Daniel Abed Khalife, a former British soldier, has been sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison for gathering sensitive military information for Iran from 2019 to 2022. At 23 years old, Khalife was found guilty last November of accumulating classified data likely to be beneficial for terrorism, including specifics about personnel from the British Special Forces.

The ex-soldier, who had been discharged following the charges, also confessed to escaping from Wandsworth prison in September 2023 while awaiting his trial.

He escaped by concealing himself under a delivery van, which triggered a nationwide manhunt involving over 150 officers and incurring more than £250,000 in police overtime costs.

Khalife, whose mother is Iranian, asserted that he reached out to MI6 and MI5 with the aim of becoming a "double agent." However, Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb labeled him a "dangerous fool" driven by a "selfish desire to show off." The court was informed of Khalife's substantial interactions with agents from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, for which he received two payments in exchange for information.

His defense contended that the documents he transmitted were either publicly available or created by himself, thereby diminishing their value.

Khalife's actions have sparked worries regarding espionage and the potential dangers posed by individuals within security forces.