Ex-GCHQ employee tried to kill NSA security worker

An ex-UK intelligence worker has pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a US government employee who worked at a British base with him.

Joshua Bowles, 29, stabbed the woman, who worked for the United States National Security Agency while based at GCHQ, multiple times.

The incident happened about three miles from GCHQ's Cheltenham base, in a leisure centre car park, on 9 March.

Bowles appeared at the Old Bailey by videolink from Belmarsh Prison.

The woman, who was referred to in court as 99230, was based at GCHQ, the UK's intelligence, security and cyber agency, at the same time as Bowles, who was investigated by counter-terror police.

As well as attempted murder, he also admitted a charge of assault for punching a man, Alex Fuentes, who tried to intervene during the attack, causing him actual bodily harm.

Nick Price, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said: "This extremely violent attack against two innocent people was completely unprovoked."

Prosecutor, Emma Gargitter, told the court that Bowles stopped working at GCHQ in late 2022.

From the beginning of 2023 he started conducting reconnaissance on the victim, including using the internet, the court heard.

Bowles, Welwyn Mews, Cheltenham, discovered that she sometimes played netball at a leisure centre on Tommy Taylor's Lane.