Daniel Khalife found guilty of spying for Iran after ‘collecting list of special forces soldiers’
Ex-soldier Daniel Khalife has been found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court earlier today.
He was found guilty of spying for Iran after he collected a list of special forces soldiers, the court heard.
Although his offence breached the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act, the jury acquitted Khalife of perpetrating a bomb hoax after 23 hours of deliberation.
The former soldier pleaded guilty during his trial to escaping from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023, which led to a nationwide manhunt for the now convicted spy.
Daniel Khalife’s actions risked military personnel’s lives and “prejudiced” Britain’s national security, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
The CPS’ Bethan David 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.”
She said that he “surreptitiously sought out and obtained copies of secret and sensitive information” which he knew to be protected, passing the information onto those suspected of working for the Iranian state.
She added: “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.”
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The prosecution used mobile phone evidence, notes written by the defendant, as well as CCTV footage to piece together their case, showing that Khalife collected and shared classified information for hundreds of pounds.
He even travelled to Turkey to conduct part of his dealings.
“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,” she added.
Prosecutors told jurors that Khalife played “a cynical game”, arguing that he wanted a career as a double agent to support the work of British Intelligence Services, while he actually was working to gather “a very large body of restricted and classified material”.
As the verdict was being read out and the judge thanked the jurors for their work, Khalife, wearing a blue shirt and pale trousers, replaced his glasses without any emotion.