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A former British soldier who escaped from Wandsworth Prison has been found guilty of spying for Iran.

Daniel Khalife, 23, who was a lance corporal in the Royal Signals, used a sling made from trousers worn by inmates working in the kitchen to cling to the underside of a food delivery lorry on 6 September last year.

He was being held in the Category B prison accused of handing secret information, including a list of soldiers – some of whom were serving in the SAS – to Iranian spies.

MI5, the Ministry of Defence and counter-terrorism police launched a nationwide manhunt, fearing Khalife would try to flee to Tehran or get to the Iranian embassy in London.

Woolwich Crown Court heard that while on the run he bought a mobile phone to call his handlers, who used the code name “David Smith”, and sent the message: “I wait.”

Daniel Khalife after his arrest on 9 September 2023 as he cycled on the Grand Union Canal in West London. Court handout. Credit: MPS
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Khalife was arrested on 9 September. Pic: Met Police

But Khalife was arrested on the morning of 9 September when he was spotted riding a stolen mountain bike along the canal towpath in Northolt, west London – about 14 miles away from Wandsworth Prison.

He initially pleaded not guilty to an escape charge but changed his plea after describing the break-out to jurors, saying it showed “what a foolish idea it was to have someone of my skillset in prison”.

Khalife, who first contacted an Iranian spy soon after he joined the Army aged 16, claimed he wanted to be a “double agent” and “thought he could be James Bond” but had only passed on fake or useless information.

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From October: Jurors shown CCTV of Khalife after escape

Giving evidence, he described himself as an English “patriot”, adding: “I’m certainly not a terrorist or a traitor.”

But he was found guilty of a charge of gathering, publishing or communicating information that might be useful to an enemy between 1 May 2019 and 6 January 2022, under the Official Secrets Act.

Khalife, from Kingston, in southwest London, was also found guilty of eliciting personal information about armed forces personnel that was likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism on 2 August 2021.

The charge related to a photo of a handwritten list of 15 soldiers, including some from special forces serving in the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS).

Khalife was found not guilty of perpetrating a bomb hoax at his barracks in January 2023.

Daniel Khalife
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Daniel Khalife joined the Army aged 16

‘The ultimate Walter Mitty’

Dominic Murphy, the head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command, said while Khalife’s approach was “amateurish” with elements of “fantasy”, the reality was he provided “highly sensitive” information to the Iranian state.

“He’s the ultimate Walter Mitty character,” he said. “The problem is he’s a Walter Mitty character that was having an extremely significant impact on the real world.”

A Walter Mitty character is someone who is ordinary but has an extraordinary imagination and daydreams about personal triumphs to escape their dull life.

Mr Murphy said the “game” played by Khalife to “fuel his ego” posed “a significant risk to national security” and he had “enjoyed the thrill of the deception throughout”.

Police have disrupted 20 direct plots from the Iranian government, including assignations or immediate threats to life, and the state’s agents “pose a very real threat to national security and to individuals here in the UK”, Mr Murphy said.

Khalife told the jury he contacted an Iranian agent through Facebook because he wanted to endear himself to the UK security services after he was told he couldn’t pass developed vetting to fulfil his dream of working in intelligence because his mother was born in Iran.

A selfie of Daniel Khalife in Mill Hill Park. Pic: Met Police
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A selfie of Daniel Khalife in Mill Hill Park. Pic: Met Police

Khalife collected cash in a dog poo bag. Pic: Met Police
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Khalife collected cash in a dog poo bag. Pic: Met Police

Dead drops

Khalife left material in public locations in exchange for cash in an old-fashioned spy tactic known as the “dead drop” or “dead letter box”.

He first collected £1,500 in a dog poo bag in Mill Hill Park in Barnet, north London, in August 2019 and made a second £1,000 cash pick-up from Kensal Green Cemetery, in North Kensington, in October 2021.

He twice travelled from his barracks, in Staffordshire, to the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, in London, and even flew to Istanbul, where he stayed in the Hilton hotel between 4 and 10 August 2020, and “delivered a package” for Iranian agents, the court heard.

