A former army soldier has been convicted of gathering classified information for the benefit of Iran and later escaping prison.
Daniel Khalife, 23, collated and passed on classified documents, military communications and information about soldiers to Iranian authorities over more than two years.
In his possession was also a document he had created with personal details of special forces soldiers.
Khalife claimed his activities amounted to a ‘double bluff’ in acting for Iran simply in an attempt to showcase his use as a double agent to British security agencies, but he was convicted today at Woolwich Crown Court following a trial.
He was found guilty of committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, and eliciting information about members of the armed forces. He was found not guilty of perpetrating a bomb hoax. He pleaded guilty part-way through his trial to escaping Wandsworth Prison.
Bethan David, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “As a serving soldier of the British Army Daniel Khalife was employed and entrusted to uphold and protect the national security of this country. But, for purposes of his own, Daniel Khalife, used his employment to undermine national security.
“He surreptitiously sought out and obtained copies of secret and sensitive information which he knew were protected and passed these on to individuals he believed to be acting on behalf of the Iranian state. The sharing of the information could have exposed military personnel to serious harm, or a risk to life, and prejudiced the safety and security of the United Kingdom.
“The prosecution was able to use mobile phone evidence, notes written by Khalife himself and CCTV footage to piece together and demonstrate that Khalife had gathered and shared much of this classified information, accepted hundreds of pounds for his efforts and even travelled to Turkey as part of his unlawful conduct.
“It is against the law to collate and share secret and sensitive information for a purpose against the interests of the United Kingdom. Such hostile and illegal activities jeopardise the national security of the United Kingdom, and the CPS will always seek to prosecute anyone that carries out counter state threats.”
Khalife was first arrested on 6 January 2022 at a barracks in Stafford where police officers executed a search warrant. He told officers that he had received £1,500 from Iranian handlers in a dog waste bag as part of his conduct.
An examination of his devices found a number of classified documents and chats with individuals he believed to be Iranian. He had also travelled to Turkey in a bid to meet with them.
Khalife was bailed and returned to his barracks before absconding on 2 January 2023. Khalife was found and arrested some three weeks later before being remanded into custody.
On 6 September 2023 he managed to escape from Wandsworth Prison while on kitchen duty by using a makeshift cloth under a food delivery lorry. He was caught three days later on the footpath of the Grand Union Canal in Northolt, west London, after a nationwide manhunt.
Khalife will be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court at a later date.
Notes to editors
- Daniel Khalife (DOB: 27/09/2001) is from the London borough of Kingston.
- He was discharged from the Army in May 2023.
- Bethan David is the Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division.
- The CPS Counter Terrorism Division prosecutes terrorism cases. It deals with other complex casework areas including allegations of incitement to racial and religious hatred, war crimes and crimes against humanity, official secrets cases, piracy and hijacking.
