Spy’s files risked the lives of coalition troops

THE leaking of secret documents found in the possession of an alleged spy could have cost the lives of coalition troops, a court heard yesterday.

Daniel James, who is accused of betraying Britain to work for Iran, was found with a USB memory stick carrying two confidential documents when he was arrested.

The situation reports contained secret details about troop movements and munitions, the Old Bailey has heard.

James, an Iranian-born interpreter, was working for Gen David Richards, head of the Nato-backed International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan when he was arrested in December 2006.

Carl Buckland Jnr, an American intelligence officer working for Nato, told the court that, if the secret documents he had with him had fallen into the wrong hands, it could have caused damage to the alliance. It contained details of “where the soldiers were going to be at a tactical level and also a strategic level”. In addition to military operations, there was information about “senior level visits to Afghanistan”.

Corporal James, who was called up as a Territorial Army reservist in March 2006, is alleged to have betrayed Britain and passed coded messages to the Iranian military attaché in Kabul.