Daniel Khalife: Ex-soldier guilty of spying for Iran and prison break jailed for 14 years

Daniel Khalife escaped from class B situation HMP Wandsworth, successful south-west London, by clinging to the underside of a nutrient transportation motortruck portion helium awaited proceedings for spying allegations

A erstwhile soldier who spied for Iran and handed implicit subject secrets earlier escaping from HMP Wandsworth has been jailed.

Daniel Abed Khalife was serving successful the British Army when helium “exposed subject unit to superior harm” by collecting delicate accusation and passing it to agents of the Middle Eastern state for cash. He told his proceedings helium wanted a vocation arsenic a treble cause to assistance the British quality services. But prosecutors proved helium was playing a “a cynical game”.

In September 2023, Khalife escaped from class B situation HMP Wandsworth, successful south-west London, by clinging to the underside of a nutrient transportation motortruck and was caught connected a canal towpath by a plainclothes detective days later, aft a nationwide manhunt was launched.

Jurors astatine Woolwich Crown Court recovered that Khalife had breached the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act. He was cleared of carrying retired a weaponry hoax and had already admitted to escaping from Wandsworth during his trial. Now, Khalife has been sentenced to 14 years and 3 months, to beryllium served consecutively, and was remanded into contiguous custody. Khalife was besides ordered to wage £10,000 towards tribunal costs.

Speaking to Khalife astatine Woolwich Crown Court during sentencing, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said it was a “shame” that the erstwhile worker had spent 2 years successful interaction with agents of Iran aft joining the service astatine a commendably young age. The justice had praised Daniel Khalife's determination to articulation the service astatine a young property arsenic an "impressive enactment of commitment".

She told Khalife: "What a shame, then, that starting successful May 2019, soon aft you had completed your basal training... you spent much than 2 years successful interaction with agents of Iran, a state whose interests bash not align with and astatine times endanger those of the United Kingdom." She said that the sentencing of Khalife would enactment arsenic a method of "deterring others from akin behaviour indispensable beryllium the superior purpose of sentence".

She continued: “You embarked connected the people of behaviour I person described due to the fact that of a selfish tendency to amusement off, to execute by unregulated means what you were told volition beryllium hard for you to execute by accepted promotion.

“The specified information that you started connected this unsafe and fantastical program demonstrates your immaturity and deficiency of wisdom, that you thought it was due to insert yourself – an unauthorised, unqualified and uninformed inferior worker into connection with an force authorities is possibly the clearest denotation of the grade of folly successful your nonaccomplishment to recognize astatine the astir evident level the hazard you posed.”

Police described Khalife arsenic the “ultimate Walter Mitty quality that was having a important interaction connected the existent world”. He joined the Army successful 2018, 2 weeks earlier his 17th birthday, and served with the Royal Corps of Signals. In 2021, Khalife secretly gathered the names of serving soldiers, including those successful the peculiar forces.

He took a photograph of a handwritten database of 15 of them, having been sent an interior spreadsheet of promotions successful June 2021. Prosecutors believed helium sent the database to Iran earlier deleting immoderate evidence.

After his arrest, helium told constabulary helium had wanted to connection himself to UK information agencies each along, having emailed MI6 arsenic aboriginal arsenic 2019. Khalife told jurors helium wanted to beryllium bosses incorrect aft being told his Iranian practice could halt him moving successful subject intelligence, and came up with his elaborate treble cause crippled aft watching the TV spy thriller Homeland.

In November 2021, helium made an anonymous telephone to the MI5 nationalist reporting line, confessing to having been successful interaction with Iran for much than 2 years. He offered to assistance the British information services, and said helium wanted to instrumentality to his mean life.

Khalife claimed that helium wanted to flush retired Iranian spies moving successful the UK, but did not negociate to stitchery immoderate grounds against them. “I was reasoning I could beryllium James Bond oregon something, similar an idiot,” helium told his trial. Defending Khalife during his trial, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC said the treble cause crippled was “hapless” and “sometimes bordering connected the slapstick”, much Scooby-Doo than James Bond oregon Homeland.

Prosecutors said Khalife prepared a weaponry hoax astatine his Staffordshire barracks successful January 2023, but the proceedings heard however a worker who arrived successful the country pulled wires retired of the instrumentality to beryllium it was not real. A weaponry disposal portion was called aft constabulary attended and looked astatine the instrumentality respective days later.

Speaking aft helium was recovered guilty, an quality adept told the Mirror however Khalife whitethorn person been forced to divert from his archetypal program pursuing flight from situation - oregon whitethorn person had nary program astatine all

Asked if the fugitive had perchance been spooked by however hard it would beryllium to question connected nationalist transport owed to dense constabulary patrols, and changed his plan, Mr Ingram said: "He mightiness person done. [But] 5 miles successful a built up city, there’s a immense magnitude of areas helium tin fell in. And a immense fig of areas helium tin fell successful plain sight.

"Compared to accidental 5 miles successful an unfastened countryside environment. The information helium lone moved a fewer miles from the prison, I wouldn’t work excessively overmuch into that. He would person wanted to spell to crushed determination until each the furore died down earlier helium made immoderate bigger moves. And intelligibly that’s what helium did oregon was trying to do."

He went connected to accidental it is apt Khalife was "working connected the rule that moving continuously would marque it harder for them to find me". However, helium added: "He whitethorn not person had a due program and it got to the constituent wherever helium was bare and was conscionable going to effort find immoderate nutrient oregon determination elsewhere."

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