The ex-British soldier accused of spying for Iran and escaping from prison said he was “a patriot” who loved his country.

Giving evidence for the first time at his trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Daniel Khalife said “I’m English” and was “against the regime in Iran”.

Prosecutors allege Mr Khalife collected sensitive military intelligence for Iran and later hid under a van to escape from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London on September 6, 2023. He denies the charges.

Jurors heard on Wednesday about the family life and childhood of Mr Khalife, who was born in Marylebone and grew up in the Richmond area of ​​west London.

Mr Khalife has an Iranian mother and a Lebanese father who he said was “not a good man”.

“He would come in and out, do some damage and leave,” he told the court.

At the age of 15, Mr Khalife said he was in trouble with the police for shoplifting, but the case never went to court.

He also said he struggled to pay attention in class at school but achieved 10 GCSEs.

“My mother was very, very strict,” he said. “A bit paranoid I’d say.”

“It wasn’t abusive, but it was difficult growing up in that environment.”

Khalife told the court he felt a “level of shame” about his poor background, adding: “We were a poor family living in a relatively affluent area, so the relationships we formed were essentially fake “.

Asked what his family thought of the regime in Iran, he said: “My mother hates the regime and probably the country.”

“My family and I are against the regime in Iran.”

He said that after he was caught stealing, his mother took him to Iran for four weeks because she “wanted to show us how people live”.

“One of the things I remember was how educated most of the young people were and how few opportunities they had,” he told jurors. “Every day I was in that country I wanted to go back.”

“I hated it. I thought it was a horrible place. The weather, the government, everything.”

At the age of 16, Mr Khalife joined the army, doing his (initial) basic training in Harrogate.

He told the trial: “To put it simply, I wanted to get away from home, I wanted to feel what it was like to be free.”

Asked what his views were on Britain, he said: “I’m a patriot, it’s as simple as that. I love my country.”

“I’m English and that’s how I see things.”

Khalife denies escaping from prison and also faces charges under the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act, including gathering information useful to Iran, collecting names of special forces soldiers useful to terrorists and carrying out a bomb hoax at his barracks in Stafford.

He denies all the allegations against him. His evidence and the trial continue.