A former soldier suspected of spying for the Iranian regime might have used mattress sheets to assist him escape from jail below a supply truck, a courtroom heard.
Daniel Khalifa was Charged with escaping from legal custody At HMP Wandsworth in London on Wednesday whereas awaiting trial in relation to terrorism offenses and the Official Secrets and techniques Act.
The 21-year-old sparked a nationwide manhunt, however he was He was arrested on a canal walkway in Northoltwest London at 10.41am on Saturday after a plainclothes counter-terrorism officer pulled him off a motorcycle.
Catch him A four-day search followed After he disappeared from a southwest London jail on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police stated a member of the general public reported seeing a person matching Khalifa’s description strolling away from a Bidfood truck that had stopped close to the southern entrance to the Wandsworth roundabout on Wednesday morning.
Officers then carried out a search within the Richmond space, and though Khalifa was not discovered there, they obtained a variety of calls from members of the general public reporting sightings close by.
Khalifa, who has no mounted residence, was charged on Sunday with escaping lawful custody whereas being held on a “legal cost.”
After arriving within the detention car, Khalifa appeared at a short listening to at Westminster Crown Court docket on Monday morning the place he spoke solely to verify his title and age.
Thomas Williams, prosecuting, stated Khalifa escaped from jail by tying himself to the underside of a meals supply van utilizing a substance that “might have been from mattress sheets”.
Gul Nawaz Hussain, defending the accused, stated there was no indication of a plea at this stage and there was no utility for bail.
Khalifa, who was sporting a grey jail jumper, jogging pants and together with his hair slicked again, was remanded in custody, and Deputy Chief Justice of the Peace Tan Ekran despatched the listening to to the Outdated Bailey the place he’ll subsequent seem on September 29.
Through the search, police had been seen checking folks’s gardens, stopping vehicles, looking out automobile boots and asking residents for his or her IDs all through Saturday morning earlier than discovering Khalifa on the towpath in Northolt, about eight miles from the place he was final seen. Earlier than a member of the police. basic.
Accusations towards Khalifa
Khalifa was on remand in HMP Wandsworth jail after being charged with terrorism offenses in January.
In an announcement, the Metropolitan Police stated that Khalifa “shall be charged as follows:” On the sixth day of September 2023, he was then a prisoner at His Majesty’s Jail at Wandsworth, and was remanded in custody pending trial as ordered by the Central Legal Court docket within the escape on the twenty first. July 2023, opposite to frequent regulation.”
The previous sign soldier, who was beforehand stationed at Beacon Barracks in Stafford, pleaded not responsible to a few offenses at a listening to earlier this 12 months.
Beneath the Official Secrets and techniques Act, he’s accused of “committing an act prejudicial to the protection or pursuits of the state” by acquiring, gathering, recording, publishing or speaking info helpful to the enemy.
The opposite two prices relate to “extracting details about members of the armed forces” which is more likely to be helpful to an individual committing or getting ready a terrorist act and committing a bomb hoax.
He denied the fees throughout a listening to on the Outdated Bailey in July and was as a consequence of seem at Woolwich Crown Court docket in November.