British man Howard Phillips jailed after trying to spy for Russia

A British man who jurors were told “dreamt about being like James Bond” has been jailed for seven years after trying to spy for Russia.

Howard Phillips, from Harlow, Essex, wanted to pass on personal information about former Defence Secretary Sir Grant Shapps.

The Conservative MP recalled going to Mr Phillips’s house after moving to a new home in 2002.

Phillips, 66, was found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act and was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court in Hampshire.

“You were prepared to betray your country for money,” said Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb.

“You took a grave risk and didn’t care what damage you caused.

“Through the deliberate work of the security services you were caught before providing material assistance to a foreign intelligence service so the danger was averted.”

She said he was being sentenced on the basis he was not “ideologically driven but motivated by money”.

His trial earlier this year was told he applied for a job with UK Border Force in October 2023, which prosecutors said was part of his bid to assist Russia.

Phillips offered to help two agents who he thought were from the country’s intelligence service, but who were actually undercover British intelligence officers.

His ex-wife told jurors he “would dream about being like James Bond” and watched films about MI5 and MI6 as he was “infatuated with it”.

Phillips told the agents on WhatsApp that he was “semi-retired but with connections in high places”, before meeting them in both London and at Lakeside Shopping Centre in West Thurrock, Essex, on 9 May 2024.

He agreed to pass on personal information about Sir Grant, including his address, phone number and location of his private plane.

Prosecutors said he left the agents a USB on a bike near St Pancras and Euston stations in London.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Sir Grant said he was “shocked” about the defendant’s plans and said he was concerned for his family’s safety.

Sir Grant recalled going to dinner at Phillips’s home, three years before he became MP for Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

“I feel it has been a complete breach of trust by Mr Phillips,” said Sir Grant.

“He chose to take whatever information he had and attempted to sell it to a foreign intelligence service thereby, wantonly, putting myself, my family and ultimately the country at risk.”

Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, said: “Phillips was brazen in his pursuit for financial gain, and unbothered about the potential detriment to his own country.”

Phillips’s defence lawyer, Jeremy Dein KC, said said there was an “element of fantasy” in his actions.

He was described in court as a “lost soul” and an “eccentric fantasist” who believed he could manage Arsenal football club or even England.

“This was an ageing man whose life had collapsed, who was clearly not thinking straight and was desperate for money,” said Mr Dein.