Former soldier Daniel Khalife to face trial next autumn on Iran spying charge

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker set a new eight-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court from October 7 next year.

Court artist sketch of Daniel Khalife (Elizabeth Cook/PA) (PA Wire)

Former soldier Daniel Khalife who allegedly escaped from prison after being charged with passing sensitive information to Iranian intelligence will stand trial next autumn.

The 22-year-old’s November trial was put off in October after he allegedly got out from Wandsworth prison the month before by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry.

At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker set a new eight-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court from October 7 next year.

Khalife is charged under the Official Secrets Act of gathering information that might be useful to an enemy of the UK between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022.

The prosecution alleges Khalife passed sensitive material to Iranian intelligence and had more material in his possession for that purpose, which he denies.

The charge against him says that for a “purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state” he “obtained, circulated, recorded, published or communicated to any other person notes, documents or information” which might be or were intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy.

A second charge alleges Khalife elicited information about armed forces personnel on August 2 2021.

This allegedly relates to him “obtaining personal information from the MoD (Ministry of Defence) joint personnel administration system of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”.

He is also charged with perpetrating a bomb hoax on or before January 2.

The charge says he placed “three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation” to spark fears it was “likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property”.

Khalife had been on remand on those charges at Wansworth jail in south London where he allegedly escaped custody.

He was arrested on a canal towpath in west London on September 9 after being pulled off a push bike by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer.

The defendant has denied all the charges against him.

He appeared at the Old Bailey by video link from Belmarsh prison and spoke only to confirm his identity at Thursday’s hearing.

Mr Justice Baker said a preparatory hearing would take place on a date to be fixed next March.