Howard Phillips, a 65-year-old Jewish man from Essex, United Kingdom, has dreams of “being like James Bond,” his ex-wife told Winchester Crown Court while recounting how he had once written to the Arsenal soccer club asking to be their manager despite being unqualified for the role.
Phillips was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act and is currently on trial. He claimed that he had been working to track down Russian agents to help Israel.
It is alleged that he offered help to two men he believed to be Russian spies, including promising personal information about Britain’s former defense minister and offering assistance with their travel plans.
While Phillips is said to have believed “Sasha” and “Dima” were members of Russian intelligence, in actuality, they were undercover British intelligence officers.
“I felt the West wasn’t doing enough to stem the flow of Russian advance,” he testified. “I was intending to expose and track a Russian agent who may be operating within the UK. It was a small part to play… it was a small part that possibly I could do.”
He told the courts he wanted to gather information to take to Israel, which would then share the intelligence with the UK and receive credit for the information.
“Then that would benefit the Israelis by the [UK] media having to portray the way they had helped the UK, which goes on behind the scenes anyway,” he added.
Phillips also confessed to writing to the Iranian and Chinese embassies with the same plan.
Dreams of grandeur
“He read a lot about James Bond, watched films to do with MI5, MI6 – he was infatuated with it,” Amanda Phillips, his ex-wife, told the court. “I think he would dream about serving this country in some way and being like James Bond… they were over-the-top dreams.”
The father of three also dreamt of being an actor, she said. “He has a good soul. He’s also a daydreamer, big time, pipe dreams, big time.”
The couple met in the heart of London’s Jewish community, Golders Green, and had been married for 18 years, according to Jewish News.
“He loves Israel, loves the land – it’s the Jewish homeland. He felt very comfortable there, just as I do,” Amanda explained, adding that he would “never, ever betray” Britain.
Despite her assertions, Phillips was said to have handed over a USB stick with information on Sir Grant Shapps, who he had met four times at Potters Bar synagogue in Hertfordshire.