Former soldier Daniel Khalife pleads not guilty to escaping Wandsworth prison

Daniel Khalife is accused of strapping himself to a food delivery vehicle

Daniel Khalife has denied escaping from prison (Met Police/PA) (PA Wire)

Former soldier Daniel Khalife has pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey to escaping custody at HMP Wandsworth where he was on remand after being charged with terror offences earlier this year.

He is accused of escaping the Category B prison on 6 September by allegedly strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery vehicle before being arrested four days later in Chiswick.

Appearing at the Old Bailey via video-link, the 21-year-old only spoke to confirm his details and said: “I am not guilty.”

Khalife was being held on remand at HMP Wandsworth in south London (PA)

He was arrested on a canal towpath in west London at 10.41am on September 9 after being pulled off a push bike by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer.

Khalife, a former member of the Royal Signals who was based at Beacon Barrakcs in Stafford, was discharged from the army in May.

At the time of the alleged offence, he was on remand while awaiting trial for allegedly planting a fake bomb at an RAF base and gathering information that might be useful to terrorists or enemies of the UK.

He denied those charges at a previous hearing at the Old Bailey in July.

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker joined the charges and Khalife will be tried at Woolwich Crown Court on November 13 for all four offences.