'
The Guardian
28-03-2025
- The Guardian
Papers strewn on Newcastle street feared to be sensitive army documents
The Ministry of Defence has said it is investigating after piles of papers with potentially confidential UK military information were found scattered along a street in Newcastle. The documents reportedly included army soldier ranks, emails, shift patterns and weapon-issue details. Other papers contained information that appeared to relate to an armoury and an intruder-detection system. All of the documents appear to be connected to regiments at Catterick garrison, in North Yorkshire. According to the BBC, the papers were found spilling out of a black binbag in the Scotswood area of Newcastle on 16 March. Photographs show the papers strewn along a pavement and against parked cars. They were spotted by Mike Gibbard, from Gateshead, who was parking his car as he headed to a fanzone to watch Newcastle United's victory over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final. He told the BBC he was shocked by what he saw, describing it as 'crazy'. Gibbard said: 'I peered down and started to see names on bits of papers, and numbers, and I thought, 'What's that?' 'They were piled up against a wall, in a black bag, in the road, underneath cars – spread all the way up the road.' He said he found more documents on the other side of the road and was alarmed by the contents. 'Details of the perimeter, the patrol, checking weapons in and out, requests for leave, mobile phone numbers, high-ranking officers.' He said to his wife: 'This shouldn't be here. Anyone could pick it up.' One document was headed 'armoury keys and hold IDS codes', thought to stand for intruder-detection system. Others contained general medical information and ingredients order sheets. Another document was footnoted with the words 'official – sensitive'. According to government guidance, the unintended disclosure of such documents 'can lead to moderate damage (including to the UK's longer-term strategic/economic position) and, in exceptional circumstances, it could lead to a threat to life'. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The documents were handed in to Northumbria police. A spokesperson for the force said: 'Shortly before 3pm on Sunday, 16 March, we received a report that potentially confidential documents had been found on Railway Street, in the Scotswood area of Newcastle. 'The documents have now been handed to the Ministry of Defence.' In a statement, an MoD spokesperson said: 'We are aware that documentation allegedly relating to the department was recently handed to the police. 'We are looking into this urgently and the matter is the subject of an ongoing investigation by Northumbria police.' Government guidelines recommend that sensitive documents be destroyed using shredders or 'burn bags'.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Secret military papers found scattered on Newcastle street
Secret military papers have been found scattered on a street in Newcastle. The documents contained sensitive information including soldiers' ranks, email addresses, mobile phone numbers and shift patterns. They were discovered spilling out of a black bin bag and onto the surrounding pavement by a passer-by in the Scotswood area of the North East city. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is conducting an internal investigation to 'urgently' look into the security breach. Mike Gibbard, from Gateshead, spotted the papers on his way to a fanzone to watch Newcastle United's Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool on March 16. He said it was 'crazy' to find the documents, which had spilled from the bin bag and spread all down the road underneath several cars. They appear to relate to British Army regiments and barracks at Catterick Garrison. The documents were headed with 'Official - Sensitive' meaning they are not meant for the general public. Government guidance states their 'unintended disclosure or compromise can lead to moderate damage and in exceptional circumstances could lead to a threat to life'. 'I peered down and started to see names on bits of papers and numbers, and I thought, 'what's that?',' Mr Gibbard told the BBC. 'I found a lot more on the other side of the road that wasn't in a bag.' He said he saw details of high ranking officers, the perimeter, patrol, history of weapons being checked in and out, requests for leave and even mobile phone numbers. Mr Gibbard said he asked his wife: 'Why is it here? This shouldn't be here, anyone could pick it up.' The misplaced documents posed a 'significant' threat to the individuals named, according to information security consultant Gary Hibberd. Mr Gibbard reported the find to Northumbria Police, which confirmed the 'potentially confidential documents' had been handed to the MoD. An MoD spokesman said: 'We are looking into this urgently and the matter is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation.' It comes in the same week as a major security leak in the US, where plans for air strikes were discussed by senior officials in a secret chat that was accidentally shared with a reporter. It is also not the first time classified documents have been misplaced on British soil. In 2021, Angus Lapsley left a 50-page secret dossier at a bus stop in Kent. The documents, some of which were marked 'Secret UK Eyes Only', discussed the likely Russian reaction to HMS Defender's passage through Ukrainian waters as part of the Carrier Strike Group's maiden operational voyage. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Secret military papers found scattered on Newcastle street
Secret military papers have been found scattered on a street in Newcastle. The documents contained sensitive information including soldiers' ranks, email addresses, mobile phone numbers and shift patterns. They were discovered spilling out of a black bin bag and onto the surrounding pavement by a passer-by in the Scotswood area of the North East city. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is conducting an internal investigation to 'urgently' look into the security breach. Mike Gibbard, from Gateshead, spotted the papers on his way to a fanzone to watch Newcastle United's Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool on March 16. He said it was 'crazy' to find the documents, which had spilled from the bin bag and spread all down the road underneath several cars. They appear to relate to British Army regiments and barracks at Catterick Garrison. The documents were headed with 'Official - Sensitive' meaning they are not meant for the general public. Government guidance states their 'unintended disclosure or compromise can lead to moderate damage and in exceptional circumstances could lead to a threat to life'. 'I peered down and started to see names on bits of papers and numbers, and I thought, 'what's that?',' Mr Gibbard told the BBC. 'I found a lot more on the other side of the road that wasn't in a bag.' He said he saw details of high ranking officers, the perimeter, patrol, history of weapons being checked in and out, requests for leave and even mobile phone numbers. Mr Gibbard said he asked his wife: 'Why is it here? This shouldn't be here, anyone could pick it up.' The misplaced documents posed a 'significant' threat to the individuals named, according to information security consultant Gary Hibberd. Mr Gibbard reported the find to Northumbria Police, which confirmed the 'potentially confidential documents' had been handed to the MoD. An MoD spokesman said: 'We are looking into this urgently and the matter is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation.' It comes in the same week as a major security leak in the US, where plans for air strikes were discussed by senior officials in a secret chat that was accidentally shared with a reporter. It is also not the first time classified documents have been misplaced on British soil. In 2021, Angus Lapsley left a 50-page secret dossier at a bus stop in Kent. The documents, some of which were marked 'Secret UK Eyes Only', discussed the likely Russian reaction to HMS Defender's passage through Ukrainian waters as part of the Carrier Strike Group's maiden operational voyage.