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Sky’s Shamaan Freeman-Powell reports from Woolwich Crown Court

The contact continued while he was deployed to Fort Hood, Texas, where he received training in Falcon, a military communications system.

Khalife repeatedly contacted the British security services himself saying he wanted to be a “double agent”, but MI5 reported him to police, who arrested him.

While on bail, he went AWOL from his base, leaving a device made from three laughing gas canisters bound with sniper tape on his desk.

Undated handout photo issued by the Metropolitan Police of a hoax device. Daniel Khalife, 23, is alleged to have fled his Army barracks in January 2023 when he realised he would face criminal charges over allegations he passed classified information on to the Middle Eastern country's intelligence service. Later, while on remand, he is alleged to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023 by tying himself to the underside of a food delivery truck using bedsheets. Issue date: Tuesday October 22, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story COURTS Army . Photo credit should read: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire..NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
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Khalife left a fake device. Pic: Met Police

He stayed in a stolen Ford Transit van, later found containing a camp bed, around £20,000, and notes saying he wanted to defect to Iran.

Prosecutors said he planned to leave the country, having previously travelled to Turkey as a test for onward travel to Iran, and he was in contact with his Iranian handlers, making attempts to get to the embassy.

But he was arrested again three weeks later after a colleague spotted him in the leisure centre. He was then held on remand in Wandsworth Prison, where he managed to get a job in the kitchen.

Escape planned for ‘quite some time’

Khalife told the jury he planned the escape because he wanted to be moved to the high-security unit in Belmarsh to avoid sex predators and terrorists who wanted to do him harm.

A Bidfood delivery lorry parked near to the area in Upper Richmond Road (A205), where a lorry belonging to the company was stopped by police near to the junction with Carlton Drive at 8.37am on Wednesday, following the escape of Daniel Khalife from nearby HMP Wandsworth. Picture date: Friday September 8, 2023.
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Khalife escaped under a Bidfood lorry. Pic: PA

Undated handout photo of sling under the truck used in the prison escape of Daniel Khalife, which was shown to a jury at the Old Bailey, London, during his trial. Khalife, 23, is alleged to have fled his Army barracks in January 2023 when he realised he would face criminal charges over allegations he passed classified information on to the Middle Eastern country's intelligence service. Later, while on remand, he is alleged to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023 by tying himself to the underside of a food delivery truck using bedsheets. Issue date: Wednesday October 23, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story COURTS Army. Photo credit should read: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire ..NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
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Khalife used a makeshift sling. Pic: Met Police

Police believe he had been planning the “pretty audacious” break-out for “quite some time” and he wrote in his prison diary of a “failed” escape attempt on 21 August last year.

Khalife told the jury he attached the makeshift rope to the Bidfood lorry on 1 September to test prison security as it made its daily deliveries.

“When I had made the decision to actually leave the prison I was going to do it properly,” he said, describing how he concealed himself, resting his back on the sling as the vehicle was searched.

The driver Balazs Werner said two guards told him someone was missing as they checked the truck with a torch and mirror and he was surprised he was allowed to drive off and that the prison wasn’t in lockdown.

Khalife said he waited for the lorry to stop, dropped to the ground and lay in the prone position until it moved off.

He used the phone at the Rose of York pub in Richmond before a contact withdrew £400 from a nearby cashpoint, which he used to buy a sleeping bag, a mobile phone and a change of clothes.

CCTV footage captured his movements as he bought clothes from Marks & Spencer, stole a hat from Mountain Warehouse, drank coffee at McDonald’s and even read about his escape in the newspaper.

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From October: Khalife caught on CCTV. Pic: Met Police

When he was arrested on the footpath of the Grand Union Canal in Northolt after four days on the run, Khalife told police: “My body aches. I f****d myself up under the lorry” and “I don’t know how immigrants do it”.

Police said he had no help from anyone inside prison, Iran or close family members in London but a 24-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were arrested earlier this year on suspicion of assisting an offender and the investigation is ongoing.

