This is the moment a man accused of being a Russian agent appears to offer sensitive information about a former defence secretary to UK spooks posing as Putin‘s spies.
Howard Phillips, 65, is on trial accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service after he allegedly passed a USB stick containing information about Grant Shapps to British undercover police – who he believed were agents working for Russia.
Phillips, of Harlow in Essex, denies the charge, claiming he had initially written to the Russian embassy to ‘expose Russian agents’ to help the Ukrainian war effort.
Video shown to the jury at Winchester Crown Court today appears to show the moment Phillips greets the fake spies outside a Costa coffee shop in May 2024.
Jurors also saw video of an April 2024 meeting at the London Bridge Hotel in which he allegedly ‘offered his services’ to foreign spooks.
Father-of-four Phillips, described by his ex-wife as ‘dream(ing) about being like James Bond‘, is alleged to have forked over a digital storage device to his ‘handlers’.
This contained Mr Shapps’ personal information, including his home address, telephone number and the location of his private plane, prosecutors say.
He had allegedly teased the faux Russians with the promise of ‘something interesting’ about the ex-defence secretary, who was in the hot-seat from August 2023 until the end of the most recent Tory government last July.
Footage of the conversation shows Phillips telling them that he retired from insolvency five years prior and went travelling, visiting cities including Moscow.
Alleged Russian spy Howard Phillips is seen in May 2024 video footage allegedly revealing he possesses personal information about then-defence secretary Grant Shapps
Mr Phillips said in the footage that he had ‘personal information which may be useful’ including Mr Shapps’ home address, phone number and location of his private plane
Jurors at Winchester Crown Court were also shown footage of Mr Phillips meeting men posing as Russian spies in order to allegedly offer his services
Phillips said that he then found himself in a position ‘where now I need to be earning money’.
He told the ‘agents’: ‘I do not want and cannot for myself go back into the normal nine-to-five office. It’s not for me, it never was for me, but I did it.’
Describing how he first decided he would like to work with the Russian Intelligence Service, he said: ‘I was thinking, I have to do something, I have to earn money, what can I do and I came up with all the things I don’t want to do.
‘I was thinking about, funnily enough, I was thinking about maybe, going away on holiday. I thought about Moscow.
‘Its just a thought process and I suddenly thought, maybe I can offer services. I get what I want and you get what you want.’
Phillips told the agents: ‘We all help each other and we look after each other, we become a family.’
On May 9, 2024, Phillips met with ‘Dima’ at a Costa Coffee in a retail park in West Thurrock, Essex.
Footage from the meeting shows him asking: ‘What do you know about the, um, Secretary of Defence in the United Kingdom?’
Phillips had told the officer ‘I have something, I don’t know if you want it or don’t want it’.
Footage of Phillips allegedly sending a message to his ‘Russian’ handlers has been shown to the jury as part of the trial
Grant Shapps (pictured in June 2024) was defence secretary from August 2023 to July 2024, overseeing Britain’s efforts to assist Ukraine in its fightback against Russia’s invasion
Mr Phillips is alleged to have published the information about Mr Shapps onto a USB stick (pictured) which was then supplied to police posing as covert Russian agents
Bodycam footage shown to Mr Phillips’ trial showing the moment he was arrested at a Costa coffee shop shortly after allegedly handing over a USB stick
He continued: ‘Because, I have personal information which may be useful.
‘So I know his home address, I know his home telephone number and I know where he has his private plane. Maybe it’s of interest, maybe not.’
When asked by ‘Dima’ how he knew this information, Phillips said: ‘Because, about five years ago, I was invited to his house with a lot of other people.
‘He was the MP for Welwyn Hatfield. The local MP. And then, he became chairman of the Conservative Party and now he’s Secretary of Defence.’
Phillips was asked if he ‘knew’ Shapps, and in response he said: ‘Just a little, you know, we’ve met three times, I think.’
In the clip, Phillips also encourages using the code word ‘mother’ to replace ‘Moscow’.
The court has heard Phillips was due to start a job with Border Force at the time. His ex-wife, Amanda Phillips, said he had fantasised about being a spy, and once wrote to Arsenal saying he wanted to be manager, despite being unqualified.
She told the court he was “kind, caring man, a good friend, a good dad” – but ‘not a great husband’.
On Thursday afternoon the jury retired to begin considering its verdict.
Phillips denies the offence of engaging in conduct to assist a foreign intelligence service, in breach of the National Security Act.
The trial, presided over by Justice Dame Cheema-Grubb, continues.
