Moment 'Russian spy' drops off USB stick in plot to leak sensitive details about Grant Shapps is shown in court
Howard Phillips, 65, from 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.
CCTV footage seen by the jury shows Phillips checking into a Hilton Hotel in London on behalf of who he was told was a senior Russian Intelligence Service officer.
Phillips can be seen walking up the stairs and into the main foyer before checking in at the front desk.
He then leaves carrying a brown paper bag, which he later hands over to one of the alleged 'agents'.
The events took place on May 16 last year just before 3pm, the court was told.
The 65-year-old Briton is on trial accused of trying to spy for the Kremlin by leaking Shapps' personal information - including the location of his private plane.
A court was told the father-of-four, who was set to start a job with UK Border Force, handed the 'agents' a bag containing a USB stick with Shapps' sensitive details on.
On the stick also contained Shapps' home address and phone number.
At Winchester Crown Court, Phillips denies engaging in conduct to assist a foreign intelligence service.
Prosecutors say Phillips boasted he could get government clearance due to his new job at Border Force.
He said he wanted the 'agents' and him to be a 'family' - and said they could all 'help each other' and 'look after each other'.
He claimed to have been to Shapps' home and had met up with him several times.
Inside the USB stick he dropped into the bike was a note that promised '100 per cent loyalty' to the Russian Intelligence Service [RIS] and boasted of how he could move 'under the radar' thanks to a valid government security vetting pass.
Shapps served as Secretary of State for Defence during the Ukraine and Russia war, and would have held negotiations with Volodymyr Zelensky. He was defeated in last year's general election and lost his seat.
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