Daniel Khalife sentenced to over 14 years in prison

Image: Daniel Khalife; Photograph Metropolitan Police

Escaped prisoner sentenced after pleading guilty 

Daniel Khalife, a former British soldier, has been sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison for spying for Iran and escaping from Wandsworth Prison.

His conviction follows a dramatic nationwide manhunt in September 2023 after he fled the south London jail while awaiting trial. While on the run, he was spotted in several places in Chiswick and Richmond – including NB Newsagents at Grove Park, where he was seen on CCTV reading newspapers about his escape.

Khalife, 23, was found guilty in November 2024 of breaching the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act. Prosecutors revealed that he had collected and passed sensitive military information to Tehran, including details of 15 serving soldiers, some from the UK’s special forces. Khalife also took photos of secret communications equipment and military computer screens which displayed classified IP addresses.

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During sentencing, Mrs Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Khalife: “You had the makings of an exemplary soldier, but you chose to be a dangerous fool.” She dismissed his claim that he had intended to hand himself in, instead describing him as “an attention seeker” who enjoyed the notoriety of his escape.

The court also heard a number of mitigating factors, including Khalife’s age and a psychological report from 2023 diagnosing him with Antisocial Personality Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Images: Khalife pictured in NB Newsagents in Grove Park where he read and bought a newspaper about his escape

Manhunt cost police £250,000 in overtime 

Khalife’s escape from Wandsworth Prison in September 2023 led to a high-profile 75-hour police operation, costing over £250,000 in overtime to officers. Strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry, he slipped out of custody unnoticed. Three days later, he was arrested by plainclothes officers while riding a stolen bicycle along a canal towpath in Northholt, just 11 miles from the prison.

During his time on the run, Khalife attempted to contact his handlers in Iran via an encrypted Telegram message that simply read: “I wait.” He received no response.

While serving in the army, including during a military exercise in the US, Khalife systematically gathered classified information, storing images of military equipment and personnel details on his phone.

Exploiting a loophole in the Army’s holiday-booking system, he obtained full names of soldiers, which prosecutors believe he sent to Iran before deleting the evidence.

Khalife claimed the material he provided was “fake” or “useless,” but investigators found at least two classified documents related to military drones and surveillance intelligence among his transmissions.

His use of encrypted messaging apps, such as Telegram, means the full extent of his espionage may never be known.

Image: Khalife congratulated officers who found him when he was arrested in Northolt; Photograph Met Police

Khalife was “ extremely reckless and dangerous”

Khalife’s escape exposed significant security shortcomings at Wandsworth Prison. An internal audit identified 81 failings, including malfunctioning CCTV cameras that had not worked for over a year.

On the day of his escape, nearly 40% of prison officers failed to report for duty. The Ministry of Justice, however, insisted that staffing levels had been adequate.

Partway through his trial, Khalife pleaded guilty to escaping from prison but was acquitted of perpetrating a bomb hoax at his barracks. He told police that he had previously reached out to MI6 in 2019, hoping to offer intelligence to UK authorities. He also claimed he broke out of Wandsworth to avoid being housed with sex offenders and hoped his escape would lead to a transfer to Belmarsh Prison.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, warned of the wider implications of Khalife’s espionage:

“The threat to the UK from states such as Iran is very serious, so for a soldier in the army to be sharing sensitive military material with them is extremely reckless and dangerous.”

Khalife, wearing a black jumper, remained expressionless as he was led from the courtroom following his sentencing.