Daniel Khalife said seven words to police officer during arrest - eyewitness

09 September 2023 , 21:41

1199     0

Daniel Khalife was arrested by a plain clothed officer on a tow path in west London

An eyewitness has revealed the seven words fugitive Daniel Khalife said to police as he was arrested.

The terror suspect and escaped prisoner was pulled off a bicycle by an undercover officer as he rode along a tow path in west London on Saturday morning. It brought an end to a four-day manhunt after the 21-year-old absconded from HMP Wandsworth while clinging to the bottom of a delivery van on Wednesday morning.

The armed counter-terror officer was plain clothed and barged ex-soldier Khalife off the bike and held him on the ground at gunpoint, according to an eyewitness. But the escapee is said to have tried to protest his innocence and allegedly pleaded: "It's not me! I haven't done anything."

An officer wielding a gun pounced on the fugitive on the path in Chiswick (PA)

The witness told MailOnline: "Within a few minutes, three or four plain clothes officers arrived and then a few minutes after that a small army of them arrived and taped off the path. It was obviously a well-planned operation and they must have been following him because the officer was lying in wait for him. It's a relief that they finally have him."

Met Police Commander Dominic Murphy told reporters at a press briefing on Saturday afternoon that the officer had recognised Khalife on the bicycle and "in essence pulled him off the bike" at just after 10.40am. He had been spotted getting out from under the delivery van - which he had ridden out of the prison gates - before police had reports of further sightings in the Church Street and Chiswick Mall area. Last night there was also an intelligence-led search of a residential address.

Abandoned prison which caged dangerous cartel killers found by urban explorer

Police from the TSG in the Chiswick area in west London (PA)

The search for the fugitive quickly narrowed before he was halted on Rowdell Road in Northolt. Footage obtained by The Sun showed the suspect being arrested next to a bike, a sleeping bag and a Waitrose cool bag full of groceries. Mr Murphy said Khalife was "fully co-operative" with police during his detainment.

The witness went on to say describe seeing Khalife riding his bike along the canal path towards an industrial estate while an officer in plain clothes was sat on the steps leading up to a nearby bridge. Once the suspected fugitive was level with him, the officer pounced, they added.

A lorry belonging to the Bidfood company was stopped by police Wednesday morning, following the escape from HMP Wandsworth (PA)

The Met also told reporters today that no other arrests had been made but they were still looking for anybody who might have helped him. Mr Murphy said: "It's been about 75 hours since he went missing from the prison to the point of his arrest. That's pretty quick given the challenge of trying to find this individual.

"In terms of the investigation, it really gathered momentum yesterday afternoon, with a number of calls from the public, but really took a different course last night, when we did an intelligence-led search in the Richmond area in the early hours of this morning. Whilst we didn't find him at that search, while we were at that search, we had a number of calls from the public over the next hour or two, giving us various sightings of him."

Mr Murphy said police received "well over 100 calls" from members of the public offering information. He described the investigation as "extremely complicated", with a lot of police activity being led by intelligence. Khalife was awaiting trial after being charged with offences relating to terrorism and the Official Secrets Act. He had allegedly planted a fake bomb at an RAF base he was serving at and gathered information that might be useful to terrorists.

Ryan Merrifield