Salsa-dancing British Army corporal jailed for 10 years for spying for Iran

By Andrew Martin for MailOnline
Updated: 19:12 EST, 28 November 2008

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Jailed: Corporal Daniel James was sentenced to 10 years for sending coded emails to Iran

Security chiefs faced serious questions last night over how an Iranian-born immigrant suspected of marrying to obtain a UK passport could have been given a highly sensitive job in the Army.

Daniel James, jailed for ten years for spying yesterday, threatened the lives of British soldiers in Afghanistan by becoming an informant to an Iranian handler.

As an interpreter to General David Richards, British commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan at the time, he was in a unique position to obtain intelligence that would benefit Iran and indirectly the gunmen targeting Allied soldiers.

How James, 45, an embittered and disillusioned Territorial Army corporal, came to be in such a position of trust and why alarm bells did not ring earlier are disturbing aspects of the case.

At one time Home Office investigators even questioned whether this one-time Mr Universe contestant, security guard and nightclub croupier, was in Britain legally, suspecting he had married only in order to stay in the UK.

During a night out with friends, he met teenager Alethea Haralambous in a club.

The pair began dating and within a year he was pushing for marriage. 'It was quite

shocking the way he treated her,' a family member said.

'He even told her, "I need to marry you for a visa, but if you don't marry me there are plenty of other girls who will".'

Alethea, who had a Muslim father and an English mother, is said to have been in floods of tears at the prospect of marrying so young but fearing that her very first boyfriend would desert her, she agreed.

Traitor: Daniel James may have put soldiers in danger

Their married life did not begin well. He had a one-bedroom flat and his landlord told him his wife could not live there.

While living apart the Home Office was told that the marriage existed purely to keep him in the country. Two immigration investigators went to Brighton to check this, but nothing came of their inquiries.

James received a British passport in 1986 and was then able to join the Territorial Army in Brighton a year later.

During yesterday's sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey, the judge said James was a 'ripe target' for the Iranians because of his nationality, disenchantment with the Army and 'narcissistic' personality.

He said James should never have been put in such a sensitive position. Mr Justice Roderick Evans added: 'You were all the more ripe because you were susceptible to such an approach. You have a grossly inflated view of your own importance.'

His activities had the potential to inhibit the sharing of information between agencies 'whose mutual trust is essential for protecting the lives of British soldiers'.

James, who came to Britain as a teenager, was earlier this month found guilty of communicating information useful to an enemy under the Official Secrets Act.