Prison Escape was ‘Clearly Pre-Planned’, Says Head of Metropolitan Police

Sir Mark Rowley says it is possible the jailbreak was an 'inside job'

Police officers involved in the search for prison escapee Daniel Khalife check lorries on the southbound M20 near Ashford in Kent, England on Sep. 7, 2023. Gareth Fuller/PA

The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, has said suspected terrorist Daniel Khalife’s escape from prison was “clearly pre-planned” and may have been an inside job.

Mr. Khalife, 21, escaped from Wandsworth prison in south London on Wednesday morning, and remains on the loose despite a manhunt which included checking lorries heading for ports like Dover.

A former soldier—he was discharged from the British Army in May—Mr. Khalife had been awaiting trial accused of planting a fake bomb at an RAF base in Staffordshire and gathering information which might be useful to terrorists or enemies of the UK.

It has been reported he was allegedly working for Iran.

Police officers spent Thursday night searching Richmond Park, which is not far from Wandsworth prison and close to Mr. Khalife’s hometown of Kingston-upon-Thames.

On Friday morning Sir Mark confirmed Mr. Khalife was still “on the loose” and said the prison escape was “extremely concerning.”

Questions have been asked about why Mr. Khalife—who had been working in the prison kitchen and was wearing a cook’s uniform, including distinctive red and white checked trousers—was being housed in a category B prison, rather than a high-security category A prison like Belmarsh.

Doubts Over ‘Spur of the Moment’ Decision to Escape

Sir Mark said the escape was “unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment.”

He told LBC, “It is clearly pre-planned, the fact that he could strap himself onto the bottom of the wagon.”

Asked if it was possible the escape was an “inside job,” Sir Mark said: “It is a question. Did anyone inside the prison help him? Other prisoners, guard staff? Was he helped by people outside the walls or was it simply all of his own creation?” he replied.

A CCTV image of the lorry which Daniel Khalife hid under to escape from Wandsworth prison in south London on Sep. 6, 2023. Metropolitan Police

Police have released an image of the Bidfood lorry Mr. Khalife escaped under, in the hope of jogging the memories of people who may have seen it or something suspicious in the Wandsworth area on Wednesday.

It is known the lorry left Wandsworth prison at 7:32 a.m. on Wednesday, he was declared missing at 7:50 a.m. and the police were notified at 8:15 a.m.

The lorry was stopped on Upper Richmond Road, near to the junction of Carlton Drive in Putney, at 8:37 a.m. but there was no sign of Mr. Khalife, who had presumably fled on foot when the lorry was stationary.

Foreign Secretary Declines to Comment on Whether Khalife Will be Caught

The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, was asked on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” programme if he thought Mr. Khalife would be recaptured but he replied: “We do have fantastic security services and police services. I don’t think it would be useful or credible for me to speculate. The important thing is that we let the police, the investigators do their work.”

The Metropolitan Police has refused to rule out the possibility Mr. Khalife may have already left the country.

Daniel Abed Khalife, who escaped from Wandsworth prison in London on Sept. 6, 2023, in an undated file photo. Courtesy of Metropolitan Police

If he had assistance from a foreign government or a criminal organisation he may have been able to procure a fake passport and could have left through a port or airport within hours of breaking out of Wandsworth.

Earlier this year a trial at Reading Crown Court highlighted the ease with which criminals could obtain fraudulently obtained genuine passports (FOGs) which helped several fugitives pass through border controls without raising suspicions.

Police Have ‘Open Mind’ on Whether he has Fled the Country

The Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism commander, Dominic Murphy, said he was keeping an “open mind” about whether Mr. Khalife had received assistance and had managed to leave the country.

He said more than 150 investigators from the counter-terrorism command were working on the manhunt.

Undated images showing a British FOG passport containing a photo of murder suspect Jordan Owens (L) and a Latvian FOG passport bearing a photo of another fugitive, Christopher Hughes (R) shown at a trial at Reading Crown Court in Reading, England. National Crime Agency

Cmdr. Murphy said: “This was a really busy area of London, and we’ve had no confirmed sightings in any of that information, which is a little unusual and perhaps a testament to Daniel Khalife’s ingenuity in his escape and some of his movements after his escape.”

“He was a trained soldier, so ultimately he has skills that perhaps some sections of the public don’t have. He’s a very resourceful individual, clearly, and our experience of him shows that, so nothing is off the table with him at the moment.”

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has confirmed an independent investigation will take place into the circumstances of the escape.

PA Media contributed to this report.