The prisons watchdog called for Wandsworth to be put into emergency measures in the wake of Khalife’s escape, while a security audit identified “81 points of failure” and resulted in “long overdue” upgrades to CVTV cameras which hadn’t worked for more than a year.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) later announced it would be redirecting £100m from across the prison service to spend over five years on bringing in “urgent improvements”.

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Meanwhile, Bethan David, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “As a serving soldier of the British Army Daniel Khalife was employed and entrusted to uphold and protect the national security of this country. But, for purposes of his own, Daniel Khalife, used his employment to undermine national security.

“The sharing of the information could have exposed military personnel to serious harm, or a risk to life, and prejudiced the safety and security of the United Kingdom.

“It is against the law to collate and share secret and sensitive information for a purpose against the interests of the United Kingdom.

“Such hostile and illegal activities jeopardise the national security of the United Kingdom, and the CPS will always seek to prosecute anyone that carries out counter state threats.”

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MP tells Sky News she was attacked online by Tate brothers after Commons contribution

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MP tells Sky News she was attacked online by Tate brothers after Commons contribution

An MP has told Sky News she was attacked online by the Tate brothers after she participated in a debate in the House of Commons about violence against women.

The controversial duo, Andrew and Tristan Tate, are facing charges of rape and human trafficking in the UK – all of which they deny.

But they are still very active online, and according to Sorcha Eastwood, the MP for Lagan Valley, are targeting her.

In a document seen by Sky News, Tristan Tate has highlighted one of the MP’s tweets and writes in private correspondence: “MP, nice target, can we sue her?”

Sorcha Eastwood says at first she thought the replies were from parody accounts and not the Tate brothers.

Her original tweet was about Elon Musk, not the Tate brothers. The MP said Musk’s tweets should be looked at through a counter-extremism lens.

“I was really concerned, I was concerned because to me that is a direct attack for want of a better phrase on me serving my constituents.

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“I couldn’t believe that they decided to pick this random Northern Irish MP. The fact that it wasn’t even about them. This is something I didn’t go looking for.

“I think from my perspective, it’s a very, very sinister attempt to shut down important voices in public life, political discourse.”

It was only when she started noticing an uptick in abuse from other accounts she realised she had encountered some of the brothers’ followers.

“I had rape threats. I had death threats. I had people saying I should be hung from a lamppost. I had people saying I should be chopped into liver. I also had people then who were like we’ll waste 15 minutes raping Sorcha Eastwood.”

Andrew and Tristan Tate
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A representative for the Tate brothers told Sky News that there was no targeted campaign against Sorcha Eastwood

A representative for the Tate brothers told Sky News that there was no targeted campaign against her.

They said: “Ms Eastwood has a distorted view regarding social media if she believes one is required to ‘invite or ask’ people to interact.

“Tristan Tate is entitled to his view in relation to her tweet regarding Elon Musk.”

The self-styled “misogynist influencer” Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have both been charged with human trafficking, face allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering in Romania.

There is also a European arrest warrant for them as they are facing separate, unrelated charges of rape and human trafficking in the UK. They deny all charges.

Ms Eastwood now worries for others who don’t have a platform like her and who may not feel like they can speak out.

“If this is what has happened to me I have absolutely no doubt that this has happened to others where they have been attempted to be silenced.”

Keir Starmer has previously commented on the Tate brothers’ case in the Commons saying it is “a live issue”, but adding that “the principle is absolutely clear” in relation to whether the brothers should face justice.

Sorcha Eastwood says she wants to see the government do much more to protect against abuse online.

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Tate brothers deny wrongdoing

“I think ultimately the government has taken the wrong course on this. They need to step up.

“This should be an issue of national security as far as the radicalisation of young people online. It should be an issue in terms of the levels of misinformation, disinformation and the lack of trust that is had in our politics right across the UK and Europe.

“I want the government to help me, help every other person to crack down on this and get serious about it. And the only way they’ll be able to do that, is by hitting these tech companies in the only language which they understand, which is money and via robust legislation.”

A government spokesperson said: “Violence against women and girls is a scourge on our society which is why we have set out an unprecedented mission to halve these crimes within a decade.

