A retired insolvency worker devised a plot to leak the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to Russian intelligence after claiming to have been invited to the politician’s home and met him three times, a court has heard.
Howard Phillips, 65, was in the process of applying for a job with the UK Border Force when he was approached by undercover officers who were posing as Russian agents called Dima and Sasha, the court heard.
