Daniel Khalife trial - live: Ex-soldier promised to work for Iranian agents for 25 years, court hears

The trial into Daniel Khalife has adjourned for the lunch break and will resume at 2pm.

In November 2021, Khalife contacted the MI5 public reporting number anonymously, volunteering information that he had been in contact with the Iranian secret services for over two years.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC said that he did not give his personal details, said he wanted to remain anonymous and used unregistered mobile phone numbers.

He claimed he had been contacted by an individual on social media, and that he had provided them with documents that had already been leaked via Wikileaks. Khalife added that they were “content with this” and had paid him £1,500, and that he had maintained this relationship and had been paid £1,000 in October 2021.

In a second call just two weeks later, he repeated the same story in an anonymous phone call.

He also wrote a note to himself and said that he had “decided to start my own intel operation to prove that I was able to do this”, after being told he was not eligible for developed vetting.

Khalife was deployed to Fort Hood in Texas between February and April 2021, during which he remained in close contact with his Iranian handler.

He took several images of open screens, in which some of them were clearly marked ‘SECRET’, while one included a password record sheet.

While based in the US, jurors heard he was given Nato ‘secret’ clearance, the second highest level of security clearance. He went on to take 29 images while in Texas, with his activity continuing once he returned to the UK.

On 2 August 2021, Khalife took a photograph of a handwritten list he had compiled of details relating to 15 soldiers, which included their service number, rank, initials, surname and unit. This included several personnel members who were part of the UK special forces.

Later that evening, he accessed the human resources (‘HR’) system for the Ministry of Defence under the pretence of booking annual leave. He is alleged to have used the ‘Approver’ box to search for individuals on the soldier list by surname and took seven screenshots, despite none of these individuals being involved in approving his leave request.

Mr Heywood added: “He was clearly researching and gathering and recording that information.”

The court heard that Daniel Khalife travelled to Istanbul in August 2020, after making contact with Iranian agents and being told his travel should be disguised “as a holiday”.

While in Turkey, he maintained contact with his handlers before returning and maintaining a close relation with a contact named ‘David Smith’ on his iPhone.

In text messages shown to jurors, Khalife is seen promising: “I won’t leave the military until you tell me to. 25 plus years.”

Correspondence also shows him referring to a previous security incident, in which a colleague was blamed with Khalife saying there was “no suspicion” was on him, and that “they believe me”.

The courtroom where Daniel Khalife is facing trial at Woolwich Crown Court has now assembled, with the prosecutor Mark Heywood KC due to continue his opening.

The jury and Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb have entered and taken their seats.

Daniel Khalife, the 23-year-old accused of multiple espionage-related charges and of escaping prison, was raised in Kingston, south London, by his Iranian mother.

He joined the British Army in September 2018 as a junior soldier, two weeks before his 17th birthday, jurors were told.

After completing a 23-week course at the Army Foundation College in North Yorkshire, he chose to join the Royal Corps of Signals which provides communications, IT and cyber support, the court heard.

Khalife passed his security clearance - giving him access to secret information - before he took on specialist training in Dorset in 2019, the court was told.

He may have started thinking about espionage as early as March 2019, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

Khalife completed his year-long specialist training course in early 2020, before he was posted to the 16th Signal Regiment in Stafford, the jury heard.

He is accused of first making contact with Iran in 2019.

We heard the first details of Daniel Khalife’s alleged contact with Iranian intelligence in Woolwich Crown Court yesterday.

In January 2022, the former British soldier told police he had made contact with a known individual within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the court heard. He told police that he was transferred to an English speaking handler.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC said his aim was to “offer himself as an asset to Iran’s external security apparatus”.

“The prosecution case is that he began a process of obtaining, recording and communicating material, information of a kind that might be or was intended to be useful to an enemy of the UK,” Mr Heywood added.

But Khalife claimed this was a double-bluff and that his real intention was to sell himself to the UK security agencies, the jury was told.

Khalife used a false name to get in touch with MI6 through the “contact us” page of their website - requesting to work as a “double agent”, the court heard.

He allegedly revealed in the email that he was paid 2,000 US dollars (£1,500) as payment for sending Iran documents - which he says was fake. The money was left in a “dog waste bag” in Mill Hill Park, jurors were told.

Police spoke with Khalife and he was released on bail before he absconded from his barracks, the court heard.

And Khalife is accused of strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry to escape HMP Wandsworth on September 6 2023, while being held on remand on terror and espionage charges.

Daniel Khalife is accused of collecting secret information before handing it to “agents of Iran”.

The 23-year-old is facing four charges at Woolwich Crown Court - all of which he has denied.

He is accused of breaching the Official Secrets Act by gathering, publishing or communicating information potentially useful to an enemy, in this case Iranian intelligence, between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022.

Khalife was also charged under the Terrorism Act of eliciting information about armed forces personnel on August 2 2021, carrying out a bomb hoax on January 2 2023 and escaping from prison on July 21 2023.

He denies all four charges.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the trial of Daniel Khalife - the man who allegedly escaped HMP Wandsworth in September last year - as it enters its second day.

The Independent’s Holly Evans will be reporting live from Woolwich Crown Court as Khalife faces trial for allegedly selling secrets to Iran in breach of the Official Secrets Act, among other terror and espionage charges.

Stay here for regular updates throughout the day.