Court docket says Khalife, who beforehand escaped from jail, handed data to ‘enemy state’ for greater than two years.
A former British soldier who sparked a manhunt after escaping from jail earlier than his trial has been sentenced by a court docket in the UK to 14 years for spying for Iran.
A choose at Woolwich Crown Court docket in southeast London mentioned on Monday that Daniel Khalife, 23, had launched into a “harmful and fantastical plan” that concerned passing delicate data to Iranian intelligence for money.
Khalife was convicted in November of espionage and “terrorism” fees in addition to for escaping jail in 2023.
The ex-soldier, whose mom is Iranian, gathered data over a two-and-a-half-year interval whereas posted within the UK and United States, together with the names of elite particular forces personnel, earlier than being arrested and charged in 2023.
“The mere reality that you just began on this harmful and fantastical plan demonstrates your immaturity and lack of knowledge,” mentioned Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb.
Prosecutors accused Khalife of enjoying a “cynical sport”, getting in touch with a person linked to Iranian intelligence after becoming a member of the British military.
Khalife had mentioned he was a patriot and had contacted each the UK’s MI6 and MI5 intelligence providers about his contacts, saying he needed to be a “double agent”. He had mentioned he and his household hated the Iranian authorities.
He was discharged from the armed forces after he was charged.
Khalife additionally admitted escaping from London’s Wandsworth Jail in September 2023 whereas awaiting trial for the opposite fees. He tied himself to the underside of a supply van, sparking a nationwide manhunt earlier than he was caught days later.
The previous soldier, who grew up in southwest London, joined the military in 2018 aged 16.
Cheema-Grubb mentioned she had “little question” that Khalife used his Iranian heritage to realize the belief of his contacts.
In the course of the trial, jurors had been proven {a photograph} from Khalife’s telephone of a handwritten record he had manufactured from 15 troopers, together with their service quantity, rank, initials, surname and unit.
The small print of particular forces personnel was “undoubtedly beneficial, and giving them to an enemy state would have very considerably elevated the chance to them and to their operational effectiveness”, the choose mentioned.
Khalife allegedly remained in touch with Iranian handlers whereas posted to Fort Hood, Texas within the US between February and April 2021, when he was given the second-highest degree of NATO safety clearance, one under “cosmic prime secret”.
He additionally travelled to Turkiye to fulfill his Iranian handlers, and twice collected cash in change for data, in response to authorities.
Khalife argued the paperwork he handed to his Iranian handler had been ineffective, being both publicly obtainable, or ones he created himself.
His lawyer Gul Nawaz Hussain, who drew a distinction between “007 and Scooby Doo” by way of Khalife’s capacity and actions, mentioned that he was not pushed by malice, greed, non secular fervour or ideological conviction.
“Had he been a real spy, he wouldn’t have behaved as he did,” Hussain mentioned.
