Escaped former soldier Daniel Khalife found guilty of spying for Iran

28 November 2024, 11:09 | Updated: 28 November 2024, 12:16

A jury has found former soldier Daniel Khalife, who escaped from prison by clinging to the underside of a delivery van, guilty of spying for Iran.

Appearing at Woolwich Crown Court, the 23-year-old former soldier, who was a lance corporal in the Royal Signals, was cleared of a separate charge of carrying out a bomb hoax.

Khalife was found to have collated and passed on classified documents, military communications and information about soldiers to Iranian authorities over a period of more than two years.

The jury's decision followed 23 hours of deliberation, with Khalife convicted of breaching the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act.

The former soldier pleaded guilty to escaping from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023 part way through his trial.

Khalife sparked a manhunt in September last year after escaping from HMP Wandsworth in south London while on remand for the spying charges, clinging to the underside of a food delivery lorry with homemade straps as he made his escape.

He was being held in the Category B prison accused of handing secret information and passing it to Iranian intelligence, including a list of soldiers serving in the SAS.

During the trial, Khalife told the court how he had wanted to "prove himself" to British intelligence by becoming a double-agent, working with an Iranian "handler".

Read more: Ex-British soldier Daniel Khalife left 'dodgy' device at barracks in bomb hoax plot, court hears

Read more: CCTV footage shows ex-soldier Daniel Khalife change clothes in McDonald's after 'prison escape'

However, his own lawyer described how the escapee carried out a "hapless and slapstick" spying mission that resembled a "Scooby Doo sketch".

The former British soldier was accused of passing secret information to Iran after fleeing his barracks, alongside leaving a “dodgy” device on his desk which fellow soldiers thought was "a makeshift bomb", the court previously heard.

Daniel Khalife pleads not guilty to escaping custody at HMP Wandsworth

Appearing in court to hear the jury's verdict, Khalife wore a blue shirt and pale trousers, calmly replacing his glasses as the verdicts were read out. His face showed no emotion.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, who presided over the case, thanked jurors for their work.

During the trial, the court heard how the bomb disposal unit confirmed the silver coloured gas canisters held together with green tape were not dangerous after setting up a 100-metre cordon around the device.

The former soldier allegedly fled the barracks after realising he would face criminal charges over allegations he passed classified information to Iran's intelligence service.

Prosecutors say Khalife prepared the hoax to delay the search for him but he was ultimately found and arrested on January 26 in the town of Stone, not far from his barracks, the court heard.

CCTV shown to jury shows Daniel Khalife wandering through west London

The court was shown CCTV footage of Khalife's escape from HMP Wandsworth during the trial, after he was held on spying charges.

CCTV images tracked the ex-soldier's journey, with the jury shown a trolley which Khalife was said to have hidden in, to the BidFood lorry he clung to as he made his escape.

Further footage showed Khalife shopping at Marks & Spencer, stealing a hat from Mountain Warehouse and entering a McDonald's where he drank coffee and changed his clothes during his time on the run.

The court heard how he stayed in a stolen Ford Transit van during his time on the run, which was later found to contain a camp bed, around £20,000, and notes professing that he wished to defect to Iran.

His efforts led the Met to admit he had shown “ingenuity” before he was recaptured on a stretch of the River Thames in west London on September 9, 2023.

Body cam footage showed the former solder sitting on the riverbank after being tackled by police, with the escapee even offering up a congratulations to the arresting officer.

Following the verdict, Bethan David, Head of the Counter Terrorism Division at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “As a serving soldier of the British Army Daniel Khalife was employed and entrusted to uphold and protect the national security of this country. But, for purposes of his own, 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.

“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. 

“It is against the law to collate and share secret and sensitive information for a purpose against the interests of the United Kingdom.

"Such hostile and illegal activities jeopardise the national security of the United Kingdom, and the CPS will always seek to prosecute anyone that carries out counter state threats.”