Latest news with #HowardPhillips
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Moment 'Russian spy' drops off USB stick in plot to leak sensitive details about Grant Shapps is shown in court
The moment an alleged Russian spy dropped off a USB stick in a plot to leak sensitive information about Grant Shapps has been 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.
The Guardian
15 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Man accused of plot to share Shapps details says he wanted to ‘expose' Russian spies
A man accused of attempting to hand over the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to Russian intelligence officers has told a court he was actually trying to 'expose' the agents. Howard Phillips, 65, was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service after passing a USB stick containing details relating to Shapps including his home address and the location of his private plane to undercover officers, who prosecutors say he believed to be Russian spies. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charge. Opening his defence at Winchester crown court, Phillips said he was not acting against the UK when he allegedly leaked Shapps's details but carrying out a secret plot to 'trap' Russian spies. Phillips, a retired insolvency worker from Harlow, Essex, told the court he was Jewish and hoped to pass information about the Russian spies to Israel, as he believed this would 'benefit' the state. He also told jurors that he first met Shapps, then his local MP in the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield, at a synagogue. Jeremy Dein, representing Phillips, asked whether he had any 'feelings about Russia' before he made contact with whom he presumed was the Russian intelligence service. In response, he said he did hold opinions – and they were 'very negative'. When asked about his view of the UK, he said: 'I love the UK … I would never do anything deliberate which would have the potential to harm this country – not ever.' Phillips told jurors he first made contact with the agents by sending a letter to the Russian embassy in March 2024. 'I simply wrote a letter portraying that I had information and that if they are interested, they should be in contact with me,' he said. Phillips said he did not have any information to share, and when asked why he made contact, he said: 'Because of events that were happening in the world, I was intending to track and expose the Russian agents.' When asked why he wanted to do this, Phillips said: 'Because they are the enemy and also, there was another side to it that was, at the time, the media portrayal of Israel was very negative. 'I was thinking to myself, if I could expose an agent, I could take that to the Israelis and facilitate benefit to the Israelis by the [UK] media having to portray that Israel had helped the UK – which goes on behind the scenes anyway.' The court heard that Phillips had met Shapps on four occasions in the past, after they met at Potters Bar synagogue in Hertfordshire. He said he had 'socialised' with Shapps in the then MP's house after an 'invitation to dinner and also to a meeting'. When asked if he was 'friends' with the politician, he said: 'I would say more acquaintances than friends.' Phillips said that in early 2024 he was living off his 'dilapidating capital', adding: 'I was pretty low about everything.' He told jurors he had also sent letters to the Iranian and Chinese embassies in March 2024. When asked why, he said: 'The same criteria. To expose and trap a foreign agent who I perceived were the enemies.' The court heard he had sent several letters in the past to various political figures, celebrities and business people, among others. In November 2022 he sent a letter to the actor Jennifer Aniston and the agent of Tom Cruise. Phillips also sent letters to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Suella Braverman and Steve Barclay, among others. The trial continues.
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
'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
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.
Telegraph
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
I was trying to help Ukraine, claims ‘Russian spy'
A British man accused of offering to sell information to Russia about Sir Grant Shapps claimed he was trying to 'expose Russian agents' to help the Ukrainian war effort, a court was told. Howard Phillips, 65, allegedly tried to help two intelligence officers who he believed were working for Moscow by passing on personal details about the former defence secretary. He was unemployed and had applied for a job at UK Border Force, hoping the security clearance would give him access to more information. It is alleged he believed he was in contact with two Russian Intelligence Service agents called Dima and Sasha, but they were actually undercover British police officers. Giving evidence at Winchester Crown Court on Monday, Mr Phillips said 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,' Mr Phillips said. 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 agreeing to finance and provide weapons and material to Ukrainians. 'Watching every day the lines moving further into Ukraine by the Russian army. 'I felt the West wasn't doing enough to stem the flow of Russian advance. 'I was intending to expose and 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,' he added. The court heard Mr Phillips's finances were 'decreasing rapidly' at the time but he denied asking for money when he wrote to the Russian embassy, saying he did not believe he would get any money that way. He said he also wrote to the Iranian and Chinese embassies, with the same plan to assist Israel. On April 4 2024 Phillips left the 'agents' a USB stick on the exposed seat shaft of a bicycle parked on Polygon Road, London, near St Pancras and Euston stations.
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Man accused of plot to share Shapps details says he wanted to ‘expose' Russian spies
A man accused of attempting to hand over the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to Russian intelligence officers has told a court he was actually trying to 'expose' the agents. Howard Phillips, 65, was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service after passing a USB stick containing details relating to Shapps including his home address and the location of his private plane to undercover officers, who prosecutors say he believed to be Russian spies. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charge. Opening his defence at Winchester crown court, Phillips said he was not acting against the UK when he allegedly leaked Shapps's details but carrying out a secret plot to 'trap' Russian spies. Phillips, a retired insolvency worker from Harlow, Essex, told the court he was Jewish and hoped to pass information about the Russian spies to Israel, as he believed this would 'benefit' the state. He also told jurors that he first met Shapps, then his local MP in the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield, at a synagogue. Jeremy Dein, representing Phillips, asked whether he had any 'feelings about Russia' before he made contact with whom he presumed was the Russian intelligence service. In response, he said he did hold opinions – and they were 'very negative'. When asked about his view of the UK, he said: 'I love the UK … I would never do anything deliberate which would have the potential to harm this country – not ever.' Phillips told jurors he first made contact with the agents by sending a letter to the Russian embassy in March 2024. 'I simply wrote a letter portraying that I had information and that if they are interested, they should be in contact with me,' he said. Phillips said he did not have any information to share, and when asked why he made contact, he said: 'Because of events that were happening in the world, I was intending to track and expose the Russian agents.' When asked why he wanted to do this, Phillips said: 'Because they are the enemy and also, there was another side to it that was, at the time, the media portrayal of Israel was very negative. 'I was thinking to myself, if I could expose an agent, I could take that to the Israelis and facilitate benefit to the Israelis by the [UK] media having to portray that Israel had helped the UK – which goes on behind the scenes anyway.' The court heard that Phillips had met Shapps on four occasions in the past, after they met at Potters Bar synagogue in Hertfordshire. He said he had 'socialised' with Shapps in the then MP's house after an 'invitation to dinner and also to a meeting'. When asked if he was 'friends' with the politician, he said: 'I would say more acquaintances than friends.' Phillips said that in early 2024 he was living off his 'dilapidating capital', adding: 'I was pretty low about everything.' He told jurors he had also sent letters to the Iranian and Chinese embassies in March 2024. When asked why, he said: 'The same criteria. To expose and trap a foreign agent who I perceived were the enemies.' The court heard he had sent several letters in the past to various political figures, celebrities and businessmen, among others. In November 2022 he sent a letter to the actor Jennifer Aniston and the agent of Tom Cruise. Phillips also sent letters to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Suella Braverman and Steve Barclay, among others. The trial continues.
