Daniel Khalife prison escape updates — ‘Terrorist’ inmate found and arrested by police in Chiswick
DANIEL KHALIFE has been caught by police in Northolt, west London, after escaping from Wandsworth prison under a food truck.
He's now in police custody and they said they'll provide further information in due course.
Khalife was apprehended just before 11am after several sightings.
Armed forces with police dogs were searching the area of Chiswick this morning.
Police also stopped and searched cars as they asked residents for proof of ID.
Read our Daniel Khalife live blog for the latest news and updates...
How did Daniel Khalife escape Wandsworth prison?
The terror suspect hid under the food delivery truck to make his escape while working in the prison's kitchen on Wednesday morning.
He fled in a chef's uniform which consisted a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toecap boots.
It's thought that he used makeshift straps to attach himself to the truck as it was waved out of the notorious lock-up.
The Met Police offered a £20,000 reward for information.
What did the home office minister say?
Home Office minister Chris Philp congratulated police for their "rapid and effective" work to apprehend the fugitive suspect.
He wrote on social media: "Great work by the Met Police. Well done for a rapid and effective piece of work to catch this fugitive.
"An example of policing at its best. Congratulations to all Officers involved in this operation."
Scotland Yard's statement
"Metropolitan Police officers have arrested Daniel Khalife, who escaped from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday 6 September. Officers apprehended him just before 11am today, in the Chiswick area, and he is currently in police custody.
"We would like to thank the public and media for their support throughout our investigation to locate Khalife and we will provide a further update on his arrest in due course."
Daniel Khalife's prison escape route
More than 150 counterterrorism officers were involved in the search
As soon as forces were alerted about Khalife's escape from prison, they were on their way to conduct a massive search for former soldier and terror suspect.
More than 150 counterterrorism officers were involved in the manhunt as UK ports and airports were put on alert.
Long queues gathered at the M20 on Thursday as part of the motorway in Kent was closed for extra security checks at the Port of Dover.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk also announced on Thursday that an independent inquiry into the escape will be conducted.
Armed forces have been searching Chiswick
After several sightings, armed forces spent the morning searching the area of Chiswick with police dogs.
They've also stopped and checked cars while they asked for residents proof of ID.
Daniel Khalife is now in police custody and more information on the arrest will be provided by the forces in due course.
Daniel Khalife found
Police have found Daniel Khalife in Chiswick, west London.
After several sightings of him, he was apprehended by police just before 11 am.
How Daniel Khalife escaped
Here is how escaped terror suspect Daniel Khalife is believed to have escaped prison.
Police also investigate Khalife sighting
The police department also said that they were looking into a probable sighting of Khalife immediately after he fled from the prison.
A member of the public noticed a guy who resembled the terror suspect walking away from the BidFood delivery truck as it came to a halt near the Wandsworth roundabout at the top of Trinity Road.
After that, he was observed strolling towards Wandsworth town centre.
The sighting might be "very significant," according to Commander Dominic Murphy, who runs the Met's counter-terrorism unit.
Khalife hid under the food delivery truck to make his escape while working in the prison kitchen on Wednesday morning. He fled in a chef's uniform of a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toecap boots.
The terror suspect thought to have used makeshift straps to attach himself to the truck as it was waved out of the notorious lock-up.
Met Police offer £20,000 reward for information to find Khalife
Police are investigating a possible sighting of escaped prisoner Daniel Khalife and have offered a reward.
The 21-year-old has now been on the run for two days after fleeing HMP Wandsworth beneath a food truck on Wednesday.
The Met Police have started a massive manhunt, offering a £20,000 reward for information.
Prison officers didn’t tell cops ‘terrorist’ Daniel Khalife was missing for an HOUR as it’s revealed he vanished before
PRISON officers did not tell police terror suspect Daniel Khalife had escaped until an hour after his disappearance, it is alleged.
The 21-year-old broke out of HMP Wandsworth at 7.50am on Wednesday by clinging to the underside of a food delivery van.
Escape ‘clearly pre-planned’ claims Police Commissioner
Daniel Khalife “clearly pre-planned” his prison escape, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said.
He told LBC: “It is clearly pre-planned, the fact that he could strap himself onto the bottom of the wagon.”
Sir Mark added a prison escape is “unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment”.
Asked if police are looking into whether it was an “inside job”, the commissioner said: “It is a question. Did anyone inside the prison help him? Other prisoners, guard staff? Was he helped by people outside the walls or was it simply all of his own creation?”
He added it is “extremely concerning” that Khalife is “on the loose”.
Deep dive into Khalife’s alleged crimes, continued
During a previous court appearance, he was accused of “eliciting” personal information about soldiers from the Ministry of Defence Joint Personnel Administration System.
And he “attempted to elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”
He has denied all the charges against him.
Deep dive into Khalife’s alleged crimes
Khalife was being held in prison awaiting trial for terror offences and alleged breaches of the Official Secrets Act.
He was accused of allegedly planting fake bombs at the military base of MOD Stafford.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard how he left the devices “with the intention of inducing in another the belief the item was likely to explode or ignite”.