“Tackling illegal abuse both online and offline is central to supporting victims and preventing harm in our communities and we will not hesitate to strengthen laws to deliver this mission.

“Last month, parts of the Online Safety Act came into force meaning companies must take action to protect users from illegal material including extreme sexual violence.

“Further protections from this summer will require platforms to protect children from harmful, misogynistic, and violent content.”

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‘It’s just nasty’: Birmingham residents ‘overwhelmed’ by foul stench and massive rats as bins strike rumbles on

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'It's just nasty': Birmingham residents 'overwhelmed' by foul stench and massive rats as bins strike rumbles on

In parts of Birmingham, the stench is overwhelming – enough to make you heave.

At a block of flats in Highgate, in Birmingham city centre, we find a mountain of bin liners full of rubbish spewing out of the cavernous bin store, which is normally locked.

Mickel comes out to speak to us, while all around bin liners lie open, with the contents for all to see, including used nappies and rotting food.

Birmingham
strike bin workers
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Mickel says they’ve had ‘foxes and rats, literally the size of cats’

Outside Mickel's flat in Highgate, bin liners lie open, spewing out rubbish, including used nappies and rotting food
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Outside Mickel’s flat in Highgate, bin liners lie open, spewing out rubbish

We both find it hard to keep talking amid the awful smell.

“We’ve had foxes and rats, literally the size of cats, flies, it’s just nasty, something needs to be done,” he says.

Birmingham
Birmingham
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Chris says the situation is ‘overwhelming’ as she’s ‘terrified of rats’

Around the corner, I meet Chris, in her dressing gown, popping the bins into her bin store beneath her flat before work.

She unlocks it, and although it isn’t bursting out on to the street yet, it is getting full.

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She says the situation is “overwhelming” as she’s “terrified of rats”. But, even so, she has sympathy for the striking bin workers.

“It’s not an easy job; they must have a heart of gold to do that job,” she says.

“Pay them whatever they need, they deserve it.”

Striking bin workers in Birmingham
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Striking bin workers at Lifford Lane tip, south of the city centre

a mountain of bin liners full of rubbish spewing out of the cavernous bin store, which is normally locked.
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There’s an awful smell coming from a mountain of bin liners outside Mickel’s flat in Highgate

At Lifford Lane tip, south of the city centre, Brigette has pulled up alongside picketing workers. The back seat of her car is full of rubbish.

She apologises for the terrible waft, mixed with air freshener.

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Pest controllers ‘feel like an emergency service’
Bin workers strike explained

“It’s very pungent, isn’t it? Not nice,” she admits.

“It’s unfortunate, I have some sympathies for all the parties, but, equally, we have a duty of care to stay clean and tidy.”

She says she has her rubbish and that of her elderly aunt and plans to make weekly trips to the tip until a resolution in this pay dispute between the council and the Unite union is found.

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‘US is our closest ally’, Jonathan Reynolds says in reaction to Trump tariffs – but ‘nothing off the table’

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'US is our closest ally', Jonathan Reynolds says in reaction to Trump tariffs - but 'nothing off the table'

The US is “our closest ally” but “nothing is off the table” in response to Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on imports from the UK, the business secretary has said.

In a statement following the US president’s nearly hour-long address to the world, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “We will always act in the best interests of UK businesses and consumers.

“That’s why, throughout the last few weeks, the government has been fully focused on negotiating an economic deal with the United States that strengthens our existing fair and balanced trading relationship.”

Follow the latest following Trump’s tariffs announcement

Mr Reynolds reiterated the statements from the prime minister and his cabinet over the past few days, saying the US is “our closest ally”, and the government’s approach is to “remain calm and committed to doing this deal, which we hope will mitigate the impact of what has been announced today”.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds arrives in Downing Street, London, for a Cabinet meeting. Picture date: Tuesday January 28, 2025.
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Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds says “nothing is off the table” following the tariffs announcement. Pic: PA

But he continued: “We have a range of tools at our disposal, and we will not hesitate to act. We will continue to engage with UK businesses, including on their assessment of the impact of any further steps we take.

