Daniel Khalife found guilty of spying for Iran after admitting prison escape

Daniel Khalife has been found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court of spying for Iran but cleared of carrying out a bomb hoax.

The former soldier, 23, had already admitted escaping from prison, and stood accused of collecting secret information and passing it to agents of the Middle Eastern country.

He escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south-west London in September 2023 by clinging underneath a food delivery truck.

He believed he should be an agent for army intelligence but claimed he was turned down by his superiors because of his family heritage, the court was told.

Khalife decided to work for the Middle East terrorist state in revenge and collected £1,500 in a dog poo bag from his handlers just months after he joined the Royal Corps of Signals in 2019.

He spent more than two years passing them information, which he obtained at Stafford Barracks and while deployed at Fort Cavazosn in Texas.

His escape sparked a nationwide manhunt after he used bedsheets to strap himself to the underside of the food lorry.

Prison guards had searched the truck but did not spot him underneath.

Three days later he was recaptured riding a stolen bike riding along a canal towpath in Chiswick, London.

Khalife had insisted he was acting as an unofficial double agent and was trying to expose his handlers.

His actions could have put military personnel’s lives at risk and “prejudiced” the UK’s national security, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Bethan David, from the CPS, said: “Daniel Khalife used his employment to undermine national security.

“He surreptitiously sought out and obtained copies of secret and sensitive information which he knew were protected and passed these on to individuals he believed to be acting on behalf of the Iranian state.

“The sharing of the information could have exposed military personnel to serious harm, or a risk to life, and prejudiced the safety and security of the United Kingdom.”

She said the prosecution was able to use mobile phone evidence, notes written by Khalife himself and CCTV footage to piece together and demonstrate that Khalife had gathered and shared much of this classified information, accepted hundreds of pounds for his efforts and even travelled to Turkey as part of his unlawful conduct.

Much of the information he passed on was worthless and could be found online but he also make a handwritten list of soldiers working for special forces which he gave to his handlers.

He used the Army’s system for booking annual leave to search for and access information about his colleagues, the court heard.

Prosecutors had accused him of causing a bomb scare in January 2023 when he allegedly taped canisters with wires hanging out of them on his desk in his accommodation at MoD Stafford.