Alleged Iranian spy 'sent Iran fake information'

A former British soldier accused of spying has claimed he made up much of the information he sent to the Iranians.

Daniel Khalife, 23, is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court on charges of collecting sensitive military information for Iran as well as allegedly escaping from Wandsworth Prison last year.

The jury also heard from Soldier A, who worked in intelligence, and said information gathered by the ex-soldier could have proved a "beneficial start point to a hostile adversary".

Mr Khalife denies all the charges.

The jury in his trial heard audio messages in which an Iranian man appears to thank him for his work over four years, and seems to be helping Mr Khalife to get an Iranian passport.

In a police interview in March 2022, Mr Khalife was asked about one of the documents found in a pink folder marked “secret” in his locked suitcase. The document read: “Top Secret. Secret Intelligence Service MI6.”

Mr Khalife told the interviewing police officer: “This particular document is all off my own head.”

“Completely fake, names, everything, I was just typing up quick,” he said.

He said some of the other documents had also been made up using information from Wikileaks and his personal knowledge of the Middle East.

The jury heard Mr Khalife was first arrested in January 2022, having contacted MI6 and MI5 saying he wanted to be a double agent.

From a mobile phone that police only recovered in September 2023 forensic specialists recovered six audio messages that the prosecution said were sent to Mr Khalife on the messaging app Telegram in May 2022, after he had been arrested but while he was on police bail.

These were played to the jury.

In the messages a man who appears to be an Iranian contact said: “We was talking with our friends in Iran Embassy in UK. They say to us that in the next week, Saturday you can coming to embassy for that you request, request for Iran passport.

“And the most important things that my top manager said to, said to you, that we understand your situation and we know that; we know that all the time you’re helping to us and thank you for your co-operation in two, three years or four years that you have co-operated with us.”

The prosecution say that Mr Khalife first contacted the Iranians aged 17, soon after he had joined the army. He was 20 when he was first arrested.

The jury also heard from military personnel known to the court only as Soldier A for security reasons.

Shown a list of soldiers serving in the special forces that Mr Khalife had allegedly compiled from the personnel system, the officer said that he “should not have written this information down”.

The information was a list of 15 soldiers, including serving members of the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS), which Mr Khalife had written down and then photographed on his iPhone.

As part of this, he had included their service number, rank, initials, surname and unit.

The officer said it would have been classified as secret as it had the names of soldiers in the “protected population” of the British Army. They said such information “could provide a beneficial start point to a hostile adversary”.

“We have to accept that once a person’s identity has been compromised, it’s compromised.”

Asked by prosecutor Mark Heywood KC what might happen to special forces or intelligence personnel if their details got out, the officer said: "That can be their whole career gone... It's paramount for national security that we protect them and protect their identities."

In a transcript of a police interview read to the court, Mr Khalife denied passing the list to anyone.

He denies charges under the Official Secret Act and the Terrorism Act and escaping from prison.

The trial at Woolwich Crown Court continues.