How prison escapee Daniel Khalife used disguises to dodge police

For four days last summer, Daniel Khalife was one of the most wanted men in the country after he escaped from HMP Wandsworth while awaiting trial for espionage.

At Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, Khalife pleaded guilty to absconding from the category B prison.

He continues to deny charges of contravening the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act, and is accused of perpetrating a bomb hoax.

The 23-year-old told the court he decided he had no choice but to escape prison because of the type of offenders with whom he was housed.

The former soldier claimed he was kept alongside paedophiles and rapists in an area of the prison reserved for vulnerable prisoners.

Khalife gave detailed evidence about his escape and said it demonstrated “what a foolish idea it was to have someone of my skill set in prison”.

Khalife’s escape

On Aug 21, five days before he successfully broke out of Wandsworth, Khalife carried out a test run.

Khalife said he planned the “fake escape attempt” in the hope he would be moved to the high security unit at HMP Belmarsh away from the sex offenders with whom he was locked up.

Khalife said he deliberately “acted suspiciously” around a food delivery lorry and was spotted by kitchen staff.

He told the court he was shocked when the matter was not escalated to senior prison officers and he faced no consequences.

Khalife said that was when he decided his only option was to escape for real.

On Sept 1, he attached a makeshift sling made from kitchen trousers and carabiners to the underside of the refrigerated food delivery lorry.

Credit: Metropolitan Police

Khalife said that the sling wasn’t spotted at “Wandsworth or any other prison” which the food truck visited.

“If the makeshift sling wasn’t noticed, they’re hardly going to notice me,” he told jurors.

Shortly after 7am on Sept 6, Khalife was escorted from his cell to his work area in the kitchen.

Less than half an hour later, he was free.

A food lorry, driven by Balazs Werner, was seen on CCTV driving out of the gates of the prison onto Heathfield Road at 7.32am.

Before the van drove out of the prison it was noticed that Khalife was nowhere to be seen and a search began. Despite that, the food lorry was allowed to leave.

Shortly after the lorry left the prison, at 7.37am, a woman driving behind it saw a man “drop to the ground and then do a kind of pencil roll” after the lorry stopped at a set of traffic lights on Trinity Road.

A witness told the court Khalife then “slowly and casually” got up and walked to the nearest pavement.

At HMP Wandsworth, during a routine headcount, staff realised a prisoner was missing and police were notified at 8.18am.

On the run

CCTV footage from later that afternoon in Whittaker Avenue, Richmond, showed Khalife wearing an olive green shirt and shorts.

He entered a Mountain Warehouse shop, picked up a blue cap and put it into his bag before walking out.

Credit: Metropolitan Police

He was seen walking towards the River Thames at 5.45pm and making his way onto a towpath near to Richmond Bridge.

He went into the Rose of York pub and asked to use a phone, claiming he was calling a friend to come and pick him up.

At 8am the next morning, after his first night outside the prison walls and with his escape now a major news story, Khalife walked into a Marks & Spencers store in Kew and bought clothes using cash.

He spent £35.60 on a pair of jogging bottoms, light coloured t-shirts, socks and a carrier bag.

Two hours later, he was seen going into a shopping centre in Hammersmith before entering a Sainsbury’s wearing a face mask. He spent £10 on a mobile phone top-up.

At 11.20am, he purchased a Samsung JF for £89 from a shop on King Street.

The next morning, apparently curious about what the papers were saying about his escape, he visited a newsagent in Chiswick and bought a newspaper.

Credit: Metropolitan Police

A day later, on the morning of Sept 9 he walked into a McDonald’s and had an espresso.

He went into the toilets at 9.42am and emerged in a different set of clothes.

Credit: Metropolitan Police

Escapee’s capture

Just before 11am however, his audacious escape bid came to an end.

A detective who had been searching for Khalife thought he spotted the escapee cycle past his car and radioed a possible description to his colleagues.

As he did so, Khalife made his way onto a towpath of the Grand Union Canal.

Det Con Jason Hughes was walking along the towpath and saw Khalife riding towards him.

He told the court he began following him as quickly as he could while other officers raced to cut Khalife off further down the path.

A plain clothes detective sergeant told the court he “jumped out” of his car and “ran down an alleyway to the canal” about a mile north of where Khalife had been seen.

He told the court he saw a person matching Khalife’s description and made the decision to draw his taser.

He said he shouted “Stop! Police!” before grabbing Khalife’s arm and pulling him to the ground.

Inside a Waitrose picnic bag Khalife was carrying, officers found £200 in £20 notes, spare clothing, a sleeping bag, a water bottle, phone and a charger.

Asked about Khalife’s demeanour, the officer said: “He was friendly towards me. Quite jovial. He was pleasant. He congratulated me on catching him.”

His four days of freedom at an end, Khalife was once again taken into custody. More than a year later, he appeared at Woolwich Crown Court for his trial.

He continues to deny gathering information useful to an enemy, collecting a list of Special Forces soldiers that would be useful for terrorism, and perpetrating a bomb hoax. The trial continues.