UK court jails James Bond fantasist for seven years for attempting to spy for Russia

A British man who would "dream about being like James Bond" was jailed for seven years on Friday after attempting to spy for Russia.

Howard Phillips, 65, was found guilty in July for trying to pass information about former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps to two men whom he believed were Russian intelligence agents.

However, the agents were undercover British intelligence operatives.

"You were prepared to betray your country for money," Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Phillips at his sentencing hearing at Winchester Crown Court.

The judge said that Phillips had "a personality with narcissistic tendencies and an overblown sense of his own importance."

The trial heard that Phillips intended to assist Russian agents between the end of 2023 and May 2024.

Shapps served as UK defence secretary between August 2023 and July 2024, when his Conservative Party was ousted from power, and he lost his seat in Parliament at the general election.

Specifically, the trial heard how Phillips had tried to hand over Shapps' contact details as well as the location where he kept his private plane to "facilitate the Russians in listening on British defence plans."

The defendant's ex-wife told the court that Phillips "would dream about being like James Bond," and watched films about the British secret services because he was "infatuated with it."

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Shapps expressed his shock at learning of Phillips' activities. He recalled going to dinner at Phillips' home in 2002.

"What is unacceptable is one individual’s reckless behaviour exposing my entire family to the extremely serious risks that come from a foreign intelligence service’s activities," he said.

Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's Counter Terrorism Division, said the conviction sends "a clear message to anyone considering spying for or assisting Russia."