A British court on Friday sentenced 66-year-old Howard Phillips to seven years in prison for attempting to spy for Russia in 2023–2024.
Phillips was convicted earlier this year of contacting foreign intelligence services and offering assistance. He believed he was helping two Russian agents known as “Sasha” and “Dima,” to whom he passed personal details about then-defence secretary Grant Shapps, including his home address, phone number and the location of his private plane. The pair were, in fact, undercover British intelligence officers, and Phillips was arrested in May 2024.
Sentencing him, judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Phillips was an “intelligent man with a distorted concept of his own importance” who acted “recklessly” for money. “You were prepared to betray your country for money,” she said.
His ex-wife described him as “infatuated” with spy films, while his lawyer said he was an “eccentric fantasist”. Shapps later said he was “shocked” by the case.
