Manhunt for terror suspect enters day two as authorities question how category B terror suspect ‘who planted fake bomb at military base’ was able to ‘strap himself underneath delivery van’ and ride out of HMP Wandsworth
- Soldier Daniel Khalife, 21, escaped from southwest London jail on Wednesday
- READ MORE: Why wasn’t terror suspect locked up in max-security Belmarsh?
The manhunt for terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife has entered its second day, with authorities urgently questioning how the ex-soldier came to be placed in Category B HMP Wandsworth, and was then able to break out.
The 21-year-old, who was discharged from the Army in May, is believed to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth at around 7.50am on Wednesday by ‘sneaking out of the kitchen’ and ‘clinging onto a delivery van’.
He was last seen wearing a chef’s uniform and it is believed he was working in the kitchens before he ran out and clung onto the van before the prison which was put on lockdown.
Khalife was on remand awaiting trial in relation to terror and Official Secrets Act offences, including committing a ‘bomb hoax’ and trying to elicit information that would have been ‘useful to a terrorist’. The manhunt for him is still ongoing.
The Ministry of Justice is now investigating why someone accused of such serious offences was not placed in a higher security prison, as experts furiously question why Khalife was not seen as more of a risk.
Daniel Abed Khalife, an ex-British Army serviceman, has escaped from HMP Wandsworth, sparking an urgent appeal by Metropolitan Police
Khalife, 21, was on remand at HMP Wandsworth (pictured) awaiting trial in relation to terrorism and Official Secrets Act offences
Ian Acheson, former prison governor who was in charge of HMP Wandsworth in the 1990s, has questioned why an accused terrorist was not under tighter security.
He told The Times: ‘It is difficult to understand why someone facing those charges is at Wandsworth in the first place.
‘And even then, why he’s in the kitchen, which is a security risk immediately because it involved holding knives.
‘Did they not do an effective risk assessment?’
Mark Leech, editor of the Prisons Handbook for England and Wales, said: ‘That is something that in hindsight they will want to review and the investigation will look into that.
‘He may well have given the impression to inexperienced staff who conducted his security categorisation that he was far less of a security escape risk than in reality he really was.’
Speaking to Sky News, the prisons expert said that staff shortages in prisons and lower security in certain areas may have played a part in Khalife’s successful escape.
The Ministry of Justice said in a statement last night: ‘We are working with the Metropolitan Police to recapture this prisoner and are urgently investigating how he escaped.’
‘An internal investigation is underway and the Justice Secretary is working to understand from operational colleagues this evening both the categorisation decision and the situation that led to the escape, what protocols were in place and if they were followed.’
Following his escape yesterday, helicopters and plain-clothes officers swooped on a residential area of Kingston, southwest London, where Khalife’s family is known to have had connections.
Most terror suspects are held at HMP Belmarsh – a notorious category-A prison no one has ever escaped from
Officers were said to be keeping a close watch on an upstairs flat in Kingston, close to the edge of Richmond Park, where Khalife’s mother and twin sister are understood to have lived until a few years ago.
A neighbour told The Daily Telegraph: ‘A woman lived upstairs who had a son and daughter. The boy would come and go swearing loudly. She moved to Wales roughly three years ago – a year after we moved in.
‘The family were British, of Middle Eastern origin. They didn’t talk to us or anyone else in the street very much that I could see.
‘It’s worrying to think that this young man might head back to this area after escaping from prison.’
The Met’s Counter Terrorism Command issued a warning over his escape, and this has sparked enhanced security checks at transport hubs including Manchester Airport and Glasgow Airport, as well as the Port of Dover, which caused delays.
Khalife, 21, was on remand at HMP Wandsworth (pictured) awaiting trial in relation to terrorism and Official Secrets Act offences
HMP Wandsworth, a Category B prison in southwest London, is one of the UK’s largest
In 2022, HMP Wandsworth’s wardens were heavily criticised in a damning report that claimed the prison was plagued by overcrowding and violence
The Home Office confirmed that the UK’s Border Force is assisting the police investigation into Khalife’s disappearance, and admitted that there was a temporary increase in outbound queue times at some UK airports, which they said has now been resolved.
Offences allegedly committed by Khalife
August 2021: Attempting to ‘elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’ at RAF Stafford
January 2023: Placing an article ‘with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and cause personal injury or damage to property’ at RAF Stafford
An Army spokesperson said the 21-year-old was a ‘former soldier’ and was charged with terrorism and other offences.
The spokesperson said: ‘As a result of being held on remand for these charges, Daniel Khalife was discharged from the Army on 22 May 2023.’
He is of slim build, has short brown hair and is around 6ft 2ins tall. Khalife has links to the Kingston area.
As the hunt continues, fears are growing that he may have escaped further afield – and police officers are checking all IDs in several airports across the UK.
The prison he ran from is notorious for being overcrowded and underfunded, leading to severely poor conditions that were condemned in a 2022 report.
HMP Wandsworth’s wardens were admonished by HM Inspectorate of Prisons for rising levels of violence in the filthy Category-B prison.
The report found that prisoners were often locked up for 22 hours a day in squalid cells.
Investigators found that prisoners could only wash their clothes once every two weeks.
They found that inmates lived in ‘very poor’ conditions, and were often surrounded by ‘piles of litter’ in ‘dirty, graffiti-covered cells.’
What’s HMP Wandsworth famous for?
HMP Wandsworth, a Category B prison in southwest London, is one of the UK’s largest.
