A man who was arrested after escaping from HMP Wandsworth has been charged.
Daniel Abed Khalife, 21 (27.09.01) will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 11 September charged as follows:
On the 6th day of September 2023, then being a prisoner in his Majesty’s prison at Wandsworth, being remanded in custody pending trial as ordered at the Central Criminal Court on the 21st day of July 2023, escaped, contrary to common law.
Khalife was arrested on a towpath near Rowdell Road, Northolt on Saturday, 9 September following a policing operation led by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Daniel Khalife escaped from Wandsworth Prison on Wednesday morning. The search for him was a significant operation led by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
More than 150 of the Met’s counter terrorism officers and staff, with support from colleagues across the Met and in other forces, have been working at pace around the clock, making extensive enquiries to try and find Khalife.
Detectives have received information from a member of the public who said they saw a man fitting Khalife’s description walking away from a BidFood van that had stopped near the south entrance to the Wandsworth Roundabout, at the top of Trinity Road, shortly after his escape. The man was then seen walking towards Wandsworth town centre.
This is one of several key lines of enquiry that officers are pursuing.
A reward of up to £20,000 is now being offered for information which leads directly to the arrest of Khalife.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “This remains a fast-paced and dynamic investigation, but I want the public to know that a large number of officers are working extremely hard to locate Khalife.
“We have now received more than 100 calls from the public, and we thank everyone who has contacted us with information.
“The sighting near Wandsworth Roundabout could be very significant, and this is one of many useful lines of enquiry that officers are perusing.
“We continue to urge the public to contact us straight away if they think they have seen Khalife or have information on his whereabouts.
“We will continue to work closely with all our colleagues in police services across the country and other partners to trace Khalife and bring him back into custody.”
Officers continue to focus our investigative efforts in London. This included search activity at Richmond Park overnight into the early hours of Friday, 8 September.
A nationwide alert put out on Wednesday has resulted in increased security at our ports and borders. Our partners are working to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.
We are engaged with police colleagues across the UK, and we have various measures in place.
We continue to assess that Khalife does not pose a threat to the wider public. However, we advise anyone who seems him not to approach him and instead call 999 immediately.
Former soldier Khalife, 21, was declared missing at 07:50hrs on 6 September. The Met was notified at 08:15hrs and took immediate action to track down a delivery van that had left the prison.
At 08:37, police officers stopped the van in Upper Richmond Road, near the junction with Carlton Drive. Officers spoke to the driver and carried out a thorough search. Police discovered strapping on the underside of the van.
We believe Khalife was hiding underneath the van and used this strapping as part of his escape.
We previously gave details of the route the van which we believe Khalife escaped on took after it left Wandsworth Prison, based on GPS data detectives had obtained from the vehicle.
As a result of further CCTV enquiries, we can clarify that the van took the following route upon leaving Wandsworth Prison.
After reaching Wandsworth Roundabout, the van turned onto Swandon Way and the van remained on the road until turning onto Fairfield Street.
Further imagery – moving footage of the van Khalife is believed to have escaped on, and a still of the type of clothing he was wearing – is now being made available as part of this appeal.
