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A retired man passed on the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to two undercover police officers, believing them to be Russian intelligence operatives, for “easy money”, a court has heard.
Howard Phillips, 65, was struggling financially and in the process of applying for a job at UK Border Force when he was approached by the undercover officers, who were posing as Russian agents called Dima and Sasha, Winchester crown court heard.
Phillips, from Harlow, Essex, handed over in person a USB stick to one of the officers containing details relating to Shapps including his home address and the location of his private plane, the jury heard. He told the undercover officers he had met Shapps and visited his home.
Phillips, who told the fake Russian agents he was retired and had previously worked in insolvency, booked a hotel room in London under his own name and contact details and bought a mobile phone and set the device up with a data package and email address in the name of “Edward Kennington” at the request of the undercover officers, the court heard.
The defendant was arrested in May 2024 and charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service. He denies all charges.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Jocelyn Ledward KC said Phillips had been struggling financially. “This appears to have been a significant factor in his eagerness and desire to provide assistance to the Russian intelligence service,” she told the jury. “The evidence shows he was very keen to offer assistance, not necessarily for any ideological reason, but particularly to be financially rewarded for so doing – easy work for easy money.”
In October 2023, the defendant applied for employment as a part-time Border Force officer, the court heard. 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, Ledward said.
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, the court heard. It is alleged he had typed a brief passage outlining what he could provide, which was read to the jury by Ledward.
“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,” the passage read.
“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 any time, 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 hired apartment in 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, the jury was told.
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 heard.
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, Ledward said. 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.
The trial, presided over by Justice Dame Cheema-Grubb, is expected to last two- to three weeks.
