'Russian spy', 65, accused of trying to share details about Sir Grant Shapps tells court he was trying to EXPOSE Putin's agents, not help them

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A man accused of trying to hand over the personal details of former defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps to Russian intelligence has told a court he was actually trying to 'expose' Putin 's agents.
Howard Phillips, 65, of Harlow in Essex, is on trial over allegedly intending to assist the Russian Intelligence Service by helping people he believed were agents working for Moscow.
He was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service after allegedly passing a USB stick containing details relating to Shapps including his home address and the location of his private jet to undercover officers, who prosecutors say he believed to be Russian spies.
Phillips denies the charges. Giving evidence at Winchester Crown Court on Monday, he claimed he was not acting against the UK when he allegedly leaked the then cabinet minister's details but had been carrying out a secret plot to 'trap' Putin spies.
Phillips told a jury he wrote a letter to the Russian embassy in early 2024 'portraying that I had information and if they were interested, they should contact me'.
He said he did not in fact have any information, but wrote it 'because of events that were happening in the world'.
'I was intending to track and expose Russian agents,' the defendant told jurors.
Asked by his lawyer Jeremy Dein KC what events he was referring to, he said: 'In particular, the war between Israel and Gaza and the Ukrainian-Russian War.'
'I was very frustrated with the delay in the US senate's agreeing to finance and provide weapons and material to Ukrainians,' Phillips told the court.
'Watching every day of the lines moving further into Ukraine by the Russian army.
'It was a very frustrating situation and I felt the West wasn't doing enough to stem the flow of Russian advance.
'I was intending to expose and a track a Russian agent who may be operating within the UK. It was a small part to play... it was a small part that possibly I could do.'
Asked why, Phillips, who told jurors he was of Jewish faith, said: 'Because they are the enemy. And also there is another side to it because at the time the media portrayal of Israel was very negative.'
He said if he exposed a Russian agent, he could 'take that to the Israelis' who in turn could reveal it to Britain and 'gain credit for it'.
'Then that would facilitate benefit to the Israelis by the (UK) media having to portray the way they had helped the UK, which goes on behind the scenes anyway,' Phillips said.
Jurors heard Phillips, who has four children, grew up in Swiss Cottage, north London.
The USB stick in question, which the Met Police said contained Shapps home address, phone number, and the location of his private plane
He left school at 17 to work at his father's fur farm in the East End before beginning a career in insolvency.
Phillips, who wore a dark grey suit, white shirt and black tie in the witness box, told jurors: 'I love the UK, I have a lot of views as to what is happening and going on behind the scenes but I absolutely love this country.'
He said he would 'not ever' do anything to deliberately harm the UK.
Phillips, who is accused of obtaining and passing on Sir Grant Shapps's contact details to a foreign intelligence service, told jurors he met Sir Grant 'about four times', first at the Potters Bar Synagogue, of which they were both members.
He said he and his then-wife also met Mrs Shapps, but that the couple were 'more acquaintances than friends'.
Jurors were shown a number of letters found on a hard drive from Phillips's computer which was seized by police, including to former prime ministers Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, actor Tom Cruise's agent, actress Jennifer Aniston, and the chief executive of BP.
In a letter to Ms Truss, dated October 7 2022, Phillips told her he had long been a Conservative voter.
He wrote about a series of issues, in one passage stating: 'Immigration has been an immense tribulation for these shores for way too long and even a complete border shut down could still now be too little, too late.
'The demographics in certain areas have been changed. London is no longer recognisable, and the home counties have been affected.'
In other letters, he made reference to his hobbies and skills which he told the court he hoped would lead to 'opportunities'.
He sent several of the same letter to different addresses for Ms Aniston, in which he described himself as 'an ordinary English guy, wanting to meet with you in person to have a chat'.
Phillips wrote that he would be 'happy to fly to the US'.
Asked why, he told jurors he was 'just knocking on a door for potential opportunity. Within the roles of acting or doing something.'
Phillips denies one count of engaging in conduct to assist a foreign intelligence service, in breach of the National Security Act, and the trial continues.