Former soldier ‘who escaped Wandsworth prison under food van picked up £1,500 fee for spying for Iran in dog poo bag’

A FORMER soldier who escaped Wandsworth prison under a food van picked up his £1,500 for spying for Iran in a dog poo bag, a court heard.

Daniel Khalife was allegedly in contact with Iranian security service members within just one month of joining the Royal Corps of Signals.

The 23-year-old used fake email addresses for the alleged espionage and sent details about SAS and SBS personnel to his handlers, jurors heard.

Khalife was paid £1,500 for his services, which he collected in August 2019 from a park in Barnet, North London.

Woolwich Crown Court was told he picked up a dog waste bag with images of paws and bones on it containing the cash.

While being held at HMP Wandsworth for his alleged crimes, Khalife used bed sheets to strap himself to the underside of a food delivery truck.

He then fled the top security jail on September 6, 2023 - sparking a huge nationwide hunt, jurors heard.

Khalife, 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 mind moved to espionage.

In April 2019, Khalife allegedly first made contact with Iran - just weeks after he passed his security clearance.

The court heard 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 allegedly 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 allegedly 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 allegedly 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.

He denies gathering, publishing or communicating information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iranian intelligence, contrary to the Official Secrets Act between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022.

Khalife also denies having elicited or attempted to elicit personal information about armed forces personnel that was likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism from a Ministry of Defence administration system on August 2 2021.

The former soldier has also pleaded not guilty to escaping from prison, contrary to common law.

The trial continues.