Former British soldier Daniel Khalife has been jailed for 14 years and three months after spying for Iran and escaping from prison.
Passing sentence at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said he had been motivated by “a selfish desire to show off” and described him as “a dangerous fool”.
The 23-year-old, originally from Kingston, south-west London, was serving in the British Army when he “exposed military personnel to serious harm” by collecting sensitive information and passing it to agents of the Middle Eastern country.
He was paid in cash for the material, some of which he forged, and told handlers he would stay in the military for 25-plus years for them.
Details he gathered included a handwritten list of names of personnel including some who served in the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service.
In September 2023, Khalife escaped from category B prison HMP Wandsworth, in south-west London, by clinging to the underside of a food delivery truck.
He was caught on a canal towpath by a plainclothes detective days later.
Khalife was sentenced to six years for committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, and another six years – consisting of five years in prison and one on licence – for eliciting information about members of the armed forces.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb passed a sentence of two years and three months for the jail break.
She told Khalife: “When you joined the Army as a young man, you had the makings of an exemplary soldier.
“However, through the repeated violation of your oath of service, you showed yourself to be, instead, a dangerous fool.”