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former British a soldier whose daring escape from a London prison prompted a multi-day manhunt was convicted of espionage on Thursday Iran.
Daniel Khalife, 23, was found guilty by a jury of Woolwich Crown Court on the breach of the British Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act by collecting information useful to the enemy — Iran.
He was acquitted of planting fake bombs in his military barracks.
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Prosecutors said Khalifa played a “cynical game” by claiming he wanted to be a spy after providing Iran’s intelligence service with a large amount of restricted and classified material, including the names of special forces officers.
Khalife testified that he had been in contact with people in the Iranian government, but that it was all part of a ruse to ultimately work as a double agent for Britain, a plan he developed while watching a TV show Country.
“I wanted to use my experience to advance our national security,” he told jurors.
Lawyer Gul Nawaz Hussein said Khalife’s aspirations to be a James Bond character were naive, stupid and bordering on slapstick.
He said his client is more “Scooby Doo” than “007.”
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Despite what appeared to be an amateur disagreement, Cmdr. Dominic Murphy, head of counter-terrorism at the Metropolitan Police, said Khalifa was a danger.
“He’s the ultimate Walter Mitty character who has had a significant impact in the real world,” Murphy said, referring to the fictional character in James Thurber’s short story about a meek proofreader who dreams of daring escapes.
“We know very well the threat the Iranians pose to the UK’s national security,” Murphy said, noting that UK authorities had foiled 20 plots, including assassination plots.
Khalife’s court case did not receive much attention until he escaped from a London prison in September 2023 and went on the run for three days.
Khalife was working in the kitchen at Wandsworth Prison, south London, when he tied himself to the bottom of a delivery truck and was wheeled to freedom. He was eventually caught in the canal after an extensive search.
A Victorian-era prison break exposed much wider weaknesses with the nation’s aging and overcrowded prison system. An investigation is currently underway into how Khalifa managed to escape and whether others helped him.
During the trial, Khalifa pleaded guilty to the escape but continued to dispute the espionage charges.
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Khalife faces a “long prison sentence” when he is sentenced after the New Year.
Khalife joined the army at the age of 16 and was assigned to the Royal Corps of Signals, a communications unit deployed with troops on the battlefield as well as special forces and intelligence squads.
He was told that he could not join the intelligence service because his mother was from Iran.
At age 17, he reached out to a man connected to Iran’s intelligence service and began passing on information, prosecutors said. He received a secret NATO security clearance when he participated in a joint exercise at Fort Cavazos, Texas, in early 2021.
British security officials were unaware of Khalife’s contacts with the Iranians until he contacted MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service, to offer to work as a double agent.
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He approached MI6 anonymously, saying he had gained the trust of his Iranian guides and was rewarded by leaving $2,000 cash ($3,000) in a dog poo bag in a north London park.
Khalife said most of the material he gave his Iranian handlers was information he had invented or information available online and did not reveal military secrets.
But prosecutors said some of the military documents were authentic and used evidence from Khalife’s cellphones, notes he wrote to himself and surveillance footage to show he collected and shared classified information. They also discovered he had traveled to Turkey to meet with a contact.
“He surreptitiously sought and obtained copies of classified and sensitive information he knew to be protected and passed them on to individuals he believed were acting on behalf of the Iranian state,” said Bethan David of the Crown Prosecution Service.
“The sharing of information could have exposed military personnel to serious injury or danger to life, and compromised the safety and security of the United Kingdom.”
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