DOUBLE AGENT
Soldier Daniel Khalife who fled prison while clinging to bottom of food van is GUILTY of spying for Iran
Watch how fugitive made his daring escape from jail before going on shopping spree
A FORMER soldier who escaped Wandsworth prison under a food van has been found guilty of spying for Iran.
Daniel Khalife was in contact with Iranian security service members within just one month of joining the Royal Corps of Signals.
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The 23-year-old used fake email addresses for the espionage and sent details about SAS and SBS personnel to his handlers.
Khalife left material in public locations in exchange for cash in an old-fashioned spy tactic known as the "dead drop".
His first payment of £1,500 was left in a dog poo bag for him to collect in August 2019.
Khalife also made a second £1,000 cash pick-up from Kensal Green Cemetery in October 2021.
Read more on the case
He has now been convicted of spying for Iran but cleared of perpetrating a bomb hoax at his barracks in January 2023.
While being held at HMP Wandsworth for his crimes, Khalife used bed sheets to strap himself to the underside of a food delivery truck.
Footage showed him leaving his cell on September 6 last year as he pulled a catering trolley for his kitchen duty shift.
A white Mercedes sprinter van was then seen parked outside the Category B prison in South West London.
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As it pulls away, Khalife was left holding on to the underside using the makeshift sling.
He then "pencil rolled" away from the lorry before heading on a shopping spree across London, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
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A huge nationwide hunt was launched amid fears Khalife had fled to Iran.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Scotland Yard's SO15, which investigates state threats, said: "It's fair to say in the first 24 hours, probably up to 36 hours, we had no idea where he was.
"He could have been anywhere."
Khalife was eventually arrested four days after he fled prison on the footpath of the Grand Union Canal in Northolt, West London.
In this time, he had picked up a baseball cap from a Mountain Warehouse and was captured strolling leisurely through Richmond.
The soldier managed to change his wardrobe multiple times while on the loose and even brazenly purchased a newspaper that had a front page story about his escape.
Khalife is a buffoon - so how did he get away with his spying for two years?
By Mike Sullivan, Crime Editor
In a rare moment of self-awareness, Daniel Khalife admitted in court he had behaved like an idiot.
Unfortunately, he proved to be a useful idiot for Iran and an embarrassment to British intelligence, police, the Army and particularly the prison service.
Khalife maintained that while he had offered to spy for Iran, in reality he was acting from misguided patriotism and wanted to be a double agent.
His stated ambition was to be James Bond - though his lawyer dismissed Khalife’s efforts as more "Scooby-Doo" than "007.”
This contrasts with the opinion of Met Commander Dominic Murphy, who says Khalife caused significant damage to national security.
If so, then why was Khalife left on bail for a year after his initial arrest over spying claims?
Khalife brought that on himself after getting in touch with MI5 and MI6 to reveal he was in communication with Iranian agents.
His first attempt to contact MI5 failed as their public alert line was only open from 9 to 5!
Even when he was arrested two months later, the Army still allowed him to remain in post with the Signals corps until he went AWOL a year later.
He was finally charged after being captured three weeks later living in a van six miles from his base. Hardly public enemy number one.
Most of the material Khalife handed over to his Iranian handler was already in the public domain or fabricated.
But he did shamefully pass on details of SAS and SBS personnel and he also travelled to Istanbul to meet with enemy agents.
What he handed over to them there is unlikely to ever be known though it’s unlikely he would have gone empty-handed.
Khalife deserves to be jailed for the abuse of his position alone.
But I hope the judge does not decide to take the best years of his life away.
Khalife is arrogant, egotistical and grossly irresponsible - but he is no Kim Philby.
It makes it all the more concerning how such a buffoon was able to hand over material to Iranians for two years undetected.
Khalife was clearly psychologically unfit to have ever been allowed in the Army in the first place.
Yet even when he was flagged up as a security risk, it appears the rogue soldier was not taken seriously by the authorities.
Serious questions now need to be asked over how that was allowed to happen to ensure nothing like it occurs again.
During a police interview, the former soldier said he "f***ed up" his body underneath the truck.
He also said he did not realise how "unbelievably dangerous" it was until the vehicle turned on to a main road where the speed limit increased.
Asked why he had allegedly escaped, Khalife replied: "Can't tell you.
"There's a reason why I was so calm when the officer arrested me.
"I could have jumped in the water, I could have f***ed him up.
"Everything's gone to plan."
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The former squaddie, who was brought up in Kingston, South West London, by his Iranian mum, joined the Army in September 2018 - two weeks before his 17th birthday.
But prosecutor Mark Heywood KC said he had "no real intention to simply get his head down" and instead his motives moved towards espionage.
In April 2019, Khalife first made contact with Iran - just weeks after he passed his security clearance.
Messages showed by August 2020, he was willing to gather information "to order, for as long as they wanted" while posted with the 16th Signal Regiment in Stafford.
He told a contact saved as David Smith: "I need to go to your supervisor and ask what specific regiment or sector you're interested in."
That same month, he travelled to Istanbul on instructions from David Smith, who told him to disguise the trip as a holiday.
Khalife used Telegram to indicate he had left a package for his handlers, the court heard.
Mr Heywood said Khalife's plan was to go from Turkey to Iran but he did not cross the border.
He was posted to Fort Hood in Texas between February and April 2021 and stayed in contact with his Iranian handlers.
The court heard he took a series of screenshots of systems marked "Secret" - including a password record sheet.
In April that year, Khalife was granted the second highest level of Nato security, one below "cosmic top secret".
Just two months later, he took a photo of a handwritten list of 15 soldiers - including some serving in the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS).
At one point, Khalife contacted MI6 saying he wanted to be a "double agent" and later told police his contact with the Iranians was all a double bluff, the court was told.
In his evidence, he claimed he was a "patriot", adding: "I wasn't thinking very straight.
"To be honest with you I was thinking I could be James Bond or something, like an idiot."
His own lawyer Gul Nawaz Hussain KC claimed his "hapless" double agent plot was more "Scooby-Doo" than "007”.
Khalife was convicted of breaching the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act after 23 hours of deliberation.
He pleaded guilty to escaping from Wandsworth mid-way through his trial.
Commander Murphy branded Khalife "the ultimate Walter Mitty character" following the verdict.
He added: "I think he probably enjoyed the thrill of the deception throughout.
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"It's impossible to disentangle his ego, the fantasy life that he created for himself, the money that he earned, his allegiance in whatever form it might be to Iran and his lack of consideration for the damage he was doing here."
Khalife has been remanded into custody to be sentenced at a later date.
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