LONDON – A former British soldier facing espionage charges has admitted escaping from a London prison by clinging to the underside of a delivery truck.

Daniel Khalife, 23, changed his plea to guilty on Monday in the middle of his trial at Woolwich Crown Court in London.

He continues to deny that he breached the UK’s Official Secrets Act by gathering information useful to an enemy, namely Iran, breaching the Terrorism Act and planting a fake bomb at a military base.

Khalife was awaiting trial when he escaped from Wandsworth Prison in September 2023, using a hanger made from trousers taken from the prison kitchen to tie himself to the underside of a food truck. He was arrested three days later while cycling on a canal towpath in West London, following an intense nationwide hunt that included helicopter searches and extra security checks at major transport hubs.

“I accept that I left prison and that I did not have any leave,” Khalife told jurors.

He said he escaped, hoping he would be recaptured and sent to a high-security unit in a different prison where he thought he would be safer.

His trial continues on other charges. Prosecutors told the jury that Khalifa joined the army at 16 and was a promising soldier but was told he could not achieve his goal of joining the intelligence unit because his mother was Iranian.

Prosecutors allege that Khalifa passed classified information to an Iranian intelligence agent. He said the information was worthless and hoped to act as a double agent on behalf of England; was inspired in part by the plot of the TV spy series “Homeland”.

“I was never a real spy,” Khalife told the jury earlier this month. “I have done nothing to harm our national security. “I wanted to put myself in a position where I could help my country.”