A 66-year-old man has been sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of attempting to assist a foreign intelligence service by providing personal details of Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.
The Sting Operation
Howard Phillips, from Harlow in Essex, was found guilty in July of offering his services to two undercover police officers he believed to be Russian agents known as Dima and Sasha. The court heard that Phillips, who described himself as retired with experience in insolvency, was motivated by financial gain and seeking what he called "easy money" when he approached the fake intelligence operatives.
During the trial at Winchester Crown Court, evidence revealed that Phillips had placed a USB stick containing sensitive information about the defence secretary in the exposed seat shaft of a bicycle on Polygon Road in the St Pancras and Euston area of central London. The stored data included Shapps' home address and details about the location of his private aircraft.
Courtroom Revelations
Sentencing Phillips, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb stated: "You were prepared to betray your country for money. I sentence you on the basis you are not ideologically driven but motivated by money. You took a grave risk and didn't care what damage you caused."
The judge acknowledged that security services had prevented actual damage by intercepting Phillips before he could provide material assistance to a foreign intelligence service. Phillips had claimed during proceedings that he was attempting to expose Russian agents and planned to pass information to Israel, which he believed would benefit the state.
Background and Motives
Phillips told the court he was Jewish and had met Shapps at a synagogue when the minister was serving as his local MP for Welwyn Hatfield. His ex-wife, Amanda Phillips, testified that her former husband "would dream about being like James Bond" and was infatuated with MI5 and MI6-related films.
The court heard that Phillips had been experiencing financial difficulties and was in the process of applying for a position with the UK Border Force when he initiated contact with the Russian embassy offering his services. In March 2024, while his job application was undergoing pre-employment checks, Phillips began email correspondence with the undercover officers.
Phillips was arrested in May 2024 and charged under the National Security Act following a meeting at a Costa Coffee in West Thurrock where he offered to provide the defence secretary's personal details to the men he believed were Russian intelligence operatives.