“Nobody wants a trade war, and our intention remains to secure a deal. But nothing is off the table, and the government will do everything necessary to defend the UK’s national interest.”

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‘Get back round the negotiating table’, say Tories

The Conservative Party’s shadow business and trade secretary described the US president’s announcement as “disappointing news which will worry working families across the country”.

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Sky’s Ed Conway examines how economies across the world are impacted by tariffs

Andrew Griffith hit out at the government for having “failed to negotiate with President Trump’s team for too many months after the election, failed to keep our experienced top trade negotiator, and failed to get a deal to avoid the imposition of these tariffs by our closest trading partner”.

“The chancellor’s emergency budget of just a week ago with its inadequate headroom is now at risk, casting uncertainty about more taxes or spending cuts,” he continued. “Sadly, it is British businesses and workers who will pay the price for Labour’s failure.”

He called on ministers to “swallow their pride” and “get back round the negotiating table to agree a fair deal to protect jobs and consumers in both the UK and the US alike”.

Relief in Westminster – but concessions to Trump to come

It has been quite a rollercoaster for the government, where they went from the hope that they could avoid tariffs, that they could get that economic deal, to the realisation that was not going to happen, and then the anticipation of how hard would the UK be hit.

In Westminster tonight, there is actual relief because the UK is going to have a 10% baseline tariff – but that is the least onerous of all the tariffs we saw President Trump announce.

He held up a chart of the worst offenders, and the UK was well at the bottom of that list.

No 10 sources were telling me as President Trump was in the Rose Garden that while no tariffs are good, and it’s not what they want, the fact the UK has tariffs that are lower than others vindicates their approach.

They say it’s important because the difference between a 20% tariff and a 10% tariff is thousands of jobs.

Where to next? No 10 says it will “keep negotiating, keep cool and calm”, and reiterated Sir Keir Starmer’s desire to “negotiate a sustainable trade deal”.

“Of course want to get tariffs lowered. Tomorrow we will continue with that work,” a source added.

Another source said the 10% tariff shows that “the UK is in the friendlies club, as much as that is worth anything”.

Overnight, people will be number-crunching, trying to work out what it means for the UK. There is a 25% tariff on cars which could hit billions in UK exports, in addition to the blanket 10% tariff.

But despite this being lower than many other countries, GDP will take a hit, with forecasts being downgraded probably as we speak.

I think the government’s approach will be to not retaliate and try to speed up that economic deal in the hope that they can lower the tariffs even further.

There will be concessions. For example, the UK could lower the Digital Services Tax, which is imposed on the UK profits of tech giants. Will they loosen regulation on social media companies or agricultural products?

But for now, there is relief the UK has not been hit as hard as many others.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has reacted furiously to Mr Trump’s announcement of a “destructive trade war”, and called on the government to stand up against “Trump’s attempts to divide and rule”.

“The prime minister should bring our Commonwealth and European partners together in a coalition of the willing against Trump’s tariffs, using retaliatory tariffs where necessary and signing new trade deals with each other where possible.”

Speaking on Wednesday evening at a White House event entitled ‘Make America Wealthy Again’, the US president unleashed sweeping tariffs across the globe.

Mr Trump held up a chart detailing the worst offenders – which also showed the new tariffs the US would be imposing.

The UK’s rate of 10% was perhaps a shot across the bow over the 20% VAT rate, though the president’s suggested a 10% tariff imbalance between the two nations. Nonetheless, tariffs of 10% could directly reduce UK GDP by between 0.01% and 0.06%, according to Capital Economics.

A 25% duty on all car imports from around the world is also being imposed from midnight in the US – 5am on Thursday, UK time.

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The UK government had been hoping to negotiate an economic deal with the US in a bid to avoid the tariffs, but to no avail. The government says negotiations will continue.

The Confederation of British Industry said “negotiating stronger trading relationships with all like-minded partners will be foundational to any success”.

The business secretary is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday, and we are also expecting to hear from the prime minister.

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