Ex-UK soldier facing spying charge admits escaping from prison by hiding under a truck

LONDON — A former British soldier who is facing spying charges has admitted escaping from a London prison by clinging to the underside of a delivery truck.

Daniel Khalife, 23, changed his plea to guilty on Monday, part-way through his trial at London’s Woolwich Crown Court.

He continues to deny violating Britain’s Official Secrets Act by collecting information useful to an enemy — namely Iran — as well as breaching the Terrorism Act and planting fake bombs at a military base.

Khalife was awaiting trial when he broke out of Wandsworth Prison in September 2023 by using a sling made out of trousers from the prison kitchen to tie himself to the underside of a catering truck. He was arrested while cycling on a canal towpath in west London three days later after an intense nationwide hunt that included helicopter searches and extra security checks at major transport hubs.

“I accept that I left the prison and I didn’t have any permission,” Khalife told jurors.

He said he escaped in the hope he would be recaptured and sent to a high-security unit at a different prison, where he thought he would be safer.

His trial continues on the other charges. Prosecutors have told the jury that Khalife joined the army at 16 and was a promising soldier, but was told he would not be able to fulfil his goal of joining an intelligence unit because his mother was from Iran.

Prosecutors allege Khalife passed classified information to an Iranian intelligence agent. He says the information was worthless and he was hoping to act as a double agent on behalf of Britain – inspired, in part, by a plotline on the TV spy series “Homeland.”

“I was never a real spy,” Khalife told the jury earlier this month. “I didn’t do anything that harmed our national security. I wanted to put myself in a position where I could help my country.”