Former British soldier accused of helping Iran pleads guilty to prison escape

A British soldier accused of passing sensitive information to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards pleaded guilty to escaping from prison on Monday while awaiting trial.

Daniel Abed Khalife stands trial at Woolwich Crown Court in London. He is accused of collecting confidential information between May 2019 and January 2022.

Khalife, who is no longer in the British armed forces, also denies leaving a fake bomb on a desk and fleeing his barracks in 2023.

Prosecutors had also alleged that Khalife escaped from London's Wandsworth Prison in September 2023 by tying himself to the floor of a van, sparking a brief nationwide manhunt.

The 23-year-old had originally pleaded not guilty to escaping custody, but changed his plea to guilty on Monday after several days of testimony earlier this month.

Khalife is also accused of gathering information that could be useful to an enemy, namely Iran, obtaining information that could be useful for terrorism, and perpetrating a bomb hoax.

He still denies these three allegations and his trial continues.