A court on Friday jailed for seven years a 66-year-old British man for his attempts to spy for Russia which were thwarted by undercover British officers.
Howard Phillips was convicted this year for initiating contact with foreign intelligence services and offering his assistance between 2023 and 2024.
He agreed to help two apparent Russian agents “Sasha” and “Dima,” and passed on personal information of then-defense secretary Grant Shapps, including his address, phone number, and the location of his private plane.
Sasha and Dina turned out to be British intelligence officers, and Phillips was arrested in May 2024.
At the sentencing, the judge, Bobbie Cheema-Grubb, said Phillips was an “intelligent man with a distorted concept of his own importance” who behaved “recklessly” for personal financial gain.
“You were prepared to betray your country for money... You took a grave risk and didn’t care what damage you caused,” Cheema-Grubb said.
His ex-wife, Amanda Phillips, had said during the trial that Phillips would “dream about being like James Bond” and was “infatuated” with films about espionage.
His defense lawyer said there was an “element of fantasy” in the actions of the defendant, who was described in court as a “lost soul” and an “eccentric fantasist whose life was at a low-end.”
However, the judge said that Phillips was also “prepared to commit the offense” of spying for Russia, adding that his case should serve as a “warning” to others prepared to do the same.
In a written statement about the case from July, Shapps said he was “shocked” by the events, which distressed him and his family.