UK man convicted of offering minister's information to Russian intelligence

LONDON (Reuters) -A British man who offered personal information about former defence minister Grant Shapps to Russian intelligence for money was on Tuesday found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service.

Howard Phillips offered Shapps' home address and phone number to two people he believed were Russian agents but were in fact British undercover officers, prosecutors said.

The 65-year-old denied one count of engaging in conduct intended to materially assist a foreign intelligence service, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail.

Phillips gave evidence at his trial at Winchester Crown Court, claiming he was trying to "trap and expose a foreign agent".

But he was convicted of the offence under the National Security Act by a jury on Tuesday. He will be sentenced at a later date.

At the start of his trial, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said Phillips offered to help Russian intelligence "not necessarily for ideological reasons or because he sympathised with the Russian state".

Ledward said Phillips had sought to carry out "easy – and, perhaps, interesting or exciting – work for easy money".

Phillips was approached in March 2024 by purported Russian agents, using the names Sasha and Dima, who asked Phillips to save a file onto a clean USB stick, stating what he could offer and why, and hide it inside a parked bicycle on a London street.

He later met Dima in May 2024, saying he knew Shapps' home address, telephone number and where his private plane was kept as he had visited Shapps' house, Ledward said.

Phillips also offered logistical support, by booking a hotel and buying a mobile phone for a foreign intelligence service, prosecutors said.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Sarah Young)