Alleged Russian Spy Arrested for Leaking Grant Shapps Details in London

Howard Phillips, a 65-year-old man from Harlow, Essex, is on trial for allegedly attempting to spy for the Kremlin by leaking sensitive personal information about UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps. Prosecutors presented photographs to Winchester Crown Court showing Phillips covertly dropping a USB stick containing Shapps' home address, phone number, and private plane location under a bicycle seat, as instructed by what he believed were Russian handlers but were actually British undercover security agents. Phillips, a former insolvency worker and father of four, was arrested at a Black Sheep Coffee shop in London and is accused of buying phones and hotel rooms for the agents. He allegedly boasted of his ability to obtain government clearance through his impending new job with the UK Border Force and expressed a desire for a familial relationship with the agents, claiming to have visited Shapps' home and met him multiple times. The USB stick also contained a note pledging "100 percent loyalty" to the Russian Intelligence Service and highlighted Phillips' ability to operate "under the radar" due to his security vetting pass. Phillips denies all charges of conducting activities to assist a foreign intelligence service.