Former soldier Daniel Khalife has been charged with escaping from custody at HMP Wandsworth, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Terror suspect Daniel Khalife charged with escaping from Wandsworth Prison (msn.com)
Khalife’s arrest took place on a canal towpath in west London at 10.41 am on a Saturday. He was apprehended by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer after being pulled off a bicycle.
Terror Suspect Daniel Khalife Charged with Escaping from Wandsworth Prison
This incident followed a mass land and air search that spanned four days, initiated after Khalife went missing from the prison on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police reported that a member of the public had witnessed a man resembling Khalife walking away from a Bidfood van near the south entrance to Wandsworth Roundabout on Wednesday morning. Subsequently, law enforcement officers conducted a search in the Richmond area, although Khalife was not found there. They did, however, receive multiple calls from the public reporting sightings of the suspect in the vicinity.
Throughout Saturday morning, the police were observed checking people’s gardens, stopping cars, inspecting car trunks, and requesting residents’ identification.
Khalife was eventually located on a canal towpath in Northolt, west London, approximately eight miles from where he was last seen by a member of the public.
Before his alleged escape, Khalife had been on remand at HMP Wandsworth following terror-related charges brought against him in January.
Terror Suspect Daniel Khalife Charged with Escaping from Wandsworth Prison
The 21-year-old is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
In a statement, the Met confirmed Khalife’s charges: “Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, September 11, charged as follows: On the 6th day of September 2023, then being a prisoner in His Majesty’s Prison at Wandsworth, being remanded in custody pending trial as ordered at the Central Criminal Court on the 21st day of July 2023, escaped, contrary to common law.”
Concerns have arisen regarding the prison’s security in the wake of this manhunt. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk disclosed that approximately 40 inmates from HMP Wandsworth have been relocated from the Category B jail.
Chalk, during an appearance on Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips program, explained that a preliminary investigation into the Victorian prison in London had indicated that the necessary procedures and security personnel were in place. Nevertheless, as questions arose regarding why a former soldier accused of a terror offense was not held in the highest security prison, dozens of individuals on remand were moved to different sites “out of an abundance of caution.”
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