Man, 25, charged with assisting Daniel Khalife after ex-soldier's prison escape
6 January 2025, 13:00
A man has been charged with aiding ex-British Army officer Daniel Khalife after he escaped from a south London prison.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Imran Chowdury, 25, from Chingford in east London, is accused of helping the 23-year-old former soldier after he busted out of HMP Wandsworth, the Metropolitan police have said.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, the force added.
Police have not specified what form of assistance Chowdury allegedly gave to Khalife while he was on the run.
A 25-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender back in February 2024 will not face any further action.
Khalife spent four days avoiding police after he broke out of prison by cling to the underside of a food delivery lorry using homemade straps on 6 September 2023.
Read more: Escaped soldier Daniel Khalife's mother reveals 'Grand Theft Auto inspired' list of violence
Read more: Starmer slams 'desperate' Elon Musk for spreading 'lies' and 'whipping up intimidation'
CCTV images tracked the ex-soldier's journey, which involved Khalife later using a trolley to hide in.
Further footage showed Khalife shopping at Marks & Spencer, stealing a hat from Mountain Warehouse and entering a McDonald's where he drank coffee and changed his clothes during his time on the run.
Body cam footage showed the former soldier sitting on the riverbank after being tackled by police, with the escapee even offering up a congratulations to the arresting officer.
He was eventually arrested on 9 September when he was sighted riding a stolen mountain bike along a canal path in west London.
A court later heard how he stayed in a stolen Ford Transit van during his time on the run, which was found to contain a camp bed, around £20,000, and notes professing that he wished to defect to Iran.
His efforts led the Met to admit he had shown “ingenuity” before he was recaptured on a stretch of the River Thames in west London on September 9, 2023.
In November 2024, a jury found him guilty of spying for Iran.
He was found to have collated and passed on classified documents, military communications and information about soldiers to Iranian authorities over a period of more than two years.
Khalife had previously denies charges contrary to the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act, and is accused of perpetrating a bomb hoax.
