Daniel Abed Khalife was raised with his twin sister in Kingston, south-west London, by his Iranian mother.

He had limited contact with his Lebanese father, who he said was “not a good man” and “would come in and out, do some damage and then leave”.

Speaking in clipped tones in the witness box, his accent seemed at odds with his story of growing up in a humble home in an affluent area, too ashamed to invite his friends over.

The 23-year-old told the jury that the friendships he formed at Teddington School were “essentially fake” and that his mother was “very, very strict”, suggesting her upbringing in Iran had left her paranoid.

After a teenage dalliance with shoplifting – Khalife realized during a school science lesson that powerful magnets could be used to remove security tags – his mother decided to take him to Iran for the first time date.

Traveling there for a month aged 15, he claimed he hated the country and that the trip to the capital, Tehran, made him appreciate everything he had in Britain.

Smartly dressed in a white shirt with rolled up sleeves and light colored trousers, he told the jury he was not academic and disliked school – but eventually passed 10 GCSEs.

As a child, he was fascinated by airplanes, but didn’t pursue an early dream of becoming a pilot because he was afraid of heights, he joked.

Instead, he was inspired by the sight of the cavalry barracks in Hyde Park, which he found “amazing”.

In September 2018, two weeks before his 17th birthday, he joined the British Army, completing his 23-week basic military training at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, Yorkshire, ending in February 2019.

Joining up gave him his first chance to experience freedom and get away from home, he said, calling himself an English patriot who was proud to serve his country.

The 6ft 2in recruit has decided to join the Royal Corps of Signals, a specialist unit that provides the military with communications, IT and cyber support.

In March 2019, Khalife – holding the lowest rank of signalman – progressed to his specialist Phase 2 training at the Defense Communication and Information Systems School at Blandford Forum in Dorset.

He underwent and passed security clearance, giving him access to classified, or even above, sensitive information.

Around this time, he claimed during his trial, a troop commander warned him that his Iranian heritage might prevent him from working in military intelligence.

So, at the age of just 17, Khalife said he decided to prove his bosses wrong and made his first contact with Iran in hopes of eventually working as a double agent.

The soldier completed his one-year specialist training in early 2020 and was posted to 16 Signal Regiment in Stafford.

He was sent to the US for a short time in 2021, stationed at Fort Cavazos (then Fort Hood) in Texas from February to April of that year.

All the while, he remained in contact with his Iranian handlers.

Khalife claimed he wanted to eliminate Iranian spies working in Britain, but failed to gather any evidence against them.

“I was thinking I could be James Bond or something, like an idiot,” he said in his lawsuit.

Khalife created and passed fake documents purporting to be from MPs, senior military officials and the security services, but also sent real army doctrine notes.

Jurors also heard how he secretly collected the first names of service personnel, including those in the special forces, by logging into an internal HR system to book leave.

The messages showed he told his Iranian handlers he would remain in the military for over 25 years, stealing intelligence on command, while he also contacted MI5 and MI6 to promote his services.

Ultimately the offer was not accepted – MI5 reported him to the police and he was arrested in January 2022.

A year later, he realized he was facing serious criminal charges and fled the shack.

He spent the next three weeks “trying not to freeze to death” while living in a van in a nearby town, using the number plates of another vehicle, both of which he had stolen from the barracks.

Later, Khalife’s cunning came to the fore again with his daring escape from HMP Wandsworth attached to the underside of a food delivery truck in September 2023.

He made one last attempt to contact the Iranians while on the run, sending a Telegram message that said simply: “I’m waiting.”

He managed to run for three days before being caught on a canal towpath by a plainclothes detective, whom he congratulated for catching him.

The fear that he would try a similar stunt during his trial was so great that during his testimony he was brought to and from the witness box in handcuffs.

After his conviction, he was described by police as “the ultimate Walter Mitty character who had a significant impact on the real world”.

“Ego is a factor, I have no doubt he has an uncanny ability to manipulate others,” said Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter-Terrorism Command.

“I think he probably enjoyed the thrill of cheating all along.”