An Essex man has been jailed for seven years after trying to help two ‘Russian agents’ get information about former defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps.

66-year-old Howard Phillips, from Harlow, had long dreamt of being a spy like James Bond – and tried to help what he thought were two Russian agents, ‘Sasha’ and ‘Dima’.

But the two agents were actually undercover British intelligence officers. A jury found Phillips guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act.

A trial heard how Phillips intended to assist the two Russians from the end of 2023 until May 2024.

Phillips offered to pass on Sir Grant’s contact details as well as the location where he kept his private plane to ‘facilitate the Russians in listening to British defence plans’.

In a victim

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