Prison escape of Daniel Abed Khalife was 'clearly pre-planned', Met Police Chief says
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Escaped terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife who fled Wandsworth Prison has been found and arrested in Chiswick following a 75-hour nationwide manhunt.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the former soldier was arrested by officers in west London just before 11am on Saturday morning and is currently in their custody.
The arrest follows a national four-day search after the 21-year-old was believed to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning by strapping himself to the bottom of a delivery lorry after leaving the prison kitchen in a cook’s uniform.
In their statement, the Met said: “We would like to thank the public and media for their support throughout our investigation to locate Khalife and we will provide a further update on his arrest in due course.”
The force announced earlier that it would be focusing its search in Chiswick on Saturday after confirmed sightings in the area overnight.
This came after a member of the public reported seeing Khalife walking away from a BidFood van near Wandsworth Roundabout shortly after his escape from prison.
Escaped terror suspect Daniel Khalife found and arrested in Chiswick
Escaped terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife has been found and arrested in the Chiswick area of west London following a four-day nationwide manhunt.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the former soldier was arrested by officers just before 11am on Saturday morning and is currently in their custody.
The 21-year-old is believed to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning by strapping himself to the bottom of a delivery lorry after leaving the prison kitchen in a cook’s uniform.
In their statement, the Met said: “We would like to thank the public and media for their support throughout our investigation to locate Khalife and we will provide a further update on his arrest in due course.”
Home Office minister congratulates police for ‘rapid effective’ work
Home Office minister Chris Philp congratulated the police for their “rapid and effective” work to apprehend fugitive terror suspect Daniel Khalife.
The policing minister wrote on social media: “Great work by the Met Police. Well done for a rapid and effective piece of work to catch this fugitive.
“An example of policing at its best. Congratulations to all Officers involved in this operation.”
Prime Minister ‘very pleased’ Khalife arrested
Rishi Sunak said he is “very pleased” terror suspect Daniel Khalife has been arrested, as he praised efforts by the police and the public in finding him.
Speaking to broadcasters at the G20 summit venue in New Delhi, the Prime Minister said: “I’m very pleased with the news and my thanks to the police officers for their fantastic work over the past couple of days, but also to the public who came forward with an enormous number of leads to help the police in their inquiries.
“It’s good news that we captured the person concerned. As people already know, the Justice Secretary has initiated an inquiry into the circumstances of his escape and that work will continue.
“And this is obviously very welcome news. And again, my thanks to the police but also to the public for their help.”
Watch: Police search location in Chiswick as hunt for Khalife continues
Police officers continue their search on Chiswick Mall for Daniel Abed Khalife after he was reported missing from Wandsworth prison.
Police have confirmed sightings of the terror suspect in the Chiswick area of west London.
Officers have been stopping and checking cars in Chiswick and asking residents for their IDs and looking in boots of cars on Church Street and Chiswick Lane South.
Armed police officers have also been searching up and down the road.
Shabnoor Irshad reports:
Police officers search location in Chiswick as hunt for Daniel Khalife continues
Police officers continue their search on Chiswick Mall for Daniel Abed Khalife after he was reported missing from Wandsworth prison. Police have confirmed sightings of the terror suspect in the Chiswick area of west London. Officers have been stopping and checking cars in Chiswick and asking residents for their IDs and looking in boots of cars on Church Street and Chiswick Lane South. Armed police officers have also been searching up and down the road.
Former justice secretary calls for more prisons so Wandsworth can close
Conservative former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland has said there must be more prison space built to allow the closure of out of date sites such as HMP Wandsworth.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s important to emphasise that an escape like this is a pretty exceptional event, it brings back to mind escapes like Ronnie Biggs and George Blake from distant history.
“However, there is no doubt that our Prison Service is a forgotten service in our country.
“It’s a service that either people don’t want to talk about or just don’t know enough about.
“We run the prisons service at a hugely hot rate, about 98% capacity and I think that isn’t a desirable state of affairs. We need more capacity to allow for flexibility.”
He said new facilities are not being built fast enough to “close the sort of prisons like Wandsworth and other London prisons that are well past their sell by date”.
Radar map revealing aerial police activity around west London overnight
A radar map revealed aerial police activity around Hammersmith and Chiswick in west London overnight amid the national manhunt for Daniel Abed Khalife.
Police helicopters spent Friday night circling around the Thames in west London, with flight radar maps revealing one flying over Chiswick House and Grove Park.
The Met has now confirmed sightings of the fugitive terror suspect in Chiswick overnight. Following “intelligence-led activity and some confirmed sightings”, the force said it is focusing the search there on Saturday, with officers set to carry out “further intensive search activity” in the area throughout the day.
Radar map showing police activity focused around Hammersmith and Chiswick in west London
Who is Daniel Abed Khalife?
A soldier turned terror suspect, Daniel Abed Khalife is now the subject of a nationwide manhunt after outwitting the guards at a London prison.
He escaped in a chef’s outfit by using straps to cling onto a food delivery van, with his current location unknown. Intelligence sources have told The Independent it is “almost certain” that he had “inside help”.
Police commissioner Mark Rowley said the escape was “clearly pre-planned” – pointing to “the fact he could strap himself onto the bottom of the wagon”, referring to the delivery van Khalife used to flee.
Holly Evans and Andy Gregory report:
Police appear to have scaled back search for Khalife in Chiswick
Police appear to have scaled back their search for Daniel Khalife in Chiswick, south west London.
A number of police cars have left the scene and the area has become busy with runners and dog walkers.
Territorial Support Group vans and unmarked police cars had been spotted in the area early on Saturday.
Chiswick resident Brenda MacDonald said she had seen “loads of vans” and helicopters as police searched the area.
The 78-year-old said: “I guessed it was something to do with (Khalife) because of him landing in Wandsworth. It is not far to get here.
“They have got to catch him because it was silly enough that they let him get out.”
Watch: Police search location in Chiswick as hunt for Khalife continues
Former Prisons Service director general criticises ‘mess’ in system
A former director general of the Prisons Service has criticised the “mess” in the system that he believes will have played a role in Daniel Khalife’s escape.
Phil Wheatley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It has highlighted that the prison system is in a degree of chaos at the moment.
“It is very difficult to make anything work well when you are just managing day by day to fumble your way through with too many prisoners and not enough staff. So, I would be surprised in the long run if that wasn’t one of the factors that led to things not working right.
“The system is just about at maximum capacity, it’s overflowing out into police cells, that’s driven by longer sentences.
“The Government has been very keen on longer sentences for criminals but they haven’t supplied the places with enough staff to supervise them, nor have they managed to maintain existing prisons.
“They’ve spent what capital they’ve got on trying to build new places, meanwhile some of the older accommodation has had to be taken out of use because it can’t be maintained – so it’s all a bit of a mess, it doesn’t look like a well-planned, thought through policy that has been resourced.”
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2023-09-09 11:42:29Z
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