Posing for a selfie on an alleged spy mission to Istanbul, this is the soldier accused of passing secrets to Iran.
Daniel Khalife took a series of photographs showing off his £750 hotel room with views over the Turkish city after allegedly flying out to meet his Iranian handlers and deliver a ‘package’ of secret information.
The 18-year-old filmed himself outside the five-star Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel, spinning the camera in excitement for a video after being advised by an Iranian agent to make the mission ‘look like a holiday’, telling Khalife, ‘don’t worry about expenses’, jurors heard.
The former soldier, now 23, sparked a nationwide manhunt when he escaped from Wandsworth Prison last September after being held on espionage charges, it was said.
He allegedly absconded using bed sheets to strap himself to the underside of a food delivery truck before being captured three days later in West London.
18-year-old Daniel Khalife filmed himself outside the five-star Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel, spinning the camera in excitement for a video after being advised by an Iranian agent to make the mission ‘look like a holiday’
Daniel Khalife took a series of photographs showing off his £750 hotel room
A panorama view of his hotel room with views over the Turkish city
Khalife’s passport is pictured with the stamps Istanbul and a return date from Turkey
A grab from a video of Khalife filming himself in Istanbul outside the Hilton Hotel
Woolwich Crown Court heard how Khalife spent a week in Istanbul in September 2020 meeting with Iranian agents who addressed him as ‘mate’ and ‘pal’ in messages, lavishing him with praise for having a voice like a singer.
One Iranian agent allegedly sent him a message saying: ‘We will pay you what you want in our country. We look forward to seeing you in Tehran…pal.’
But Khalife later complained that his plans to travel on to Iran from Turkey had gone ‘sour’ because they ‘did not plan it correctly’. the court heard.
Jurors were shown messages indicating that Khalife had delivered a ‘package’ to handlers during the trip, but he panicked when he didn’t hear back from them.
A year earlier Khalife had contacted MI6 asking for a job as a ‘double agent’, boasting that he had been paid $2000 (£1,500) after fooling the Iranians with fake documents, the court heard.
The security signs on the door of a secure area at Beacon Barracks
Jurors were shown an image of the dog poo bag containing an envelope of £1500 cash allegedly left by an Iranian agent
One Iranian agent allegedly sent him a message saying: ‘We will pay you what you want in our country. We look forward to seeing you in Tehran…pal’
Jurors were shown messages indicating between Khalife and an alleged Iranian agent
Khalife allegedly emailed MI6 twice saying he wanted to be a secret double agent, but he got the name of the spy agency wrong claiming he wanted to work for the ‘security service’, which is MI5.
The email said: ‘They said that they first needed me to create trust, so I made a fake document and sent it to them.
‘After 1 week they payed (sic) me 2,000 dollars in a drop off point in Barnet. The reason why I agreed to do this is because I want to work as a double agent for the security service’.
Jurors were shown a selfie of Khalife at the meeting in a park in Barnet, North London and an image of the dog poo bag containing an envelope of £1500 cash allegedly left by an Iranian agent.
Three months later Khalife emailed MI6 again claiming he had fobbed off Iran with Wikileaks information: ‘I believed that I could use this new contact in Iran from the revolutionary guard corp to present myself as a double agent for the UK security services.
A trophy won by Daniel Khalife when he was awarded junior soldier of the year in 2020
Daniel Khalife (pictured) is accused of absconding from Wandsworth Prison using a ‘makeshift sling made of bedsheets’ to strap himself to the underside of a food delivery truck
‘I gathered already leaked info from wiki leaks and made it look like it was new information to be sent to them.’
Prosecutor Mark Heywood, KC, has told jurors this was just a ‘double bluff’ by Khalife, who received £2,500 in total from the Iranian intelligence service after he passed on information from a ‘very large body of restricted and classified material’ over two years.
Earlier, the court heard how Khalife enjoyed a meteoric rise within the British Army while he was secretly passing secrets to a rogue state.
He was ‘handpicked’ to join a regiment dealing with secret military communications and won a young soldier award after joining the army aged 16.
But just months after he was posted to the 16th Signal Regiment in Stafford, Khalife is said to have begun offering information to Iran.
Khalife is accused of compiling the names, service number, rank and units of 15 SAS and SBS soldiers to pass to his handlers.
He denies committing an act prejudicial to the interests or safety of the state by collecting information that might be useful to an enemy between 1 May 2019 and 6 January 2022, contrary to the Official Secrets Act 1911.
Khalife denies eliciting or attempting 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.
The defendant also denies perpetrating a bomb hoax and escaping prison.
The trial continues.
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