Jailbreak terror suspect Daniel Khalife ‘was Call of Duty obsessed loner whose escape might have been inspired by game’
Jailbreak terror suspect Daniel Khalife was a Call of Duty nut whose escape might have been inspired by the game, a former pal said last night.
Khalife was "obsessed" with the game and might even have been inspired by it to join the British Army in the first place.
Terror suspect escape ’embarrassing’ and a ‘catastrophic system failure’
A security expert has slammed the process that allowed terror suspect Daniel Khalife to escape from Wandsworth prison.
Professor Ian Acheson, a former head of security at Wandsworth, said Khalife’s escape was “at best” a “catastrophic system failure”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s incredibly embarrassing for the prison service but it’s not entirely surprising given what we know about what’s going on Wandsworth at the moment.”
Who to contact
If anybody sees Khalife, they are asked not to approach him and to phone 999 immediately, citing reference CAD 1631/06SEP23.
Officers want to hear from anybody who has information that might help them find Khalife, even if it doesn’t pertain to a live sighting.
Britain's world-class army training 'works against' police
Daniel Khalife being a trained soldier is making things hard for police, Hunted's Mel Thomas has said.
Mr Thomas, 54, who served in the police for 30 years, told the PA news agency: "What you've got to consider is that we consider ourselves to have the best military in the world, so he's had the best training - you can't dispute that.
"Because you're no longer in the Army or in the armed forces, it doesn't mean you become untrained overnight, that experience is always with you.
"What the organisations have got against them is it's good weather, it's not cold at night, so even sleeping rough is not going to be uncomfortable.
"You could happily find somewhere comfortable and, as an ex-military individual, he'll be used to sleeping outside.
"What will come into play more than anything else will be the individual's resilience."
Justice Secretary gives timeline of events
Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk gave a timeline of yesterday’s events.
He said: “At approximately 7.30 yesterday morning, a vehicle which had made a delivery to the prison’s kitchen left HMP Wandsworth.
“Shortly afterwards, local contingency plans for an unaccounted prisoner were activated and in line with standard procedure the police were informed.
“The prison was put into a state of lockdown while staff attempted to determine Daniel Khalife’s whereabouts.
“The vehicle was stopped and searched by police after the alert was raised. Strapping was found underneath the vehicle which appeared to indicate that Daniel Khalife may have held onto the underside of it in order to escape.
“The search is under way. His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are giving every assistance to the Metropolitan Police’s operation to recapture Daniel Khalife and return him to custody.
“As has been made clear by the Metropolitan Police
When did Daniel Khalife escape from Wandsworth prison?
Daniel fled his cell at HMP Wandsworth, south London, the morning of September 6, 2023.
Cops are desperately trying to locate the lag after he went disappeared shortly before 8am.
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."
Khalife was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toe cap boots.
Did someone help with Khalife's escape?
London police chief Mark Rowley said investigators must consider the possibility that Daniel Khalife was aided in his escape.
"So it's a question," Rowley told LBC.
"Did anyone inside the prison help him, other prisoners, corrupt guard staff? Was he helped by people outside the walls? Or was it simply all of his own creation?"
Comment: Tories must turn around overcrowded, cesspit prisons
The following is a comment piece by The Sun...
THE movie-style jailbreak of terror suspect Daniel Khalife is a mind-boggling fiasco.
If it’s not exactly the last thing Rishi Sunak needed, it’s close.
Wandsworth jail is a filthy shambles, under-manned by guards whose morale is at rock-bottom.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has to turn it around — along with all our overcrowded, cesspit prisons — and improve staff retention across the service.
But no one yet knows if any of that was to blame for Khalife exiting beneath a catering van.
Khalife's alleged offences
According to the Met Police, this is the full list of Khalife’s alleged offences:
- August 2, 2021, at Beaconside, Stafford, Staffordshire, elicited or attempted to elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to section 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000.
- On or before January 2, 2023 at Beaconside, Stafford, Staffordshire, placed an article with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property, contrary to section 51 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
Escape 'clearly pre-planned' claims Police Commissioner
Daniel Khalife "clearly pre-planned" his prison escape, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said.
He told LBC: "It is clearly pre-planned, the fact that he could strap himself onto the bottom of the wagon."
Sir Mark added a prison escape is "unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment".
Asked if police are looking into whether it was an "inside job", the commissioner said: "It is a question. Did anyone inside the prison help him? Other prisoners, guard staff? Was he helped by people outside the walls or was it simply all of his own creation?"
He added it is "extremely concerning" that Khalife is "on the loose".
Moment police think they’ve nabbed escaped terror suspect Daniel Khalife only to realise it’s a lookalike
Chaos was sparked across Britain yesterday in the hunt for fugitive Daniel Khalife as motorways, ports, airports and rail stations were caught up in the search.
In one dramatic swoop, police detained a man who looked like the escaped terror suspect as he waited innocently on a platform.
Incredibly, travellers held on a train were told: “We apologise for the delay but police are apprehending a suspected terrorist on the platform.”
