Former soldier Daniel Khalife admits escaping from Wandsworth Prison part way through trial

11 November 2024, 10:43 | Updated: 11 November 2024, 11:52

Former soldier Daniel Khalife has pleaded guilty partway through his trial to escaping from prison.

The 23-year-old escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south-west London in September 2023 by clinging to the underside of a food delivery truck using a sling made from kitchen trousers.

He continues to deny all the other charges against him.

Khalife escaped in the hope he would be kept in a high-security unit (HSU) at a different prison, away from "sex offenders" and "terrorists" after his recapture, he previously told his trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

Mrs Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told jurors she had asked Khalife if he wanted the prison escape charge to be put to him again.

When the charge was put to the former soldier, he replied: "I'm guilty."

The court heard he planned a fake escape attempt for August 21 in the hope he would be moved to the HSU, but decided that a genuine escape was his only option after the incident was not reported to senior prison staff.

Khalife wanted to be kept in the HSU at HMP Belmarsh - a prison within a prison holding some of the country's most dangerous criminals - because he believed he would be safer there, the court heard.

Five days before his successful escape, he attached a sling to the underside of the lorry made from kitchen trousers and carabiners.

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The sling "wasn't spotted at Wandsworth gate or any other prison", Khalife said.

"When the tail lift raised it covered me entirely," he continued.

"If the makeshift sling wasn't noticed, they're hardly going to notice me."

While on the run, Khalife bought clothes from Marks & Spencer and a coffee from McDonald's, and walked beside the River Thames before being caught by police three days later.

"I accept that I left the prison and I didn't have any permission," he told jurors.

"I was never a real spy.

"I would do anything to go back to my career (in the Army)."

Khalife denies charges contrary to the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act, and is accused of perpetrating a bomb hoax.

The trial continues.