Daniel Khalife: Man, 24, arrested over the alleged prison escape of terror suspect, Met police says

A man has been arrested in connection with the alleged prison escape of terror suspect Daniel Khalife last year. The Metropolitan Police said the 24-year-old, who is not a member of the prison staff, was arrested on Wednesday (January 17) on suspicion of assisting an offender.

He was taken into custody at a London police station and bailed until a date in late April, the Metropolitan Police said. The arrest by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is said to be linked to the alleged escape of 22-year-old Khalife from HMP Wandsworth on September 6, 2023.

Khalife is due to go on trial at the Old Bailey in October 2024 after pleading not guilty to charges alleging he escaped from HMP Wandsworth.

Detective Chief Superintendent Gareth Rees, of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: This arrest follows months of careful investigation into the alleged escape and enquiries remain ongoing into this.

“We understand that there will be significant public and media interest in this arrest but with Khalife now charged and awaiting trial, it is extremely important that people do not report, comment or share information - including online - which could in any way prejudice these future court proceedings."

The former soldier is believed to have escaped from the prison by strapping himself to the bottom of a delivery lorry after leaving the prison kitchen in a cook’s uniform. Strapping was found underneath the delivery lorry which police stopped just over an hour after it left the prison at 7.32am, with officers suggesting Khalife held on to the bottom of the vehicle to escape.

After extensive search operations, Khalife was arrested three days later on September 9 in the Chiswick area. Khalife was previously arrested in January 2023, charged with terror and Official Secrets Act offences. He was accused of planting fake bombs (carrying out a bomb hoax) at his own military base. According to court documents, Khalife allegedly placed “three canisters with wires at RAF Stafford, 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.”

He is also accused of “eliciting or attempting to elicit” information about soldiers from the Ministry of Defence Joint Personnel Administration System. This was said to be “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”

Khalife was first arrested in January 2022 on suspicion of a separate offence, but was bailed before later being re-arrested following an investigation by Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command. The 21-year-old former British Army soldier has denied all charges against him.