Latest news with #RussianIntelligence
Reuters
a day ago
- Politics
- Reuters
UK man convicted of offering minister's information to Russian intelligence
LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - A British man who offered personal information about former defence minister Grant Shapps to Russian intelligence for money was on Tuesday found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service. Howard Phillips offered Shapps' home address and phone number to two people he believed were Russian agents but were in fact British undercover officers, prosecutors said. The 65-year-old denied one count of engaging in conduct intended to materially assist a foreign intelligence service, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail. Phillips gave evidence at his trial at Winchester Crown Court, claiming he was trying to "trap and expose a foreign agent". But he was convicted of the offence under the National Security Act by a jury on Tuesday. He will be sentenced at a later date. At the start of his trial, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said Phillips offered to help Russian intelligence "not necessarily for ideological reasons or because he sympathised with the Russian state". Ledward said Phillips had sought to carry out "easy – and, perhaps, interesting or exciting – work for easy money". Phillips was approached in March 2024 by purported Russian agents, using the names Sasha and Dima, who asked Phillips to save a file onto a clean USB stick, stating what he could offer and why, and hide it inside a parked bicycle on a London street. He later met Dima in May 2024, saying he knew Shapps' home address, telephone number and where his private plane was kept as he had visited Shapps' house, Ledward said. Phillips also offered logistical support, by booking a hotel and buying a mobile phone for a foreign intelligence service, prosecutors said.
Arab News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
UK sanctions Russian spies for ‘threats, aggression'
LONDON: Britain on Friday slapped sanctions on the GRU Russian intelligence agency and 18 named agents accused of 'spreading chaos and disorder' on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilize Europe, undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,' Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement, adding 'Putin's hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve.'
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- 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.
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- 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.
The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Man told fake Russian spies he had ‘useful' information on Grant Shapps, jury hears
A retired insolvency worker devised a plot to leak the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to Russian intelligence after claiming to have been invited to the politician's home and met him three times, a court has heard. Howard Phillips, 65, was in the process of applying for a job with the UK Border Force when he was approached by undercover officers who were posing as Russian agents called Dima and Sasha, the court heard. Phillips, from Harlow in Essex, boasted that he had 'useful' information on Shapps, who was his local MP in the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield at the time he claimed they had met, jurors were told. The defendant was arrested in May 2024 and charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service. He denies the charge and is standing trial at Winchester crown court. The court was told that in meetings with the 'Russian agents' that were secretly recorded, Phillips said he did not want to return to a 'normal' nine-to-five job and came up with the idea of 'offering services' to the Russian intelligence services after a trip to Moscow. Phillips said he wanted the agents and him to be a 'family' and said they could all 'help each other', the court heard. He later handed the undercover officers a bag containing a USB stick with Shapps' details on it, including his home address, phone number and location of his private plane, the court heard. One of the undercover officers, who is employed by the Security Service, gave evidence from behind a curtain on Thursday. He was known to Phillips as Dima and spoke to him in recordings with a fake Russian accent, the court heard. At a meeting at London Bridge hotel with the fake agents, Phillips told them he retired from insolvency work five years ago and went travelling afterwards, visiting cities including Moscow, the jury heard. He said he had found himself in a position 'where now I need to be earning money'. 'I do not want and cannot for myself go back into the normal nine-to-five office. It's not for me, it never was for me, but I did it,' he is said to have told them. The trial heard details of early communications Phillips had with the agents before they met in person. The trial continues.
