British former soldier Daniel Khalife has been jailed for 14 years and three months at Woolwich Crown Court. In November, the 23-year-old was found guilty of spying for Iran and escaping from HMP Wandsworth. Khalife had been serving in the British Army when he collected sensitive information and passed it to Iranian agents. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:30Your ambition was to work in military intelligence or an elite signals unit attached to special forces.
00:40But when you got to the Royal Court Signals, your commanding officer told you that you were unlikely ever to achieve the higher developed vetting DV clearance required for such a posting because of your ancestry.
00:55On being given this news, you said that you decided to try and establish a credible relationship with Iranian security officers, which you could then use as a route into security clearance and work in British intelligence.
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02:01You are an attention seeker and you enjoyed the notoriety you attracted following your escape from prison.
02:07Features relevant to an assessment of the harm of this offence include the very large manhunt that resulted because of the serious underlying offences that you were charged with.
02:18This involved hundreds of police officers called away from other duties at an estimated cost of £250,000 in overtime and further costs to the border force.
02:30This was an unusual and grave situation given you were charged with offences under the Terrorism Act and the Official Secrets Act and there was significant public concern that someone of your category had escaped.
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