Former soldier Daniel Khalife found guilty of spying for Iran after prison escape

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

The jury convicted Khalife, 23, of breaching the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act, after 23 hours of deliberation, but he was acquitted of perpetrating a bomb hoax. He pleaded guilty part way through his trial to escaping from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023.

Khalife’s 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: “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.

READ MORE:Daniel Khalife trial hears 'how ex-soldier escaped from prison'

“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.”

Khalife, wearing a blue shirt and pale trousers, calmly replaced his glasses as the verdicts were read out, and did not show any emotion. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb thanked jurors for their work.

Khalife escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south London while on remand by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry on the morning of September 6 2023.

Skye Vokings, who was driving through Wandsworth at the time, said she saw a man appear from under the vehicle wearing a “white T-shirt” and “pale pink gloves”. The truck had stopped at a set of traffic lights on Trinity Road when the man appeared from under it, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

“I saw the male roll out from underneath,” she said in a written statement read to jurors. “I saw him drop to the ground and then do a kind of pencil roll.”

He then “walked slowly and casually towards the nearest pavement… I remember him flicking his fringe back and behaving very casually as if nothing had happened. I had to wait for him to walk out of my way. I did not see what direction he walked in.”

The woman’s flatmate later contacted the police on her behalf, the court heard.

Khalife was arrested on a canal towpath in west London on September 9 2023 with a number of items including a mountain bike, a Waitrose bag with a phone, receipts, a diary and about £200 in notes, the jury was told.