Brighton 'salsa spy' loses appeal

An Army corporal - and former Brighton salsa instructor - today lost an appeal against his 10-year jail sentence for spying for Iran. Daniel James, who had access to the highest echelons of the Nato mission in Kabul as personal interpreter to Britain's top general in Afghanistan, was caught red-handed betraying his country in a series of coded emails.

In November last year the 45-year-old, of Cliff Road, Brighton, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of a single count of communicating information useful to an enemy. The charge, under the Official Secrets Act, related to emails he sent to Colonel Mohammad Hossein Heydari, military attache at the Iranian embassy in Kabul. Iranian-born James, who came to Britain as a teenager, was present in the dock of the Court of Appeal today to hear the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, sitting with two other judges in London, dismiss his appeal against his вtoo longв jail term.

Lord Judge, in rejecting the challenge, said the court had reached a clear conclusion in this caseв - the reasons for the decision will be given at a later date. James, a flamboyant fantasist who styled himself General James, believed he had been denied promotion because of racism and jealousy. The Territorial Army soldier, who was working for General David Richards at the time of his arrest in 2006, denied being a spy. James, a salsa dance teacher in civilian life, claimed he had remained a loyal soldier.

Author: Ben Parsons for The Argus