A man accused of spying for Iran allegedly added a misspelling of the word “secret” to a publicly available document in an attempt to please his Iranian handler.
Daniel Khalife, who has admitted escaping from Wandsworth prison, wrote “secert” instead of “secret” on the front page of a document which could be found online, Woolwich Crown Court has heard.
He allegedly sent his contact three documents about military doctrine on 30 December 2021, a week before his arrest.
The notes leaked by Khalife were “useless” and would cause the Iranians to “seriously question” his role as a spy, his trial was told on Friday.
The 23-year-old is accused of spending more than two years passing secrets to the Iranians while serving with the Royal Corps of Signals but denies the charges, saying he only handed over fabricated documents in an attempt to become a double agent.
The prosecution alleged there was a “step change” in Khalife’s activity two years into the relationship with the Iranians when he came under pressure to provide real information.
But the court was told that of the documents sent by Khalife, from Kingston, southwest London, the first was available online and similar documents to the other two were also on the internet.
He changed their classification to “secret” on the front page but misspelt it on one of the documents as “secert”.
Leaked info would be found ‘gathering dust on a shelf’
Frank Ledwidge, an expert in military capabilities, history and strategy, who served with the Joint Services Intelligence Organisation, said about the first document: “By 2021 when it was delivered to the other side, it would be of virtually no use for reasons of context.
“It is obsolete, it is getting out of date for reasons of the structure of army, the units in place then are not in place now, and the way people discuss military language and concepts.”
Speaking about the second document, Mr Ledwidge told the court: “My opinion is that I fail to understand why this is before the court.
“It has been out in the world since day one in 2011 and discussed by scholars and invites comment.
“If I went to an army base I would probably find it gathering dust on someone’s shelf.”
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‘I would seriously question my source’
A handwritten list of the surnames and first initials of special forces soldiers – which Khalife is also accused of leaking – would not be of use because “the primary targets of Iranians are dissidents and Israelis,” Mr Ledwidge told the court.
He added: “If I were an Iranian intelligence officer, I would seriously question my source’s degree of access and motivation.
“Two of the attributes of a good agent are access – ability to get good information – and motivation to do that – money or other things.
“If you have someone delivering documents purporting to be one thing but are another that would reduce that and challenge, perhaps terminally, the usefulness of that individual to their agent handler.”
Khalife escaped from prison under a food catering van on 6 September last year, causing a nationwide manhunt.
He denies committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, eliciting information about members of the armed forces and perpetrating a bomb hoax.
The trial continues.
