Soldier Daniel Khalife who is accused of escaping from prison and leaking sensitive information to Iranian intelligence is set to face trial in October next year.
The 22-year-old allegedly broke out of Wandsworth prison in September after strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry.
At the time of the alleged escape, Khalife was awaiting trial on claims he had breached the Official Secrets Act by gathering information that may be useful to an enemy of the UK. It is said he also carried out a bomb hoax and obtained sensitive Army personnel details which would be useful to terrorists.
His planned trial on those charges was set for November this year, but was derailed by the alleged prison break.
At the Old Bailey on Thursday, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker fixed a new trial for October 7, 2024 when all the allegations against Khalife will be heard together in an eight-week trial.
A further pre-trial hearing has been set for March next year.
The trial is set to take place at Woolwich crown court, which is adjacent to maximum security HMP Belmarsh where Khalife is now being held.
It is said Khalife gathering information that might be useful to an enemy of the UK between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022, and he is accused of passing material to Iranian intelligence
He faces an allegation of eliciting information about armed forces personnel from the MoD (Ministry of Defence) joint personnel administration system on August 2 2021
The alleged bomb hoax was carried out on January 2, when he is said to have placed “three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation” to spark fears it was “likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property”.
Khalife is accused of triggering a nationwide manhunt when, on September 6, he broke out of Wandsworth prison in south London.
He was arrested three days later on a canal towpath in west London.
Khalife, who denies all the charges, appeared via videolink from prison for today’s court hearing.
