Brit Asked To Be Russian Spy As He Was Fed Up Of 9 To 5, Court Hears

2026-03-21T05:27:21Z

82.21.227.249: Created page with " A wannabe Russian spy met with undercover intelligence officers at Costa Coffe as he was desperate to avoid going back to a 'normal nine-to-five' job, a court has heard. If you liked this article so you would like to be given more info regarding [https://jetblacktransportation.com/blog/long-distance-car-ride-services/ long distance car ride services] please visit our own page. Howard Phillips, 65, from Harlow in Essex, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court..."

A wannabe Russian spy met with undercover intelligence officers at Costa Coffe as he was desperate to avoid going back to a 'normal nine-to-five' job, a court has heard. If you liked this article so you would like to be given more info regarding [https://jetblacktransportation.com/blog/long-distance-car-ride-services/ long distance car ride services] please visit our own page. Howard Phillips, 65, from Harlow in Essex, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act. On Thursday, jurors were played a covert recording of a meeting between Phillips and two undercover intelligence officers - who he believed were Russian agents called 'Dima' and 'Sasha' - at the London Bridge Hotel on April 26 last year. He then met the two officers at a Costa Coffee in a retail park in Essex on May 9 where he was allegedly handed a brown envelope containing £500 to provide information on then-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps. The former City insolvency practitioner boasted of holding 'useful' information on the Tory politician saying that he knew him personally, the court was told. Phillips told undercover secret service agents - pretending to be Kremlin spies - that he had met up with Shapps three times, it was heard. In meetings with the 'Russian agents', which were secretly recorded, Phillips said he did not want to return to a 'normal' nine-to-five job and came up with the idea of 'offering [https://jetblacktransportation.com/blog/long-distance-car-ride-services/ long distance car ride services]' to the Russian Intelligence Service after a trip to Moscow. He said he wanted the 'agents' and him to be a 'family', adding that they could all 'help each other' and 'look after each other'. Howard Phillips, 65, from Harlow in Essex, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act He met two undercover intelligence officers - who he believed were Russian agents called 'Dima' and 'Sasha' - at a Costa Coffee in a retail park in Essex on May 9 It is alleged Phillips, who was unemployed at the time, told the 'agents' he held personal information about Sir Grant Shapps (pictured) Phillips was heard telling the men he wanted to work for Russia in exchange for financial independence from the UK. 'If I'm financially independent from the UK, I don't have to be part of it,' he said. 'The moment I work for a company I don't have the freedom anymore. I don't want to have to rely on going back to work. 'I've worked nine-to-five in offices all my life, I want to be doing something different,' he added. 'It's not for me. It never was for me.' The court heard Phillips said he felt Russia had been unfairly maligned in the West. 'There's been a lot of discredit accorded to Russia - I think a lot of it is absolute rubbish,' he said in the recording. 'Maybe there's an element of truth, but none of us are without sin - Britain and America do what we have to do.' He told the intelligence officers: 'There's nothing about me - I'm an English tourist. No suspicions. I feel you can benefit from me and I can benefit from you.' Phillips said he was motivated by a desire to do 'something different' and 'provide a benefit to other people on a quid pro quo basis'. Jurors were played a covert recording of a meeting between Phillips and two undercover intelligence officers at the London Bridge Hotel (pictured) on April 26 last year Giving evidence from behind a curtain, one of the officers - who posed as 'Dima' during the operation - spoke in a regional British accent, though jurors heard him using a thick Russian accent in the covert recordings. Phillips allegedly offered to help with booking hotels, picking people up from airports, managing travel logistics, [https://jetblacktransportation.com/blog/long-distance-car-ride-services/ long distance car ride services] and creating a layer of plausible deniability for agents operating in the UK. On April 4, he travelled to London under the request of the 'agents' and left a USB stick on a bicycle seat near St Pancras and Euston station. Uploaded onto the stick was a document which detailed how he could 'assist the Russian Intelligence Service'. In one exchange he told the intelligence officers that if they needed someone to, for example, go to Cardiff Airport to meet an individual and take him to the Celtic Hotel, 'I can be arranging things and booking things without raising any questions'. Jurors heard how Phillips had applied for a job with UK Border Force in late 2023 and had recently obtained security clearance. In the meeting, he said the vetting process meant he had already provided information about his personal life, including past addresses and relationships. He told the officers this gave him a degree of official credibility and access. Later that day, Phillips began using the encrypted app Signal to communicate with the officers. A message sent to him afterwards said: 'Today was very pleasing. We look forward to work with what seems very natural talent.' He later asked for a 'gesture of goodwill in advance' - suggesting a financial reward. The intelligence officers replied: 'Please do not worry - we always compensate people appropriately.' In meetings with the 'Russian agents', which were secretly recorded, Phillips said he came up with the idea of 'offering [https://jetblacktransportation.com/blog/long-distance-car-ride-services/ long distance car ride services]' to the Russian Intelligence Service after a trip to Moscow Days later they asked Phillips to assist with an upcoming visit from a 'very important individual' from their organisation. He was instructed to book a hotel room, purchase a Samsung A15 smartphone and EE pay-as-you-go SIM card, and set up an email account under the name 'Edward Kennington'. On May 9, Phillips met with 'Dima' at a Costa Coffee in a retail park in West Thurrock, Essex. It was here he was allegedly handed a brown envelope containing £500 as he revealed what information he had been holding. Jurors were then played a secret recording of the meeting, in which Phillips could be heard saying: 'What do you know about the Secretary of Defence of the United Kingdom?' When asked why, he replied: 'Because I have some information which may be useful.' He claimed to know then-defence secretary Grant Shapps's home address and home phone number. 'I was invited to his house with a lot of other people,' Phillips said. 'He was the MP for Welwyn Hatfield - then he became chairman of the Conservative Party, now he's the Secretary of State.' He also told the officers he knew details about Shapps's private aircraft, the court previously heard. Jurors were shown a letter that Phillips was allegedly handed during that meeting, which read: 'Dear Howard, thank you for your continued cooperation. Moscow very pleased with ongoing progress.' He reportedly asked that, going forward, the officers refer to Moscow as 'mother' in their messages. Pictured: A general view of Winchester Crown Court On May 16, he created a document on his laptop containing the personal details of Shapps, which he uploaded to a USB stick. He met Sasha in a shopping centre and handed over a Samsung Galaxy phone, Hilton hotel key card, and SanDiskUSB. On leaking Shapps' information, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC said: 'The defendant knew exactly what those personal details of Grant Shapps MP would enable the Russians to do.' She said if he had succeeded in his plans, there could have been 'very serious consequences'. Phillips was handed an envelope with £1,000 cash and was asked to head to a coffee shop on King's Cross Square to meet a man. After arriving at the cafe, he was arrested by officers. Phillips denies one count of engaging in conduct to assist a foreign intelligence service. The trial continues.

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Brit Asked To Be Russian Spy As He Was Fed Up Of 9 To 5, Court Hears