UK ex-soldier who escaped from prison found guilty of helping Iran, terrorism offence

By Sam Tobin

A British soldier was found guilty on Thursday of collecting sensitive information for people linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and gathering the names of special forces personnel.

Daniel Abed Khalife collected sensitive information between May 2019 and January 2022, prosecutor Mark Heywood told jurors at the start of the trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

Khalife, who was discharged from the armed forces after he was charged, was also accused of leaving a fake bomb on a desk before absconding from his barracks in January 2023.

He then escaped from London's Wandsworth prison in September 2023 while awaiting trial for the other charges, tying himself to the bottom of a delivery van and sparking a brief nationwide manhunt.

The 23-year-old stood trial charged with gathering information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iran – which is an offence under the Official Secrets Act, and with obtaining information likely to be useful for terrorism and with a bomb hoax.

He denied all the charges, pleading guilty during his evidence to escaping from prison, and said he wanted to be a "double agent" for the British intelligence services.

Khalife said he was a patriot and that he and his family hated the Iranian government. "Me and my family are against the regime in Iran," he told the jury.

Khalife was found guilty of the charges under the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act by a jury after more than 23 hours of deliberation. He was found not guilty of perpetrating a bomb hoax.

'WALTER MITTY CHARACTER'

Prosecutors said Khalife picked up around 1,500 pounds ($2,000) in 2019 on instructions from his handler and, two weeks later, anonymously emailed Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service, saying he wanted "to work as a double agent".

Heywood told the jury that Khalife, who joined the army shortly before his 17th birthday, had almost immediately begun "to entertain thoughts about espionage".

Khalife, however, said he was a patriot and had been "devastated" when he was told that his Iranian heritage meant he was unlikely to be granted clearance to work in intelligence.

He also said the documents he passed to his Iranian handler were useless, being either publicly available or created by Khalife himself.

Police described Khalife as a fantasist and amateurish in his approach, but said he had a serious adverse impact on British interests.

"He is, I think, the ultimate Walter Mitty character," Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said, referring to a fictional character who has fantastic day dreams.

"The problem is, he's a Walter Mitty character that was having an extremely significant impact in the real world."