West London police have successfully arrested Daniel Abed Khalife, a terror suspect who had managed to escape from HMP Wands worth. He was brought into custody following an encounter with a plain-clothes officer on a canal path in Northolt, west London.
Khalife, an ex-military man of 21 years, had made his prison escape by affixing himself to the bottom of a delivery vehicle. He was captured around 11am on Saturday, say police reports.
The Metropolitan police’s chief of counter-terrorism, Commander Dominic Murphy, stated the arrest was relatively swift, taking approximately 75 hours from Khalife’s initial disappearance. Rapid progression in the investigation was due to numerous public calls tipping off police to Khalife’s whereabouts.
Murphy reported that Khalife was compliant during his arrest, which occurred shortly after he was caught and removed from his bicycle. The Sun’s video footage reveals Khalife seated by the Grand Union Canal post-arrest, with a bicycle, sleeping bag, and a Waitrose bag filled with food found in his possession.
The UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, expressed his gratitude to both the public and police force for their cooperation and efficiency in locating Khalife. The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, and the policing minister, who both commended the swift actions of the Met police via social media, shared similar sentiments.
Murphy noted that the police had received two separate accounts of Khalife sightings in the Chiswick area, with the last confirmed sighting near Church Street and Chiswick Mall. The arrest operation involved extensive police resources, including helicopters and police dogs, and local residents reported numerous checks by authorities throughout the day.
Paul Wade, a 79-year-old resident, reported waking up to the sight of five police officers in his proximity early on Saturday. Speaking to the PA news agency, he mentioned that his neighbor informed him about the deployment of sniffer dogs. He inferred that officers hopped over property boundaries to conduct their searches without disturbing the residents.
The police focus was primarily on the region of south-west London, which is roughly 5 miles away from the prison he managed to flee from, according to a statement issued by Scotland Yard on Saturday morning. The officials stated that he had changed from his prison attire – a white shirt and red and white gingham trousers – to more casual clothing like a black baseball cap, a black T-shirt and dark trousers. They believe he was carrying a small bag or briefcase.
The startling escape initiated a comprehensive search operation involving 150 officers from the counter-terrorism unit. The heightened alert resulted in additional checks and consequent delays at ports and airports. The police are investigating whether he received external help in his escape from HMP Wandsworth.
Khalife was awaiting his trial in a category B prison. He was charged with planting a faux bomb and collecting potentially harmful information. Despite denying all three charges against him, his escape led to immense scrutiny of the prison’s security measures, triggering a political uproar.
The van he is presumed to have used for his escape left HMP Wandsworth at 7:32 AM on Wednesday. He was reported missing at 7:50 AM, the police were informed by 8:15 AM, and the van was finally intercepted at 8:37 AM on Upper Richmond Road.
Richmond Park, spanning 2,500 acres, was sealed off on Friday for a thorough search, but Khalife remained elusive. He is familiar with this area as he grew up there. The officials later received reports of Khalife being spotted near a roundabout, a mile from the prison, walking away from a food delivery truck.
His family has urged him to surrender. His escape intensified the ongoing debate on the understaffing and inadequate security measures in prisons. The fear that high-risk prisoners might not be held under secure conditions proportionate to their alleged crimes was also raised.
In the wake of the escape, Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, has called for independent inquiries into the escape, the reasons for Khalife’s placement in a lower-security prison, and the potential need to relocate other high-risk inmates. He emphasized the need to scrutinize all aspects of the incident, from staffing to protocol adherence.
Khalife, an ex-serviceman previously stationed at Beacon Barracks, Beaconside, Stafford, is also accused of a criminal offence linked to the alleged bomb hoax. The charges allege that he placed “three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation,” intending to convince others that it could explode or ignite. He is scheduled to face trial for the terrorism charges on 13 November at Woolwich crown court.
London Apprehends Fugitive Terror Suspect Daniel Khalife
Daniel Khalife, a terror suspect, was apprehended in the north-west region of London after an exhaustive four-day manhunt, according to the police. The 21-year-old former soldier was taken into custody around 10:41 BST when law enforcement intercepted him cycling along a canal path in the Northolt area.
Khalife was found roughly 14 miles away from Wandsworth prison, the very place he made his escape from earlier in the week on Wednesday morning. The Metropolitan Police, during their search operation, had utilized CCTV footage and deployed helicopters to comb through west and south-west London.
The police expressed their gratitude towards the public for their assistance, as there have been over 100 calls reporting sightings of Khalife. Currently, the apprehended suspect is being held in police custody. Khalife is being charged with several serious offenses, including espionage for a foreign state, believed to be Iran, possession of information that could aid in terrorist activities, and orchestrating a fake bomb threat.
Pending a trial slated for November, Khalife was in Wandsworth prison on remand after bail was denied in a January court appearance. His escape was facilitated through his prison job in the kitchen, where he fastened himself to the bottom of a food delivery truck.
Counter Terrorism Command’s Head, Cdr Dominic Murphy, informed the press that Khalife was apprehended under the suspicion of escaping from lawful custody and being unlawfully at large. Khalife was apprehended while cycling by an undercover officer.
The police had earlier reported a sighting of Khalife emerging from underneath a lorry in the Wands worth Roundabout shortly post his escape. An announcement was made for a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to his capture.
Earlier on Saturday, Met stated it was intensifying its search activities in the Chiswick area of west London, where public sightings of Khalife had been reported. A woman who resides in Chiswick claimed to have had a short interaction with Khalife in Chiswick House Gardens.
In an update, the police clarified that Khalife was actually taken into custody in Northolt, located several miles away from Chiswick. The investigation took a turn the previous night when an intelligence-led search was carried out in the Richmond area, according to Cdr Murphy.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lauded the police and the public for their commendable efforts in the capture of Khalife, expressing his relief at the arrest.
