Former soldier Daniel Khalife is being sentenced after he was found guilty of spying for Iran and escaping from a UK prison by clinging to the underside of a delivery truck. The 23-year-old was serving in the British Army when he “exposed military personnel to serious harm” by collecting sensitive information and passing it to agents of the Middle Eastern country. He was paid in cash for the secrets and told handlers he would stay in the military for 25-plus years to spy for them.

In September 2023, Khalife escaped from category B prison HMP Wandsworth, in south-west London, but was caught on a canal towpath by a plainclothes detective days later after a nationwide manhunt. Prosecutors in his trial said Khalife played “a cynical game”, claiming he wanted a career as a double agent to help the British intelligence services, when in fact he gathered “a very large body of restricted and classified material”.

In November, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court found that Khalife had breached the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act. He was cleared of carrying out a bomb hoax and had already admitted during his trial to escaping from Wandsworth prison. Police described Khalife as the “ultimate Walter Mitty character that was having a significant impact on the real world”. Khalife told jurors he wanted to prove bosses wrong after being told his Iranian heritage could stop him working in military intelligence, and came up with his elaborate double agent plot after watching the TV spy thriller Homeland.

This live blog is now closed. She says he was an "unauthorised, unqualified and uninformed junior solider" and failed to understand "at the most obvious level" the risk he posed. "You put yourself in danger two because if you had not been caught and dismissed from the army, you would have been a blackmail risk for the entirety of your career," she adds. "However, the greater mischief for your offending is that having to engage any response from the intelligence services of the United Kingdom, you continued betraying your country and exposed others to the possibility of harm.".

For breaching the Official Secrets Act, he was given six years in prison. For breaching the Terrorism Act, he was given six years in prison. For escaping HMP Wandsworth, he was jailed for two years. Khalife was told he must serve all of his sentences one after the other and not at the same time. A former soldier who spied for Iran and handed over military secrets before escaping from HMP Wandsworth has been jailed.

Daniel Abed Khalife was serving in the British Army when he “exposed military personnel to serious harm” by collecting sensitive information and passing it to agents of the Middle Eastern country for cash. He told his trial he wanted a career as a double agent to help the British intelligence services. But prosecutors proved he was playing a “a cynical game”. Daniel Khalife has been jailed for a total of 14 years and three months.

"You had the makings of an exemplary soldier, instead you were a dangerous fool," the judge said. The judge said: "In my judgement you did not start out intentionally to harm the interests of the United Kingdom." She added that he acted "because of a selfish desire to show off". She added that his "dangerous and fantastical plan demonstrates your immaturity". The Judge has told Khalife that his escape from prison can lead to a life sentence.

Khalife had fake intelligence about then Iranian hostage Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. The judge said she could not be sure whether his fabricated intelligence file was sent to the Iranians, but she added it would have been detrimental to efforts to secure the mother-of-one's release. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said she had “no doubt” that Khalife had used the fact that his mother is Iranian to gain the trust of his contacts.

She added: "You compiled a list of 15 soldiers.". He took screenshots of people's full names and these were sergeants with at least 10 years of service each. The judge said: "The handwritten list was in a folder you admitted sending to the Iranian handlers. "Whether or not you did send it, this is a very serious act," the judge added. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb is speaking directly to Khalife. She said: "When you joined the British Army in 2017 you were two weeks short of your 17th birthday.

"What a shame shortly after basic training you spent more than two years in contact with agents of Iran, a country whose interest do not align with UK. "You were prepared to travel to meet Iranian handlers. You flew to Istanbul to meet them. You told them you left a package for them in Turkey. You recored a great deal of information and took photos of items marked secret. You took photographs when you were not permitted to take photographs.