London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

UK seeking return of Kevin Spacey from US to face sexual assault charges

UK seeking return of Kevin Spacey from US to face sexual assault charges

Exclusive: Formal extradition is to be pursued if actor fails to come back to the country voluntarily
British authorities are pursuing the return of Kevin Spacey from the US to face sexual assault charges.

An official familiar with the process told the Guardian the UK would seek the actor’s formal extradition unless he decided to come back voluntarily.

The international criminality directorate, a special Home Office unit, will act on behalf of police and prosecutors. Experts in extradition say US police may soon be sent to find Spacey, 62, and detain him on behalf of British authorities.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced on Thursday that it had authorised four charges of sexual assault against Spacey relating to alleged attacks against three males between 2005 and 2013, after an investigation by the Metropolitan police.

Pursuing formal extradition could take many months. Nick Vamos, a former head of extradition at the CPS, said US Department of Justice officials would study papers sent from the UK. They would have to be satisfied there was “probable cause” the offences may have been committed. If so, police officers would be instructed to locate and detain Spacey.

“They will be under an obligation to arrest him,” Vamos said. “The US Department of Justice will task US marshals to find Mr Spacey and take him to a federal court. He always had the option of surrendering and not contesting extradition.”

Vamos, now in private practice, said Spacey could be extradited in weeks if he does not contest extradition and months if he does. He said the US system made it harder to resist an extradition request than in Britain.

He also said Spacey would have greater protections if he were formally extradited than if he simply flew back to the UK voluntarily. Only the charges agreed by a US court could be brought against him in Britain, for example.

Spacey’s return would not necessarily mean he had to stay here for the months or years the case might take to get to court, Vamos said. He could be granted permission to return to the US to work as long as a British court believed promises given that he would return to face trial.

“If he comes back to the UK he could get a bail package that allows him to return to the US,” Vamos said.

Spacey cannot be formally be charged until he returns to Britain, but British police have said the charges relate to alleged attacks against three males in London and Gloucestershire.

Two are alleged to involve a man now aged in his 40s in March 2005, and another a man who is now in his 30s in August 2008. Spacey is also alleged to have caused the latter to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. These alleged attacks all took place in London. The actor is also alleged to have sexually assaulted a male now in his 30s in Gloucestershire in April 2013.

Spacey was artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, following acclaim and awards for an acting career during which he was hailed as one of the most skilled actors of his generation.

He won a best supporting actor for his role as Roger “Verbal” Kint in the Usual Suspects in 1996, and four years later won best actor for his lead role in American Beauty. He also starred in acclaimed films such as LA Confidential and went on the make the political drama House of Cards for Netflix.

Spacey has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×