Soldier accused of planting fake bombs escapes from prison clinging to delivery van

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A former British army soldier escaped a London prison by clinging on to the straps of a food delivery van while wearing a chef’s uniform.

Suspected terrorist Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, was being held on remand after he was accused of planting fake bombs at a military base.

He fled from HMP Wandsworth at 7.50am on Wednesday, with prison officers raising the alarm with the Metropolitan Police.

A national manhunt has been launched, putting airports and sea ports on high alert amid fears that he could flee the country, with The Times reporting that he had been refused pre-trial bail over flight-risk concerns.

Holidaymakers have reported delays at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick, while the Port of Dover has experienced queues at the border due to “a police matter”.

Khalife, who was being held over charges relating to terrorism and Official Secrets Act offences, had been working in the kitchen and was wearing a chef’s uniform when he escaped. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toe cap boots.

He is thought to have snuck out of the kitchen and clung onto the bottom of a delivery van to make his escape.

The Met released a picture of dark-haired Khalife, describing him as slim build and around 6ft 2in tall.

Police said that Khalife has links to the Kingston area and believe he most likely remains in the London area at this time, with members of the public urged not to approach him.

Khalife appeared at the Old Bailey in late July where he denied the charges he is facing, which include a bomb hoax at an RAF base.

It is claimed that he placed “three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation” with the intention of inducing in another a belief this was “likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property”.

He is also accused of eliciting or trying to elicit information that could be useful for a terrorist on 2 August 2021, and breaching the Official Secrets Act by gathering information that could be useful to an enemy between 1 May 2019 and 6 January 2022.

A trial date had been set for 13 November at Woolwich Crown Court.

Khalife is understood to have joined the British army in 2018 and worked as a computer network engineer as part of the Royal Signals where he was based at the Ministry of Defence’s Stafford military base – also known as Beacon Barracks.

A court previously heard that he disappeared from the barracks on 2 January after the alleged bomb hoax before he was “arrested in or near his car” 24 days later.

The MoD confirmed that he was discharged from the army in May of this year as a result of the charges he was facing.

His escape from Wandsworth prison had a knock-on effect of disrupting court hearings for other defendants at the Old Bailey, including that of a suspected murderer.

A prison officer told Judge Alexia Durran via video call: “We have got an operational emergency and no movement across the establishment. No bodies are being moved due to the severity of the matter.”

Justice secretary Alex Chalk held an urgent call with the prison governor and senior staff in the prison service on Wednesday afternoon to seek assurances about what is being done to ensure the jail is secure.

Questions have now arisen as to why Khalife was being held on remand in a Category B prison given the seriousness of his charges. Defendants facing terror accusations are usually placed in a Category A prison such as HMP Belmarsh in south-east London.

A government minister said on Thursday morning that an investigation has been launched into why the former soldier was not being held in a prison with the highest security.

Science secretary Michelle Donelan told Times Radio that her understanding was that it was not “black and white” whether a terror suspect should be held in a category A prison, such as Belmarsh.

Asked whether Khalife had not been held in Belmarsh prison because it was full, Ms Donelan said it was “no secret” that prison capacity was an issue.

Meanwhile, Labour demanded that the government “urgently” explain Khalife’s escape and ensure there is no “wider risk” to the public.

Newly-appointed shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said that Rishi Sunak needed to “get a grip” as the search for the terror suspect continues.

“I think the Government has very serious questions to answer,” she told broadcasters.

“We know that the criminal justice system after 13 years of Tory Government is in a state of disrepair. We know that there are huge problems with prisons and prison places in particular.”

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 or the 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.”