A British soldier charged with disseminating sensitive information to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has pleaded guilty to escaping from prison while awaiting trial on Monday.
Daniel Abed Khalife is currently on trial at London’s Woolwich Crown Court, and is accused of collecting sensitive information between May 2019 and January 2022.
Khalife, who is no longer a member of the British armed forces, had however, denied leaving a fake bomb on a desk and absconding from his barracks in 2023.
According to the prosecutors, Khalife had also escaped from London’s Wandsworth prison in September 2023 by tying himself to the bottom of a delivery van– a daring escape that sparked a brief nationwide manhunt.
The 23-year-old had previously pleaded not guilty to escaping from lawful custody, but he changed his plea to guilty on Monday after having given evidence for several days earlier this month.
Khalife also stands accused of gathering information that could prove useful to an enemy, namely Iran, obtaining information likely to be useful for terrorism and perpetrating a bomb hoax.
He however, still denies those three charges and his trial continues.
