Daniel Khalife: Ex-soldier who escaped from prison found guilty of spying for Iran

Former British soldier Daniel Khalife has been found guilty of breaching the Official Secrets and Terrorism Acts by collecting sensitive information and passing it to Iran.

The 23-year-old, who had already admitted to escaping from HMP Wandsworth, was cleared of carrying out a bomb hoax at a Staffordshire barracks in January 2023.

The former member of the Royal Corps of Signals will be sentenced early next year for his crimes.

Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said of Khalife: "Ego is a factor.

"I've got no doubt he's got an uncanny ability to manipulate others.

"I think he probably enjoyed the thrill of deception throughout."

Khalife showed no emotion as he was found guilty after 23 hours of deliberation.

During the trial, he admitted escaping from HMP Wandsworth on 6 September 2023, which he accomplished by clinging to the underside of a food delivery truck.

Police recaptured him three days later following a nationwide manhunt.

The jury heard how he played a "cynical game", claiming he wanted a career as a double agent to help the British Intelligence Services, when in fact he gathered a "very large body of restricted and classified material".

In 2021, Khalife gathered the names of serving soldiers, including special forces personnel, and took photos of a handwritten list of 15 of them.

It is believed he sent the list to Iran before deleting any evidence.

Khalife told the Iranians he would stay undercover in the British Army for "25-plus years" for them.

But he claimed he wanted to offer himself to UK security agencies all along, having emailed MI6 as early as 2019.

Khalife told jurors he wanted to prove his superiors wrong after being told his Iranian heritage could stop him from working in military intelligence, and came up with his elaborate double agent plot after watching the TV spy thriller Homeland.

His claims were described as hapless and "sometimes bordering on the slapstick", more Scooby-Doo than James Bond or Homeland.