A British man, Howard Phillips, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for attempting to spy for Russia. Phillips, 66, from Harlow, Essex, was arrested near King’s Cross railway station after being caught in a sting operation involving undercover British intelligence officers. He was found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act at Winchester Crown Court in Hampshire. Phillips had offered to provide personal information about former Defence Secretary Sir Grant Shapps, including his address, phone number, and the location of his private plane. The court heard that Phillips left a USB containing sensitive information on a bike near St Pancras and Euston stations in London. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, presiding over the case, stated that Phillips was motivated by financial gain rather than ideology, and that he had taken a grave risk without considering the potential damage to his country. Phillips’s ex-wife testified that he had long been ‘infatuated’ with MI5 and MI6 and had dreams of being like James Bond. Sir Grant Shapps, in a victim impact statement, expressed his shock and concern for his family’s safety, describing Phillips’s actions as a ‘complete breach of trust.’ Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Counter Terrorism Division, labeled Phillips as ‘brazen’ in his pursuit of financial gain. Phillips’s defense lawyer, Jeremy Dein KC, argued that his client was an ‘eccentric fantasist’ whose life had ‘collapsed’ and who was ‘desperate for money.’