80 officers didn't show up for work on day Daniel Khalife escaped prison
A huge 80 officers didn't attend their expected shift at Wandsworth prison on the day terror suspect Daniel Khalife escaped. Some 61% of staff due to attend the prison that day turned up suggesting a whopping 39% did not attend their shift.
Prison minister Damian Hinds released the official information in response to a written parliamentary question from Labour's Rosena Allin-Khan. Mr Hinds wrote that 1,594 prisoners were held at HMP Wandsworth on 6 September, the day Khalife escaped. He said 125 Band 3 Prison Officers at the prison attended their shift on that day, which equates to 61% of all staff due to attend.
The Tory minister maintained that overall staffing levels "were above the minimum staffing level required by the prison’s Regime Management Plan to deliver a safe and decent regime". He added that "all staff in both the kitchen and the gatehouse were on duty on 06 September" and that an initial investigation into Khalife’s escape "did not find the staffing level to be a contributing factor".
But Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has launched an independent investigation into the escape that will delve deeper into how such an escape could happen. It was announced today that a former director-general of the National Crime Agency has been appointed as the investigator. Keith Bristow QPM served as the first head of the agency from 2013 to 2016 after spending five years as chief constable of Warwickshire Police.
Khalife, 21, was remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday after allegedly escaping from HMP Wandsworth on September 6 by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry. He was arrested on a canal towpath in west London on Saturday, four days after escaping, after being pulled off a push bike by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer.
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The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said an independent investigation will seek to identify shortcomings and ensure lessons are learned to help prevent similar incidents. It will consider a range of factors, including whether relevant protocols were in place at HMP Wandsworth when the escape happened and how Khalife was given access to materials that might have facilitated it.
Staffing levels and an assessment of relevant security measures, such as checks relating to the lorry, will also be scrutinised before findings and recommendations are provided. The report on the investigation will be submitted to the Lord Chancellor and permanent secretary at the MoJ.
Mr Hinds added in his response: "We have taken a series of measures to increase the prison workforce. Despite a challenging labour market, the 12 months ending 30 June 2023 saw an increase of over 700 Full Time Equivalent Band prison officers. This means we now have 4,000 more prison officers than in March 2017. We are also recruiting 5,000 prison officers across public and private prisons by the mid-2020s."
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