Daniel Abed Khalife: ‘Strapping’ found under van in hunt for fugitive ex-soldier after Wandsworth Prison escape
A fugitive ex-soldier is believed to have escaped from prison by tying himself to the underside of a food truck.
Details have started to emerge of how terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife fled HMP Wandsworth, with Justice Secretary Alex Chalk revealing “strapping” was found underneath the vehicle.
The 21-year-old was working in the kitchen and was wearing a chef’s uniform, and is thought to have hidden beneath the food delivery van and held on to the straps to make his escape.
Read more: Motorway closed amid hunt for prisoner on the run – latest on manhunt
Daniel Khalife
Sky News understands Bidfood is the delivery firm involved.
In a statement the company said: “Yesterday morning we were made aware of a security incident involving one of our vehicles, whilst out on delivery.
“We can confirm that our driver fully cooperated with the police on this matter before returning back to the depot. We will continue to assist the authorities in their ongoing investigation.”
Outlining to MPs in the Commons what happened at HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday, Mr Chalk said the truck left the category B men’s prison at 7.30am after making a delivery to the kitchen.
“Shortly afterwards, local contingency plans for an unaccounted prisoner were activated and in line with standard procedure the police were informed,” the cabinet minister said.
The prison was locked down while staff attempted to determine Khalife’s whereabouts.
The food truck 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,” said Mr Chalk.
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How prisoner’s escape unfolded
M20 stretch shuts due to manhunt
He ended his statement by saying a manhunt is under way and Khalife “will be found” – as he announced an independent investigation into the escape.
It will include two urgent reviews, the first focusing on the “placement and categorisation” of all inmates at the jail, while a second will investigate all those people in custody currently charged with terror offences.
Khalife was on remand at the south London prison – awaiting trial accused of leaving fake bombs at a military base, and other charges relating to the Official Secrets Act.
It is feared the former member of the Royal Signals – who was based at Beacon Barracks in Stafford – may have fled the country.
His disappearance has prompted extra security checks at major UK airports and ports including Manchester, Gatwick, Heathrow and Dover.
Kent Police confirmed on Thursday the M20 was shut between junctions 8 and 9 due to the “enhanced security checks” – and to allow freight heading for mainland Europe to queue on the empty section of the motorway.
Labour’s Shabana Mahmood urged Mr Chalk to “get a grip” of the criminal justice system.
The shadow justice secretary said: “It simply beggars belief that a man being held on suspected terror charges was able to escape a prison by clinging to the bottom of a food delivery van.”
Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor, said staff shortages are “the source of many problems” at HMP Wandsworth, adding: “Something obviously went wrong in terms of security, and that will come out over time.”
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M20 closed as ’emergency measure’
‘Prisoner may look for burns treatment’
The head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, Commander Dominic Murphy, has said there is “no reason to believe Khalife poses a threat to the wider public” but urged people not to approach him and to call 999 if they spot him.
He has links to northwest England and Kingston in London but Mr Murphy said the manhunt covers the whole of the UK.
Khalife was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown, steel toe-cap boots, the Metropolitan Police said. He is described as slim and 6ft 2in, with short brown hair.
Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley said Khalife may have suffered burns after clinging on to the underside of the food van and seek treatment – and urged pharmacies to keep a lookout.
He told Sky News: “Clinging to the bottom of a vehicle, if it’s got a petrol or diesel combustion engine, it is a pretty risky thing to do, not only because of course you can lose your grip and fall on a roadway, but exhaust systems, which generally speaking run the entire length of a vehicle like that, get incredibly hot.
“The slightest touch of that exhaust system will leave you with a vey unpleasant burn.
“So I would suggest to anybody who works in a chemist or pharmacy or shops where medical supplies are sold – just keep your eyes out today if somebody comes in asking for advice on how to treat burns, and sourcing bandages… and the like.”
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Escaped prisoner ‘may look for burn treatment’
The charges
Khalife appeared at the Old Bailey via video link in July to deny a charge of breaching the Official Secrets Act, which alleges he committed “an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state”.
It states that between 1 May 2019 and 6 January 2022 he “obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be or might be or were intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy”.
Read more:
What life is like at HMP Wandsworth
Why wasn’t he banged up in Belmarsh?
What we know about terror suspect
He also denied a charge under the Terrorism Act that alleges he “elicited information about individuals who are members of His Majesty’s forces” on 2 August 2021.
The charge relates to him allegedly “obtaining personal information from the MoD Joint Personnel Administration system of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”.
Khalife further pleaded not guilty to carrying out a bomb hoax on or before 2 January.
It is claimed 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 due to face a six-week trial at Woolwich Crown Court from 13 November.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
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Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
“It has been a success.”
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
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As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.
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