Terror suspect Daniel Khalife’s escape is ‘catastrophic failure’, prison’s former head of security says

Around 30 to 44 per cent of frontline staff ‘unavailable to work’ in ‘filthy, vermin-infested’ Wandsworth prison

A former head of security at Wandsworth Prison said terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife’s escape was “at best” a “catastrophic system failure”.

Police are continuing to hunt for the former soldier accused of terrorism who is believed to have escaped from a prison kitchen by clinging to a delivery van.

Khalife, 21, went missing in his cook’s uniform from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday, prompting extra security checks at major transport hubs.

Daniel Abed Khalife escaped from Wandsworth prison on Wednesday at around 8am (Metropolitan Police/AP)

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday, Professor Ian Acheson said: “Well, at best, this is a catastrophic system failure that actually starts with the allocation of Khalife to Wandsworth and ends with a terror suspect working in a prison kitchen of an establishment in crisis (and) escaping in a vehicle.

“So it’s incredibly embarrassing for the prison service but it’s not entirely surprising given what we know about what’s going on Wandsworth at the moment.”

Prof Acheson, also a former prison governor, criticised the conditions at Wandsworth.

“Well, I’m afraid to say that Wandsworth, like so many of our flagship prisons, is in freefall,” he said.

“You’ve only got to look at the most recent inspections, and other monitoring reports, that reveal it’s filthy, it’s vermin infested, on any day 30-44% of frontline staff are unavailable to work.

“Morale is awful. I mean, frankly, if you cannot even manage to get the bins emptied in a place like Wandsworth what else is going wrong?”

Serious questions have been emerged as to why the terror suspect was being held at HMP Wandsworth (Yui Mok/PA Wire)

Khalife, who was discharged from the Army in May 2023, was awaiting trial after allegedly planting a fake bomb at an RAF base and gathering information that might be useful to terrorists or enemies of the UK.

He has denied the three charges against him.

He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown, steel toe-cap boots, the Metropolitan Police said, and is slim and 6ft 2in, with short brown hair.

The jail was put on lockdown after he fled.

Describing the security around the perimeter of the prison, Prof Acheson said: “The ingress and egress of vehicles into a prison that breach the security perimeter of a prison is a well-known vulnerability. It’s one of the top vulnerabilities you can think of.

“The key thing is, when the van goes back into the airlock, is to make the sure the vehicle is thoroughly searched.”

The professor added any vehicle which exits the prison is normally searched on top and below to ensure no escapees.

The head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, Commander Dominic Murphy, said there was “no reason to believe Khalife poses a threat to the wider public” but urged people not to approach him and to call 999 if they spot him.