Border Force officer and Hong Kong trade official jailed for spying for China

Peter Wai, who carried out surveillance on dissidents, was criticised by the judge for his ‘sense of entitlement’. Photograph: Lucy North/PA

A UK Border Force officer and a Hong Kong trade official based in London have been jailed for spying for China in the first such conviction in British criminal history.

Peter Wai, who conducted “shadow policing” operations on Chinese dissidents in the UK, was sentenced to 10 years, while his handler, Bill Yuen, received an eight-year term.