LONDON – A former British soldier facing espionage charges admitted he escaped from a London prison by clinging to the underside of a delivery truck.

Daniel Khalife, 23, changed his plea to guilty on Monday, midway through his trial at Woolwich Crown Court in London.

He continues to deny breaching Britain’s Official Secrets Act by collecting information useful to an enemy, namely Iran, as well as breaching the Terrorism Act and planting fake bombs at a military base.

Khalife was awaiting trial when he escaped from Wandsworth Prison in September 2023 by using a sling made from pants from the prison kitchen to tie himself to the bottom of a catering truck. He was arrested while cycling along a canal towpath in west London three days later, after an intense nationwide manhunt that included helicopter searches and extra security checks at major transport hubs.

“I accept that I came out of prison and I didn’t have any permission,” Khalife told the jury.

He said he escaped in hopes of being recaptured and sent to a high-security unit at another prison, where he thought he would be safer.

His trial continues on the other charges. Prosecutors told the jury that Khalife joined the military at age 16 and was a promising soldier, but was told he would not be able to fulfill his goal of joining an intelligence unit because his mother was from Iran.

Prosecutors allege that Khalife passed classified information to an Iranian intelligence agent. He says the information was worthless and that he hoped to act as a double agent on behalf of Britain, inspired, in part, by a plot in the spy television series “Homeland.”

“I was never a real spy,” Khalife told jurors earlier this month. “I did nothing to harm our national security. “I wanted to put myself in a position where I could help my country.”