Ex-soldier accused of spying for Iran 'gathered names of special forces'

A erstwhile British solider accused of passing concealed accusation to Iran gathered the names of work personnel, including those successful peculiar forces, a tribunal has heard.

Daniel Khalife, 23, is separately accused of escaping from Wandsworth Prison past twelvemonth by strapping himself to the underside of a nutrient transportation truck.

He has gone connected proceedings connected charges of collecting delicate subject accusation for Iran. He denies each the charges.

Mr Khalife offered to enactment for the Iranians for much than 25 years, Woolwich Crown Court was told connected Wednesday.

Mr Khalife took a photograph of a handwritten database of 15 soldiers, including immoderate serving successful the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS), the prosecution said.

He took details from an interior spreadsheet of promotions successful June 2021, sent to a WhatsApp radical called Brew Room Boys, and past logged connected to an interior HR strategy to find retired the soldiers' archetypal names, jurors heard.

Mark Heywood KC for the prosecution said: "He was intelligibly researching and gathering and signaling that information."

Mr Khalife, who was brought up successful Kingston, south-west London by his Iranian-born mother, joined the Army successful September 2018, 2 weeks earlier his 17th birthday.

In April 2019, helium created a interaction with the +98 dialling codification for Iran, the tribunal has heard.

By August 2020, the prosecution said that Mr Khalife was messaging a antheral saved successful his telephone arsenic "David Smith", describing an interior subject strategy which would place work personnel.

He told the contact: "I won't permission the subject until you archer maine to", earlier adding: "25+ years."

The prosecution alleged Mr Khalife travelled to Istanbul successful August 2020 with the volition of travelling connected to Iran for a meeting, but successful the extremity helium conscionable remained successful the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel.

Afterwards successful an audio connection to ‘David Smith’ helium said: “We were expected conscionable really successful your country... We went to Turkey and the program benignant of went sour, they didn’t program it correctly.”

At 1 constituent successful aboriginal 2021, Mr Khalife was posted to Fort Hood successful Texas successful the United States, and the prosecution said helium was inactive successful interaction with 1 of his Iranian handlers portion helium was there.

It was present wherever helium took a bid of screenshots of systems marked "secret", including a password grounds sheet.

In April that twelvemonth Mr Khalife was granted the 2nd highest level of Nato security, 1 beneath "cosmic apical secret".

Mr Heywood said Mr Khalife was not "merely a young soldier" but a "resourceful man".

In his archetypal constabulary interview, conducted successful January 2022, Mr Khalife told officers helium had an ambition to enactment successful subject quality oregon for an elite signals unit.

He said helium had been informed by an serviceman that his ancestry meant helium was improbable to suffice for the high-level information vetting - called "Developed Vetting" - that would let him to enactment successful delicate roles.

“After this I decided to commencement my ain intel cognition to beryllium that I was capable to bash this,” helium wrote successful an physics enactment successful 2021.

“All I person ever wanted to bash was thing successful intel. The full crushed I joined was to enactment successful intel. I decided to usage my transportation to IR [Islamic Republic of Iran] to my advantage."

Mr Khalife is alleged to person escaped from HMP Wandsworth successful southbound London portion connected remand connected panic and espionage charges by strapping himself to the underside of a nutrient transportation lorry connected 6 September 2023.

He was arrested connected a canal towpath successful westbound London 3 days later.

Police aboriginal recovered a achromatic transit van which the prosecution said Mr Khalife had utilized erstwhile helium absconded from the army. In the van was much than £18,000 successful cash, immoderate of it counterfeit, according to the prosecution.

The trial, expected to past astir six weeks, continues.