Ex-soldier Daniel Khalife sentenced to 14 years in prison after spying for Iran and escaping from jail – BBC.com
Daniel Khalife has been sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison after spying for Iran and escaping from HMP WandsworthThe judge sentencing Khalife said the ex-British Army soldier “took payment on two occasions and travelled to meet intelligence officers from Iran in Turkey” She said Khalife “recorded a great deal of information”, which included the full names of fellow soldiers, and she was “driven firmly to the conclusion that this was to send to the Iranians”Khalife, who fled Wandsworth Prison in September 2023 – but got caught three days later – was found guilty of breaching the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act in NovemberHe passed information to Iranian agents for cash and told handlers he would stay in the military for more than 25 years for themThis video can not be playedWatch: ‘Dangerous fool’ Khalife sentenced to jailEdited by Owen Amos, with Daniel Sandford reporting from Woolwich Crown CourtThomas MackintoshLive reporterDaniel Khalife after his arrest in September 2023Nearly 18 months ago, Daniel Khalife sparked a UK-wide manhunt when he escaped from Wandsworth Prison, before being arrested three days later on a towpath in west London.Today, the former soldier was jailed at Woolwich Crown Court after being convicted of that escape – but also for offences relating to spying for Iran.In her sentencing remarks, Justice Cheema-Grubb branded Khalife a “dangerous fool” and someone who repeatedly defied his oath of service to the UK.She jailed him for a total of 14 years and three months.We are ending our live coverage of Khalife’s sentencing, but for more about his background, read Daniel Sandford’s detailed piece about the British soldier who spied for Iran and dreamed of fame. Our main news story is here.The Metropolitan Police has welcomed today’s sentence, saying it “reflects the gravity of the offences committed by Khalife”.”The threat to the UK from states such as Iran is very serious, so for a soldier in the Army to be sharing sensitive military material and information with them is extremely reckless and dangerous,” the Metropolitan Police’s Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Counter Terrorism Command, says.Murphy says it was “a combination of fantastic support from the public, along with some brilliant police work, that police were able to find and arrest Khalife after his escape, and make sure he faced justice”.He adds: “This outcome and sentence should serve as a warning to others that the illegal sharing of information in this way will be treated extremely seriously by security services and police, and we will use the full force of the law against those who put the UK’s security at risk.”Before Justice Cheema-Grubb sentenced Khalife to 14 years and three months in prison, she gave her sentencing remarks:This video can not be playedWatch: ‘Dangerous fool’ Khalife sentenced to jailLet’s bring you some final comments from Justice Cheema-Grubb before she passed sentence.Calling Khalife a “a dangerous fool”, she said Khalife handed over “genuine military information” to Iranian handlers.She said Khalife put a sling under the lorry a week before his escape. After that escape, the judge said Khalife did not plan to hand himself in, and she took into account the “anxiety” caused to “thousand of members of the public in the local area”.You have lost the career you were showing some promise for, the judge told Khalife before sentence.”Anyone who is prepared to betray his country and subject soldiers to an increased risk of harm must be punished.”Daniel SandfordReporting from Woolwich Crown CourtThe defendant has been led from court and showed no reaction.Khalife is sentenced to:There was no count 3. It means Khalife is sentenced to 14 years and 3 months, as the sentences will be served consecutively. Justice Cheema-Grubb says Khalife continued to betray the UK and exposed others to possible harm.This included sharing details of personnel which were of “undoubtable value”.”Giving them to an enemy state would have increased risk to them,” the judge says, adding she cannot be sure Khalife did pass them on, but can be sure he obtained them for that reason.She explains this becomes a problem for the Army who cannot use personnel whose data has been exposed in the public domain.”I conclude the level of harm in your case is moderate to high, rather than minimal or most grave.””I must determine your culpability,” says Justice Cheema-Grubb.”In my judgement, you did not start out deliberately with an intention to harm the interests of the UK.”Cheema-Grubb says his conduct was due to a “selfish desire to show off”.”The mere fact you started on this dangerous and fantastical plan demonstrates your immaturity and lack of wisdom.”That Khalife thought it was appropriate to insert himself, as “an unauthorised, unqualified and uninformed junior soldier into communication with an enemy state is the clearest indication of the level of folly” in his failure to understand the risk he posed, the judge continues.If not dismissed from the army, Cheema-Grubb says Khalife would have been a blackmail risk for the entirety of his career.The judge moves on to Khalife’s escape from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023, while working in the prison kitchen.When the daily food delivery lorry arrived, he walked out of the kitchen and strapped himself under the truck. He clung onto the underside of the vehicle using a makeshift sling of bedsheets.He was arrested three days later.The day before his arrest, Khalife did an