Former British soldier jailed for spying for Iran, prison escape

Former British soldier Daniel Khalife has been sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison for espionage on behalf of Iran and escaping from Wandsworth Prison.

Khalife, 23, was convicted of breaching the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act after passing sensitive military information to Tehran, including the names of special forces personnel, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

In September 2023, he fled prison while awaiting trial by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery truck, sparking a nationwide manhunt. He was arrested in London after 75 hours on the run.

Sentencing him at Woolwich Crown Court, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb described Khalife as "a dangerous fool" who had squandered his potential in the military. The court heard he had built ties with Iranian intelligence soon after enlisting in 2018 and was paid in cash for passing on information.

The scale of his espionage remains unclear, as most of his communications were conducted via encrypted messaging. Prosecutors believe he shared classified documents, including details on drones and military surveillance, before attempting to re-establish contact with Iran after his escape.

His jailbreak cost the Metropolitan Police over £250,000 ($309,000) in overtime as 150 officers joined the search. He was eventually detained while riding a stolen bike in north-west London.

Following the verdict, counter-terrorism police warned of the serious threat posed by hostile states such as Iran. 

Note that, soon after Khalife joined the Army in September 2018, he reached out to a man linked to Iranian intelligence on Facebook.

He built a relationship with Iranian contacts and by August 2019 - having been in the Army for less than a year - was sent to collect £1,600 ($2,000) in a dog poo bag in Mill Hill Park, north London.

He then contacted MI6 saying he had been paid by Iran after passing on false information and said he wanted to be a "double agent". Furthermore, he did not reveal he was in the Army - and the intelligence agency ignored him.

However, Khalife's lawyer claimed twice during the trial that this plot was "hapless" and more "Scooby-Doo" than "007".

By Aghakazim Guliyev