It was built in 1851 as the ‘Surrey House of Correction.’
In 2022, its wardens were heavily criticised in a damning report that claimed the prison was plagued by overcrowding and violence.
The report noted that prisoners were left in ‘very poor conditions’ surrounded by ‘piles of litter’ in ‘dirty, graffiti covered cells.’
Until as recently as 1996, inmates were forced to clean up their own excrement every morning in a process call ‘slopping out.’
Notable current and former inmates include:
- German tennis star Boris Becker
- Boxer and artist Charles Bronson
- David Chaytor, the first MP to be convicted for his role in the parliamentary expenses scandal
- Drill artist Digga D
- Paedophiles Gary Glitter and Rolf Harris
- Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
- Gangster Ronnie Kray
- Great Train Robbery culprit Ronnie Biggs
Sources: Wandsworth Guardian, Old Police Cells Museusm
During a previous hearing, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that he had been AWOL for around three weeks after an alleged bomb hoax in January.
After that court appearance, Khalife was denied bail and held at HMP Belmarsh, a high-security Category A prison.
But by July he was being held at Wandsworth prison, the BBC reported, although it is not clear when he was transferred there.
No one has ever escaped from Belmarsh, while maximum security prison Wandsworth has seen at least six inmates break out over the years – including Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs.
In January this year, Khalife, of Beaconside, Stafford, was charged over two incidents at an RAF base in Stafford in August 2021 and January 2023. He has denied all the charges against him.
He was accused of attempting to ‘elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’, at Beaconside, Stafford, on August 2 2021. This is contrary to section 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000.
He was also charged with placing ‘three cannisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite’.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard it was his intention to ’cause personal injury or damage to property’ at the base in Beaconside, Stafford, on or before January 2 of this year.
Khalife is set to face a six-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court starting on November 13.
Passengers at both Manchester and Glasgow airports told yesterday of major disruption to security queues, with a tannoy announcing that the delays are due to a ‘national incident’.
A spokesman for Manchester Airport said: ‘Our security teams work hard to ensure the safety and security of all at Manchester Airport and carry out important checks set by the UK Government.’
Khalife was charged in January over two incidents at RAF Stafford in Beaconside (pictured) in August 2021 and January 2023
Heathrow airport also advised passengers to expect delays due to ‘additional checks required’.
How many other prisoners have escaped HMP Wandsworth?
In 1965, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs escaped with three others by scaling HMP Wandsworth’s 30-ft perimeter wall after they were allowed out to exercise.
Prison guards, obstructed by other inmates who were still exercising, watched on helplessly during the daring prison break.
Biggs went on to be a fugitive for 36 years, living in Australia and Brazil before flying back to the UK in 2001 and being put behind bars again.
In 2003, Eamon Donaghue ditched his prison clothes for a prison officer’s uniform he found while cleaning the officers’ mess hall.
Fraudster Neil Moore was on remand in the Category B prison when he managed to get out in 2015 by posting a letter to wardens pretending it was from the court service.
He told clueless wardens that he had been granted bail, and was free to walk out.
He later had a ‘change of heart’ and surrendered himself after ‘three or four days.’
And most recently, in 2019, a prisoner was wrongly released by Wandsworth staff just six days into a six-week sentence.
Wandsworth has seen at least six inmates break out over the years – including Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs
Port of Dover Travel posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: ‘Due to a police matter, there are currently enhanced checks on outbound traffic at the Port of Dover and other portals within the UK.
‘Please be advised this is currently resulting in some delays at the port.
‘However, our standard travel guidance remains unchanged and we will keep passengers updated if they can expect any alteration to their journey.’
In a statement to MailOnline on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Met Police said: ‘An alert was issued by the Counter Terrorism Command earlier today in relation to Khalife through established operational briefing channels to relevant UK police and law enforcements agencies, including those at UK ports and borders.’
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk yesterday held an urgent call with the prison governor and senior staff in the prison service to seek assurances about what is being done to ensure the jail is secure.
Sources said the minister received a run-through of ‘all security measures that have been taken in the medium term to ensure the prison is secure as possible’.
There will be further longer-term work on improving Wandsworth’s security checks, a source added.
Labour justice spokesman Shabana Mahmood said: ‘The Conservatives need to urgently explain how they can’t do the basic job of keeping potentially dangerous criminals locked up. It’s right that the police are given space to recapture this suspect. But Rishi Sunak needs to ensure there is no wider risk because his zombie Government lacks grip on the criminal justice system.’
The escape from Wandsworth prison had a knock-on effect of disrupting court hearings for other defendants on remand at the south London site.
On Wednesday morning, murder-accused Earl Morin-Britton, 36, from Sutton, south London, missed his first appearance at the Old Bailey by video link from Wandsworth prison due to the lockdown.
A prison officer told Judge Alexia Durran that there was ‘an operational emergency and no movement across the establishment’.
People are advised not to approach Khalife and to call 999 immediately, quoting reference CAD 1631/06SEP23.
Scotland Yard said they want to hear from anyone with information that might assist with locating Khalife – even if it doesn’t relate to a live sighting.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: ‘We have a team of officers who are making extensive and urgent enquiries in order to locate and detain Khalife as quickly as possible.
‘However, the public can help us as well and should anyone see Khalife, or have any information as to where he might be, then please call 999 immediately.
‘I also want to reassure the public that we have no information which indicates, nor any reason to believe that Khalife poses a threat to the wider public, but our advice if you do see him is not to approach him and call 999 straight away.’
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