A SOLDIER who escaped from jail while on remand for allegedly spying for Iran claimed his espionage was a “double bluff,” a court heard yesterday.
Daniel Khalife, 23, broke out of prison last year by strapping himself under a food delivery truck with bedsheets.
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He was found after three days on the run. Jurors were told yesterday that he claimed he wanted to be a double agent for MI6.
Khalife joined the Army at 17 before going to the Royal Corps of Signals in 2019.
Within a month, he allegedly contacted Iranian security service members using fake email addresses.
A court heard that in August that year he had used a dog poo bag to pick up £1,500 from his handlers at a park in Barnet, North London.
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Days later, Khalife, originally from Kingston upon Thames, South West London, informed MI6 in an email he wanted to “work as a double agent”.
He would later tell police his contact with the Iranians was all a bluff, the jury heard.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC told Woolwich crown court: “You will see from the evidence that while he did attempt contact with UK security agencies, his real focus was on those of Iran.”
When police investigated, Khalife left a “series of taped canisters” with “wires hanging out” on his desk in his accommodation at MoD Stafford in January 2023, jurors heard.
Mr Heywood said: “This was to give the appearance of an explosive device and cause alarm, no doubt.”
After being charged, Khalife escaped from HMP Wandsworth in South West London and “went on the run” in September last year.
Mr Heywood told the jury they must consider whether the material Khalife had sent was likely to be of use to an enemy.
He denies committing an act contrary to the Official Secrets Act.
He also denies eliciting information on the Armed Forces, perpetrating a bomb hoax and escaping from prison. The trial continues.
