A soldier was only arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran after he twice emailed MI6 and then rang MI5 twice offering to be a double agent, a court has heard.
Daniel Khalife, 23, from Kingston, southwest London, is accused of spending two years collecting secrets while serving with the Royal Signals Regiment and passing them to Iranian agents.
He denies the charges, saying he only handed over fabricated documents in an attempt to work as a double agent.
After he was charged under the Official Secrets Act, Khalife allegedly escaped from prison under a food catering van on 6 September last year, causing a nationwide manhunt.
Naeem Karbhari, defending, asked the senior investigating officer: “Police started the investigation because Daniel Khalife contacted MI6 and then MI5 – up until that stage no one was any the wiser about what he was doing?”
“Certainly the police were not,” the officer said.
When officers arrested him at Beacon Barracks in Stafford on 6 January 2022 the only information they had was what he had given MI5 anonymously, the court heard.
When they searched his room and looked on his phone, they found no “mindset” evidence that would give insight into a motive for spying for Iran, Mr Karbhari said.
He was not short of money and had a “considerable amount” of savings after “living frugally” and banking his wages each month.
When he was arrested he was repeatedly told he was entitled to free independent advice from a solicitor but turned it down, saying: “I don’t think I have a need for one”.
He then repeated the account he had given to MI5 on the phone, but gave more detail and was released on bail.
Mr Karbhari asked: “He was polite and pleasant in interviews, he has not been any trouble, made threats or shown aggression towards you?”
“No,” the officer said.
Daniel Khalife in McDonald’s after his alleged prison escape. Pic: Met Police
The trial had earlier heard that Khalife had filled in the “contact us” form on the MI6 website twice in August and October 2019, offering his services, when he first made contact with the Iranian agents, but they did not respond.
He spoke to an officer on the MI5 “public reporting line” two years later on 9 November 2021, but initially they did not respond so he rang them back on 22 November.
“I really do want to speak to someone over the phone about this because it’s such a crazy random insane thing,” he said.
“I’ve created a relationship with some people who are very difficult to contact, very difficult to have them trust you at least and they trust me, so I thought, right, I can at least help the security service with something like this.”
He later told police how he had sat in a car in a Lidl supermarket car park for an hour, waiting for MI5 to call back because it was the only place he could get reception but they did not call.
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When he woke up the next morning and drove to attend a course he was on at Blandford Barracks in Dorset, he had three missed calls.
The next time they called him back five times.
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“I was waiting in the car park from six till seven and they called me from 7.30pm till 10, five missed calls and I was like, ‘oh my god’.
“I called back the number and the number didn’t exist anymore. I was like great that’s my chance gone.”
Khalife denies committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, eliciting information about members of the armed forces, and escaping from lawful custody.
The trial continues.
