Russian spy Brit who 'dreamed of being James Bond' caught in undercover sting
A Brit who 'dreamt about being like James Bond ' has been found guilty of trying to spy for what he believed to be Russian intelligence service agents.
Howard Phillips, 65, from Harlow, Essex, intended to help two apparent Russian agents called 'Sasha' and 'Dima', including by passing on personal information about former defence secretary Grant Shapps, helping with travel logistics and booking hotels.
But 'Dima' and 'Sasha' were in fact undercover British intelligence officers, Winchester Crown Court previously heard. A jury found Phillips guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act on Tuesday, following a trial at the same court.
The jury reached a unanimous verdict after four hours and four minutes of deliberations. Phillips, wearing a dark suit and tie, silently shook his head in the dock as the verdict was given. 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'.
Mrs Phillips told the court she was aware the defendant had applied for a job at the UK Border Force in October 2023, which prosecutors said was part of his bid to assist Russia 's intelligence service.
Phillips previously claimed he had contacted the Russian embassy in early 2024 in a bid to track and expose Russian agents to assist Israel. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb remanded Phillips in custody and adjourned sentencing to the 'earliest available date' in the autumn.
The court was previously told how Phillips made a written pledge to the fake agents in which he promised "100 per cent loyalty" and also boasted of how he could move "under the radar" because of his security clearances. He bragged he could be 'totally hidden' and serve a "foreign power" and even came up with the codeword "mother" for Moscow, it was said.
The court was told Phillips, who used to work in insolvency, was retired but was looking for easy money. Ms Ledward KC said: 'At the time we are concerned, he was unemployed, and it would seem that he had got to the point where he was struggling financially.
'That appears to have been a very significant factor in his eagerness and his desire to provide assistance to the Russian intelligence service.
"The evidence you may think, in due course, once you've heard it, we suggest, shows he was keen to offer assistance, not necessarily for any ideological reason or because he sympathized with the Russian state, but particularly because he wanted to be financially rewarded for so doing easy and perhaps interesting or exciting work for easy money.'
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