Former Stafford soldier 'secretly gathered names of special forces personnel for Iran' - court told

Daniel Khalife, 23, is standing trial on terror offences and escaping from HMP Wandsworth

An ex-soldier accused of spying for Iran 'secretly gathered names of special forces personnel', a court has heard. Former Stafford-based British soldier Daniel Khalife is said to have taken a photograph of a handwritten list of 15 soldiers - which included some serving in the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS).

The 23-year-old covertly took details from an internal spreadsheet before logging on to a HR system to book leave so he could find out the names of the soldiers, it is alleged. Prosecutors say Khalife collected secret information and passed it to 'agents of Iran'.

But Khalife said his actions were part of an elaborate double bluff and he wanted to work for MI6. Continuing the opening of the case, prosecutor Mark Heywood KC said: "The details on the spreadsheet included the promotion details for all sorts of units in the Army, including special forces who operated, as you might imagine, on a different basis to other parts of the armed services and ordinarily do not publish their membership or ranks or identity for very good, security-related reasons."

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Woolwich Crown Court heard how Khalife allegedly took details from an internal spreadsheet of promotions in June 2021, which had been sent to a WhatsApp group called Brew Room Boys. He is then said to have logged on to an internal HR system 'as if to book leave' before using the 'approver box' to search for individuals.

The defendant - who was brought up in Kingston, south-west London, by his Iranian mother - then took screenshots of seven of the names on the original list of 15, Mr Heywood alleged on Wednesday (October 9). None of the people had any involvement with him booking time off, the court heard.

Mr Heywood added: "He was clearly researching and gathering and recording that information." Jurors were shown a photograph from Khalife's iPhone of a list he is said to have handwritten of 15 soldiers - including their service number, rank, initials, surname and unit.

During the trial, jurors have heard how Khalife was allegedly paid in cash by the Iranian intelligence service for secret information gathered during his time in the Army. He is also accused of escaping from HMP Wandsworth while on remand by strapping himself to the bottom of a food delivery truck on September 6, 2023.

Khalife joined the Army in September 2018 - two weeks before his 17th birthday. Prosecutors claim he first made contact with Iran in April 2019.

He is said to have travelled to Istanbul between August 4 and 10 2020, originally with a view to go onwards'. Mr Heywood said: "That was, says the prosecution, an attempt at least to meet, engage, face-to-face directly. The original attempt was to go to Iran."

Khalife said in a message that he had 'delivered a package to them'. Mr Heywood added: "He's clearly reporting to a third party what happened in Istanbul."

Six months after he was posted to the 16th Signal Regiment in Stafford in August 2020, messages showed he was willing to gather information 'to order, for as long as they wanted'. He is said to have spent an hour messaging a contact saved as "David Smith" on August 28, 2020.

Those messages described an internal military system which would identify service personnel, Mr Heywood said. Khalife told the contact: "I won't leave the military until you tell me to", before adding: "25+ years."

Khalife went on: "I need to go to your supervisor and ask what specific regiment or sector you're interested in." It is alleged the ex-soldier stayed in contact with Iranian handlers while posted to Fort Hood in Texas, US between February and April 2021.

He is said to have taken a series of screenshots of systems marked "Secret", including a password record sheet, during his time there. In April 2021, Khalife was granted the second highest level of Nato security, one below 'cosmic top secret'.

The court heard how in November 2021, Khalife made two anonymous calls to MI5 from an unregistered mobile. He said he had been in contact with Iran for more than two years and thought he could help the British security services.

The defendant said he wanted to return to his normal life, jurors heard. At the same time, Khalife saved an electronic note which set out how he had decided to start his own intelligence operation to prove himself after he was told he was not eligible for higher level vetting.

The document read: "I decided to start my own intel operation to prove that I was able to do this. All I have ever wanted to do was something in intel.

"The whole reason I joined was to work in intel. I decided to use my connection to IR (Iran) to my advantage." But Mr Heywood said he was also researching flights to Iran and remained in contact with his Iranian handlers.

In December 2021, he messaged them to say he only had time to travel to Beirut rather than Tehran while on annual leave, adding: "I have some big documents to send you from my time in Blandford." Khalife was arrested at MoD Stafford on January 6, 2022.

Items including a black notebook with writing in it including the words "stocks", "property" and "spy" was found, the jury was told. The jury previously heard that Khalife undertook specialist training in Blandford Forum, in Dorset for a year from 2019.

As well as the alleged prison escape, he denies a charge of gathering, publishing or communicating information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iranian intelligence, contrary to the Official Secrets Act between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022. He denies having elicited or attempted 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 on August 2 2021.

The trial continues.