A man has been found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service after handing over personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to two undercover officers he believed to be Russian agents.
Howard Phillips, 65, was convicted at Winchester crown court after jurors heard he had been seeking “easy money” when he offered his services to the undercover officers, known as Dima and Sasha.
Phillips, from Harlow, in Essex, handed a USB stick containing details relating to Shapps, including his home address and the location of his private plane, to one of the officers, the trial heard. He told the jury he was Jewish and met Shapps at a synagogue as his local MP in the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield.
Phillips, who told the fake Russian agents he was retired and had worked in insolvency, was arrested in May 2024 and charged under the National Security Act.
Phillips, wearing a dark suit and tie, silently shook his head in the dock as the jury gave its unanimous verdict after four hours and four minutes of deliberation.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb remanded Phillips in custody and adjourned sentencing to the “earliest available date” in the autumn.
Phillips was struggling financially and in the process of applying for a job at UK Border Force when he was approached by the undercover officers. He had written to the Russian embassy offering his services.
In March 2024, while the job application was live and pre-employment checks were being conducted, Phillips exchanged emails with the undercover officers believing them to be Russian intelligence officers.
“Sasha” and “Dima” communicated with Phillips over WhatsApp but the defendant would not reveal what he had to offer unless they met in person, the jury heard.
Phillips agreed to provide a document on a USB stick explaining what he could offer them by placing it in the exposed seat shaft of a bicycle that was located on a corner of Polygon Road in the St Pancras and Euston area of London.
He had typed a brief passage outlining what he could provide. It read: “If a foreign power had someone on the outside, totally hidden, completely secret, who moves easily in society, anywhere on any level and can completely blend in as an upstanding citizen locally or tourist in any worldwide location, that would prove invaluable to a foreign entity in ensuring discretion of movement.
“Then add to that a valid government security vetting pass. Such a person can move under the radar, allaying all suspicion they can move undetected and travel anywhere at anytime, no questions asked, they simply avoid suspicion.
“Now consider that this person can act locally at short notice to facilitate the collection of an operative from any port of entry, provide them with safe harbour, travel, assistance and return them to a designated place of embarkation undetected, no questions asked by anyone, notwithstanding setting up companies and procuring assets; that must be invaluable.”
On 26 April 2024, Phillips met the undercover officers at a London Bridge hotel where he revealed his real name and told them he was able to provide logistical support and would soon have a security clearance through the Home Office.
In May, the undercover officers met Phillips at a Costa Coffee in West Thurrock where he told them he could provide them with personal details for Shapps. He was given a task by the fake Russian agents to book a hotel in London, buy a mobile phone and set up the phone with a fake email address to facilitate a “sensitive meeting” for a senior officer in the Russian intelligence service, the court was told.
The defendant was provided with £500 in cash to help cover his outlay for the phone and the hotel booking and he booked the hotel later that evening. On 16 May 2024, Phillips met Sasha and handed over the phone as well as a USB stick containing Shapps’s details.
After receiving further instructions to meet a man called Nikolai Anatolevich Yakovlev at a nearby cafe, he took an envelope containing £1,000 in cash. Later that day, plainclothes officers entered the coffee shop and arrested the defendant.
In court, Phillips claimed he had been attempting to “expose” Russian agents and had hoped to pass information about the Russian spies to Israel, as he believed this would “benefit” the state. He had also sent letters to the Iranian and Chinese embassies in March 2024.
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 said he 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”.
The defendant’s ex-wife, Amanda Phillips, told the court during the trial that he “would dream about being like James Bond”, and that he watched films to do with MI5 and MI6 as he was “infatuated with it”.
Prosecutors said his conviction serves as a warning to others considering doing the same.
Bethan David, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s counter-terrorism division, said: “Howard Phillips clearly outlined the services he was willing to provide for a hostile state. From gaining employment within the civil service and applying for security clearance, to providing the personal details of the secretary of state for defence – Phillips was brazen in his pursuit for financial gain and unbothered about the potential detriment to his own country.”