The former soldier told the jury that his escape from Wandsworth prison, avoiding incarceration for sex offenders and terrorists, showed his “skills”.
Daniel Khalif (23), accused of leaking secrets to Iran, said he “was not a real spy” but pretended to be one after being arrested for watching a planned American TV series, Homeland Escape.
He said he wanted to be transferred to a maximum security unit because he was attracting unwanted attention from sex offenders in a vulnerable prison wing. He also fears he will be transferred to Belmarsh prison because terrorists are trying to kill him as a British soldier.
Khalif said he initially wanted to “make a show” of his escape but that on August 21 last year he was acting suspiciously while working in the prison kitchen and ended up covered in soot from a food distribution truck.
He was spotted and security was alerted but he was “quite shocked” that nothing happened and decided to “take full risk”, he told the jury.
When Calif first spoke about his escape during his trial at Woolwich Crown Court, he described how he had fashioned a makeshift noose using a pair of kitchen trousers and a carabiner that prisoners use to protect their belongings from rats.
He attached this to a Bidfood truck on September 1 last year to see if it would be spotted by officers from Wandsworth and other prisons on his delivery route.
“I put two carabiners and the makeshift rope under the truck,” he said.
“When I decided to leave prison I wanted to do it right so I also tested the security outside Wandsworth.
“The funny thing is I could see it the next day but it wasn’t seen at Wandsworth or any other prison.”
Then, on the morning of September 6, Calif said, he hid underground. His back was resting in a sling while the truck was searched.
“They did the usual search with flashlights but they couldn’t find me. The governor then came into the tunnel and said: “Did you search the vehicle?”
“I was lying on my back, there was something going on around the truck.”
When the vehicle stopped, he said, “I came out from under the truck and remained in a prone position until the truck drove off.”
Mr Calif, who joined the army at 16 and was commissioned in the Royal Signals Corps based at Beacons Barracks in Staffordshire, countered him saying he had never attempted to leave the country and had no intention of running away from opposition to “flee” from suspicion.
Three days later he was arrested on a footpath at the Grand Union Canal in Northolt, west London, after a nationwide manhunt.
When asked why he did not turn himself in after his escape, Calif said: “It finally showed what a stupid idea it is to put someone with my skills in prison.” What did it help anyone?”
“I’ve been released from prison but I accept I did not have permission to do so,” he said. “I fully accept that I should not have done what I did.”
Inspired by homeland
The court heard that Mr Khalifa had contacted Iranian intelligence officials after being told he could not get through security because his mother was Iranian-born.
Mr Khalifa, who told MI5 he wanted to be a “double agent”, said he felt “blessed” in court but described his arrest as a “slap in the face”.
Dressed in a blue checked shirt and chinos, he said police were “blinded by the prospect of a successful prosecution” but did not believe a prison sentence was “in the public interest”.
“I have done nothing to undermine national security. “I wanted to put myself in a position where I could help my country,” he said, “and I believed I could actually continue my work in this state, namely Iran.” The Netflix series Homeland, starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis, features Americans going undercover as terrorists.
“We’ve seen one of the characters on the show actually mistakenly defect to a certain country and use that position to their advantage,” he said. On the issue, Iran thought it was genuine. She did it to advance the interests of her country.”
Calif told the jury he was a “patriot,” adding, “I love my country. I just wanted to help. “I never wanted to cause harm and I have never done any harm.”
He added: “It’s tragic that this has happened but I will do whatever it takes to restart my career.”
Kalife, from Kingston, South West London The government denies a charge of doing something endangering the security or interest of the state under the Official Secrets Act
between May 1, 2019 and January 6, 2022, and also pleads not guilty to a charge of inciting an offence under the Terrorism Act. Information on military personnel on August 2, 2021, the carrying out of a bomb attack before January 2, 2023 and his escape from prison on September 6 last year
The trial continues