Former British soldier Daniel Khalife, who is accused of spying for Iran and escaping from prison, has told a court he is a patriot who is against the Middle Eastern country.
Giving evidence for the first time in his trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Khalife, 23, said he visited Iran as a 15-year-old and thought it was a horrible place.
The former soldier was taken to the country for four weeks by his very strict mother to show him how people lived there, his trial heard.
I hated it, he told Woolwich Crown Court. I was able to see how much I had in London. Its a tragedy whats happened to that country.
Prosecutors allege Khalife passed secret military information to Iran and later hid underneath a food truck to escape Wandsworth prison in south-west London on September 6 last year. He denies the charges.
Daniel Khalife, who is accused of spying for Iran and escaping from prison, has told a court he is a patriot
Giving evidence for the first time in his trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Khalife said he thought Iran was a horrible place
Khalife, who wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, later told the court he is a patriot, adding: I joined the military at 16 because I wanted to serve.
He told the jury he is English and has never described himself as British, adding he joined the Army at such a young age because it was the only way in which I could be of use to my country, while friends were going to college having some level of fun.
Khalife said: I am a patriot and I love my country. I absolutely was proud to join the military, I had quite big aspirations.
The 23-year-old, who began his evidence by saying good morning to jurors, told the court he was still a boy when he joined the military, adding there had been a major shift in his maturity since being held in custody.
Ive done a significant amount of growing up, he continued.
Khalife, who was born in the Marylebone area of London before moving to Richmond, told jurors his mother was born in Iran.
Asked by his barrister Gul Nawaz Hussain KC about his mothers feelings towards the country now, he said: To this day I dont think Ive met one person who lives outside of Iran who is not hostile to the government.
My mother detests the regime, probably the country as well. Me and my family are against the regime in Iran.
Of joining the military at 16, he said: To put it simply, I wanted to get away from home. I wanted to feel what it would be like to be free. Ive never been free.
Theres always been some level of segregation... I dont know what its like to be free.
Khalife is alleged to have fled his Army barracks when he realised he would face criminal charges over allegations he passed classified information to Irans intelligence service. Here he is pictured after his arrest by the Met on a canal towpath on September 9 2023
The 23-year-old is said to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023 by tying himself to the underside of a food delivery truck (pictured) using bedsheets
He told the jury he did not enjoy his education and struggled to learn, but that he passed 10 GCSEs.
Being from a lower income family in an affluent area made him ashamed of his small family home, so he never invited friends round, the court heard.
I was relatively popular but we were a poor family in a relatively wealthy area, he said. The relationships I formed in essence were fake.
At one point apologising for being loquacious, the former soldier told the jury he was not close to his Lebanese father, who was not a good man and would pop in and out, do some damage and then leave.
He recalled that, at the age of 15, he went shoplifting with a group of friends after learning about powerful magnets in a physics lesson and realising they could be used to remove security tags.
After this incident his mother took him and his sister on a month-long trip to Iran, where he learned to be grateful for all he had in London, he said.
He told the jury: Every day that I was in that country I wanted to come back.
The former soldier is alleged to have fled his Army barracks in January 2023 when he realised he would face criminal charges over allegations he passed classified information to Irans intelligence service.
Later, while on remand, he is alleged to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023 by tying himself to the underside of a food delivery truck using bedsheets.
As well as the prison escape, he also faces charges contrary to the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act, and is accused of perpetrating a bomb hoax.
He denies all the charges, and the trial continues.