A former British soldier who leaked secrets to Iran and then went on the run after staging an audacious prison break has been jailed for more than 13 years. Daniel Khalife, 23, strapped himself to the underside of a food truck and used a pair of kitchen trousers as a makeshift sling to break free from HMP Wandsworth. The incident triggered a major security alert, as hundreds of police officers, helicopters, and dog teams were drafted in for the manhunt.

Khalife lasted more than three days on the run before he was recaptured by police as he wandered along a canal towpath. At the time of the prison break, Khalife was in prison on remand on espionage charges after he was caught leaking confidential information to spy handlers in Iran. He had set up secret ties to the Middle Eastern state, with communication lasting more than two years, after learning that he was unlikely to fulfill his dream of becoming a top level British agent.

At Woolwich crown court on Monday, Khalife was sentenced by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb to 13 years and three months in prison with an extra year on licence after release, branding him an “attention seeker“ and a “dangerous fool“. She said his decision to sign up to the Army at a young age should be “admired“, he had then signed an oath of allegiance to the UK, and had shown signs of being a talented recruit.

“What a shame, then, that starting in May 2019, shortly after completing basic training and joining the Royal Corps of Signals, you spent more than two years in contact with agents of Iran, a country whose interests don’t align with, and at times threaten, those of the UK“, she said. “You were motivated by a personal grievance to betray your colleagues and superiors.“. The judge added that because records have been deleted, it is not possible to know the full extent of information Khalife leaked to Iran.

“You embarked on the course of conduct I have described because of a selfish desire to show off, to achieve by unregulated means what you were told will be difficult for you to achieve by conventional promotion“, she said. “The mere fact that you started on this dangerous and fantastical plan demonstrates your immaturity and lack of wisdom, that you thought it was appropriate to insert yourself – an unauthorised, unqualified and uninformed junior soldier into communication with an enemy state is perhaps the clearest indication of the degree of folly in your failure to understand at the most obvious level the risk you posed.”.

And turning to the prison break, the judge concluded: “You did it because you thought you could. You later boasted that as a soldier you are trained to escape. You were facing trial on grave charges for which you had no real defence.“. She said Khalife had told a psychologist that he “didn’t ever want to be just a number“, and called him an “attention seeker who enjoyed the notoriety you attracted following your escape from prison“.

Khalife, wearing a dark coloured sweater and cream trousers, was flanked by three guards in the dock during his sentencing. The court was told Khalife has been diagnosed with an anti-social personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, and he boasted to a psychologist shortly after his prison escape: “I am different. I don’t belong in any group.“. He now says he accepts his actions were “naive and ill-informed“ while the prison break was “selfish“.

He also apologised for using his Army training to break out of prison, and he declared to a probation officer: “I am not going to let what happened define me.“. Khalife’s jail break made international headlines after he managed to evade guards at the prison to taste freedom and go on the run on September 6, 2023. While on remand, he was given a job in the prison kitchen and footage played at his trial showed the moments leading up to the escape.

Khalife left his cell in the morning and headed to the kitchen to begin his daily duties. Later the same day, a headcount by guards revealed that he had escaped. Balazs Werner was the driver of a Bidfood truck which made a stop at the prison, and he told the court of his surprise at being allowed to leave. He had overheard guards saying that someone was missing, while he noticed that some of the kitchen doors were open.

But he was waved clear after a rudimentary security check, with Khalife clinging to the underside of the vehicle. A driver who was behind the van saw a man in a white T-shirt “drop to the ground and then do a kind of pencil roll” when the vehicle stopped at traffic lights. “When the male got to his feet, I can remember him flicking his fringe back and behaving very calmly”, she said. Khalife went to Mountain Warehouse the same day and was caught on camera stealing a hat. The following day, he was brazenly shopping in M&S in Kew and Sainsbury’s in Hammersmith, while police later collected footage of him drinking a coffee in McDonald’s.