British soldier Daniel Khalife has claimed he was ‘thinking I could be James Bond’, but insisted Iranian spies were not involved in his prison escape.
The 23-year-old dramatically pleaded guilty earlier this week to escaping HMP Wandsworth by clinging to the underside of a food lorry, triggering a nationwide manhunt in September 2023.
But he continues to deny that he was a spy for Iran – instead claiming he was an amateur double agent trying to smoke out their agents operating on British soil.
His trial at Woolwich Crown Court heard that, on the third day of his time on the run, he used a phone he had bought to send messages to his Iranian handler on Telegram.
The only message that police were able to recover showed him telling the handler, who used the alias David Smith: ‘I wait.’
Daniel Khalife is seen here after his arrest on a canal towpath on September 9 last year after being caught by police
Bodycam footage issued by Metropolitan Police when Daniel Khalife was arrested at Grand Union Canal towpath
HMP Wandsworth in London, where Daniel Khalife has pleaded guilty to escaping custody at the prison
British soldier Daniel Khalife has claimed he was ‘thinking I could be James Bond’
Khalife was then said to have remained in the Chiswick area for several hours, but, under cross-examination on Wednesday, he denied he was waiting to be spirited away by the Iranians.
He has previously claimed he escaped prison to help ensure he was moved to a highly secure unit away from terrorists and paedophiles.
But Mark Heywood KC, prosecuting, said: ‘You weren’t doing this to get into the high-security unit – if you could have escaped, you would have, and you wanted the Iranians to help you do it.’
Khalife replied: ‘No, I would’ve got a smartphone and contacted them straight away.’
Mr Heywood continued: ‘They didn’t come to help you.’
‘No,’ replied Khalife.
‘Did you ever understand why?’, the prosecutor asked.
‘I didn’t ask them to,’ Khalife responded.
Khalife said he wore shorts and a t-shirt underneath his prison clothes which he changed into after his escape.
That night, he said he visited a pub and tried to ring some friends for assistance
He told the court: ‘I wanted to exude an air of professionalism. I wanted to source at least a sleeping bag. I was naive to think normal members of the public, friends I had made, would have a sleeping bag.’
Within a few hours, a friend arrived and withdrew £400 from a cashpoint near the pub which he used to buy a sleeping bag, a mobile phone and a change of clothes but still had over £200 left.
Mr Heywood earlier put it to Khalife he was ‘waiting for assistance’ from his Iranian contacts after escaping from prison, to which he replied: ‘No, that’s not true. I didn’t ask for any other assistance.’
He added: ‘The night before I didn’t sleep… It’s literally out of curiosity, I wanted to see what the reaction was.
‘They wanted to help me, I closed the conversation.’
British soldier Daniel Khalife (pictured) has been convicted of escaping prison after changing his plea to guilty halfway through giving evidence at his trial
However, Khalife (pictured) denies committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state
Khalife is seen on CCTV preparing to slip out of custody while working in the kitchens at HMP Wandsworth – triggering a huge nationwide manhunt
A court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook of Daniel Khalife appearing at Woolwich Crown Court
Earlier, the court heard that Khalife had visited the Iranian embassy in London on several occasions while on bail the year before, in an effort to obtain an Iranian passport.
Khalife’s mother is Iranian and he claims he mounted his covert operation against Iran to impress MI6, after being told his heritage would stop him getting his dream job in intellgience.
Unsent letters written by him at that time suggested he was considering a possible defection to Iran after his arrest, which he would then use as a way to pass more intelligence to the West.
‘I was acting, for want of better expression like a mad man. It was a difficult situation,’ he said. ‘I have often said I was obsessed with putting myself in a position that was of use.
‘I concocted some sort of an idea. I wanted to see what the reaction would be if I told the Iranians what was going on and I was told to head to the embassy. They wanted me to get a passport from the embassy to leave this jurisdiction.
‘I headed to the embassy on two occasions. It was to get a feel.’
Khalife denied that he was trying to leave the country, saying that an Iranian passport would cause ‘red flags’.
‘When I went to the embassy I could see I was viewed as a very low level individual. I was curious but I wouldn’t say it was a surprise.
‘I wasn’t thinking very straight. To be honest with you I was thinking I could be James Bond like an idiot.
‘The problem was how could I put myself of use to my country by being in prison, it doesn’t further anything. I was trying to find ways I could be of use.’
Khalife said he had felt suicidal after his initial arrest and added: ‘I was a little bit off the rails to say the least.’
He continues to deny committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, eliciting information about members of the armed forces and perpetrating a bomb hoax.
The trial continues.
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