Man who shared details of top UK govt official with fake Russian agents jailed for 7 years

How he did it

Phillips handed over a USB stick containing Shapps’ home address and the location of his private plane. He hid the device inside the seat shaft of a bicycle in central London as part of an agreed exchange.

In May 2024, he met the undercover officers at a Costa Coffee in West Thurrock, where he again offered to share more personal information about the then defence secretary.

Phillips was arrested shortly after and later charged.

Why he did it

The court heard that Phillips, who had worked in insolvency and described himself as retired, had been struggling financially and was in the process of applying for a job at UK Border Force.

He had written to the Russian embassy offering his services and later exchanged emails with the undercover officers, believing them to be Russian intelligence officials.

During sentencing at Winchester Crown Court, Justice Cheema-Grubb told him: “You were prepared to betray your country for money. I sentence you on the basis that you were not ideologically driven but motivated by money.”

The judge added, “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.”

What he claimed in court

Phillips told the court he had only pretended to work with the supposed Russian agents and claimed he was trying to “expose” them. He said he wanted to pass information about the “Russian spies” to Israel, believing it would “benefit” the country, The Guardian reported.

His ex-wife, Amanda Phillips, told the court that he had long been obsessed with espionage stories. “He would dream about being like James Bond,” she said, adding that he often watched films about MI5 and MI6.