Escaped prisoner Daniel Khalife was able to wander around London and go on a shopping spree despite being Britain’s most wanted man, according to CCTV played in court.
Jurors in the trial of the British soldier 23, were led through the moment he slipped out of custody while working in the kitchens at HMP Wandsworth on September 6 last year.
His escape triggered a huge nationwide manhunt, until he was eventually detained on a canal towpath in Northolt, north London, three days later on September 9.
But CCTV stills taken across London showed Khalife had visited shops including Marks and Spencer, Sainsburys, McDonald’s, Mountain Warehouse – and he even popped into a pub.
During his three days at large, he was seen wearing a rotating wardrobe of outfits, which were found stuffed in a Waitrose bag he was carrying at the time of his arrest.
Escaped prisoner Daniel Khalife (pictured) was able to wander around London and go on a shopping spree despite being Britain’s most wanted man
Daniel Khalife at a branch of Mountain Warehouse in Richmond, London, which was shown to a jury at the Old Bailey, London, during his trial
Khalife was also seen wearing a cap as he wandered into a Marks and Spencer’s in Kew, London
The escaped prisoner is seen wearing a mask again as he walks into a Sainsbury’s in King Street, west London
Khalife is seen walking along George Street in Richmond on September 6 2023 – the day of his escape
Bartender Sinead Shepherd said in a statement she was working at the Rose of York pub in Richmond, west London, on the evening of his alleged escape when a man matching his description walked in.
‘He looked a bit geeky and reminded me of a bird watcher,’ Ms Shepherd said in her statement.
The man asked to borrow the landline, because he had been walking around in the heat all day and wanted to ring his friends.
She agreed because he looked tired and saw him ring numbers he had written down in a small black notebook, which she thought was unusual.
He spent around 15 minutes on the phone before leaving, she said.
Khalife is also said to have bought a phone for £89 from Gift Shop in Hammersmith.
He denies the charge of escaping from lawful custody, but a list of facts agreed by the prosecution and the defence say ‘Mr Khalife deliberately escaped from HMP Wandsworth under a food delivery lorry’ and that he was ‘being kept in lawful custody pending his trial’.
Jurors at Woolwich Crown Court heard that Khalife managed to escape the Category B prison by exploiting his role working in its kitchens to slip underneath a food delivery vehicle.
He was not seen going underneath the lorry, but when the driver was later shown a picture of Daniel Khalife, he told police: ‘That’s the guy who was supposed to help me but didn’t show up.’
Daniel Khalife walking past the White Cross Pub in Richmond, London, which was shown to a jury at the Old Bailey
A statement from the driver, Balazs Werner, said that he had been alerted to a possible missing inmate before his vehicle – with Khalife underneath – was allowed to leave HMP Wandsworth.
He said that he had arrived with his lorry at around 6.30am, with security guards checking his vehicle when he first arrived.
After unloading the food delivery, he began to drive his lorry towards the main gates to leave and was stopped by two prison guards.
‘I heard (the guards) saying someone in the prison was missing,’ the driver said.
‘The two guards looked around my vehicle again as a result of this and I think used a mirror at the back.
‘I said “are you sure I can go, I thought there should be a lockdown if someone is missing?”.
Khalife (pictured) denies the charge of escaping from lawful custody
During his three days at large, Khalife was seen wearing a rotating wardrobe of outfits, which were found stuffed in a Waitrose bag he was carrying at the time of his arrest
‘They said I could go. I thought this was strange.’
Khalife was then seen by a driver called Skye Vokins dropping from the bottom of the food delivery truck and rolling out while it was at a pedestrian crossing on Trinity Road, Wandsworth.
‘I saw the male roll out from underneath,’ she said in a written statement read to jurors.
‘I saw him drop to the ground and then do a kind of pencil roll.’
Khalife then ‘walked slowly and casually towards the nearest pavement… I remember him flicking his fringe back and behaving very casually as if nothing had happened’, she said.
When police eventually caught up with the lorry, they searched inside and found nothing. A police sniffer dog then led prompted them to look below the vehicle.
Prosecutor Tom Williams told the court: ‘Officers then searched underneath the truck. They discovered a makeshift sling between the chassis rails, behind the rear differential.
‘The sling was attached to the metal frame, width-ways, with two metal carabiner clips on each end of the sling to secure it in place.
‘There were clean scuff marks underneath the truck, which was otherwise dirty underneath, suggesting that a person had been there, using the makeshift rope to support his weight while holding on to the frame of the truck.’
Khalife denies committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, eliciting information about members of the armed forces, perpetrating a bomb hoax and escaping from lawful custody.
The trial continues.