internet search: “Can a phone be tracked from IMEI?” (a phone tracking ID number).The judge says: “And then [Khalife] sent message [to Iran] stating: I wait.”Justice Cheema-Grubb says that, while on bail after being arrested in 2022 (the year before he tried to escape prison), Khalife remained in contact with Iranian handlers.She says Khalife travelled to an embassy in July hoping to obtain some sort of identity or travel documentation.Some time before 2 January 2023 he went absent without leave from his post and lived in a stolen Army van, the judge says.The court hears Khalife left a letter in his room which said police had more evidence than expected – including a reference to stolen “crypto” – a cryptographic key used to view encrypted files.”The reference to stolen crypto is significant,” the judge says explaining as it shows Khalife gathered information which was passed to Iran.The judge reminds Khalife that in November 2021, he created a document on a USB called “Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe intelligence options”.”I am unable to be sure it was sent,” says the judge. Khalife previously said it was incomplete and unsent.If sent, it could have been “detrimental to efforts to secure release of British citizen,” says the judge.In the same month, Khalife had a conversation with his Iranian handlers. The judge says: “You said you were one of top soldiers in your unit. You added: ‘I am more intelligent that anyone here. I will promote very easily.'”Justice Cheema-Grubb says Khalife accepted another payment of £1,000 in cash in a London cemetery and also made two anonymous phone calls to MI5.He claimed to have been in contact with Iran for over two years and said he wanted to help the UK by maintaining the relationship.Following the second call, he said the relationship had only been for a year and he wanted to put an end to it.Between those calls Khalife was making searches for flights and discussed detailed travel plans to Tehran via Lebanon as he continued to ask Iran what information they wanted.Khalfe continued to collect information during his Army training in Texas, and achieved Nato clearance, says Justice Cheema-Grubb.Again, he photographed screens marked secret. He told police later that, following his return, the Iranian handler was in touch on a weekly basis.”I am sure you sent some of what you recorded to your handlers,” says the judge.By the time his phone was examined, the spreadsheet had been deleted, but he compiled a handwritten list.Later that day, Khalife exploited a security flaw to search for details of personnel, took screenshots which included their full names.Khalife said he did this “to demonstrate there was a security gap”.”You knew the Iranians were interested in the access. I am driven firmly to the conclusion that this was to send to the Iranians – whether you did send it, this is an offence under terrorism act,” says Cheema-Grubb.The judge says it is not possible to know details of everything Khalife provided to his handlers.”The court must draw inferences but not speculate,” she says.Khalife resisted travel to Iran but flew to Istanbul to meet a handler – where he left a package. He has never described what it contained. Later analysed, Khalife’s digital devices did indicate some of the material he was collecting. “You recorded a great deal of information, including photographs of open screens showing information marked secret, and password record sheets and IP addresses,” says the judge.After joining the British Army, Khalife expressed an interest in joining intelligence, but was told by a senior officer he was unlikely to receive the clearance due to his ancestry.He said he tried to establish credible relationship with Iran which he could use as a route in.”Rather than ceasing contact with enemy contacts you persisted,” Justice Cheema-Grubb adds.Justice Cheema-Grubb says in August 2019, when Khalife was 18 years old, after receiving a payment from an Iranian contact, he sent an email to the UK’s MI6.The email, sent anonymously, said he had been contacted five months earlier by Iran to supply it with information.To obtain trust with the Iranian contact Khalife said he had made a fake document.”The reason I agreed to do this is I wanted to work as a double agent,” Khalife wrote in the email.He got no response.The judge tells Khalife that, by the time he initiated this relationship (with Iran), he had been vetted and cleared. Khalife, she says, had access to “a sea of sensitive material”.”The duty of confidentiality you owed would have been drilled into you yet you passed on information…to these agents of an enemy state.”The judge also notes how – on two occasions – Khalife received payment for his services, and that he used the fact his mother is Iranian to seem genuine.Justice Cheema-Grubb starts her summary by saying jurors convicted Khalife back in November, adding that she has read the pre-sentencing report.”When you joined the British Army in 2017 you were two weeks short of your 17th birthday,” the judge says – adding Khalife took an oath to comply with the Official Secrets Act and to put the interests of the UK first.”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,” the judge adds.Justice Cheema-Grubb is now delivering the sentencing remarks at Khalife’s hearing.You can follow along with our updates or watch live at the top of this page – or below.This video can not be playedDaniel Khalife, who escaped from Wandsworth Prison, is sentenced for spying for IranTo watch and listen, you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Daniel Khalife Sentencing. 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