Daniel Khalife 'tried breakout 10 days before he finally escaped jail'

10 September 2023 , 12:02

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Daniel Khalife escaped from HMP Wandsworth prison in South London (Image: Metropolitan Police/AFP via Gett)

Daniel Khalife tried to escape prison with the same methods last month, it's been claimed, but had to revise his methods after his first attempt failed.

Escaping prison by strapping himself to a delivery lorry, Khalife had tried to flee Wandsworth prison last month by similarly binding himself to a food delivery lorry, but the straps snapped on his first attempt. The terror suspect learned from his August 31 attempt and reinforced the straps, ultimately finding the materials would successfully see him out of HMP Wandsworth, September 6.

Daniel Khalife was arrested on the fourth day of a manhunt after he escaped from HMP Wandsworth (PA)

A prisoner who served alongside Khalife, 21, as he was held on remand for terror and spying offences told the Mail Online “He always used to brag about escaping from prison. He used to say 'Just watch me!' It was an open secret because he was so blatant about it. I'm surprised none of the guards reported him. Someone is going to get it in the neck for this.”

Sources told The Sun on Sunday about the previous escape and how the straps had broken. Khalife winked and laughed as he was arrested by police after four days on the run. He was caught by anti-terror police after they and MI5 and MI6 combined forces, bugged phones, and raided a 'safe house'. After four days on the run ended at 10.41am yesterday, an undercover officer pulled him from a bike as he cycled along a canal towpath.

As he was pinned to a bridge while being detained, he was laughing and winked at witnesses along the Greenford canal path. Witness Ethan Andrews, 20, told the Sun: “The guy looked up at me, winked and started laughing. I thought, how arrogant is that?” In a video taken by Andrews of Khalife sitting on the floor surrounded by officers, laughing can be heard in the background. It came after security sources said that intercepted communications from bugged phones led dozens of police officers to a house in Richmond, South-West London, where they were convinced the ex-soldier Khalife was hiding.

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Two guards at Wandsworth Prison have been suspended following his dramatic escape. It is understood both were involved in overseeing the exit of the Bidfood catering vehicle from the prison grounds. This morning Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said that around 40 inmates of Category B HMP Wandsworth have been moved out of the prison amid an investigation into how Daniel Khalife escaped.

Chalk told Sky's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: “Out of an abundance of caution some prisoners there, some of those on remand, have been moved (this week).'But also, out of an abundance of caution, around 40 prisoners have been moved just while we get to the bottom of what took place in Wandsworth. That is a sensible, precautionary measure.”

Emilia Randall