Daniel Khalife urged to give himself up, after confirmed sightingon September 9, 2023 at 4:30 am

The search for escaped terror suspect Daniel Khalife has entered a fourth day, with police investigating the first confirmed sighting of him.

The ex-soldier was spotted by a member of the public on Wednesday morning, shortly after he left HMP Wandsworth by hiding underneath a delivery truck.

Overnight, a police helicopter has been scouring areas of south-west London, while CCTV footage is being reviewed.

Police urged Mr Khalife to give himself up, saying they were closing in on him.

On Friday, Met Police officers were carrying out door-to-door enquiries in the search for the 21-year-old.

The force is also offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information that leads directly to his arrest.

It comes as a close relative of Mr Khalife told the Times he should hand himself in, describing him as a “very, very intelligent, easygoing and kind boy” who had changed in recent years.

The unnamed family member told the paper: “If I could talk to him, I would tell him to end this and give himself up, even though I understand he is afraid.”

Mr Khalife is accused of trying to spy for an enemy state, understood to be Iran, and of plotting a fake bomb hoax.

He is thought to have strapped himself to the underside of a food lorry to make his escape from Wandsworth prison in London on Wednesday.

The truck had stopped near the south entrance to Wandsworth roundabout, at the top of Trinity Road, when a member of the public reported seeing Mr Khalife crawling out from underneath it.

The sighting is one of several “key lines” of inquiry the Met says it is following.

Mr Khalife, who is British and has Lebanese heritage on his father’s side, grew up in south-west London and joined the Army after leaving school.

A former Army colleague told BBC News of his shock at the prison escape.

The man, who has now left the armed forces and whose identity the BBC has agreed not to reveal, became friends with Mr Khalife when the pair first trained as soldiers, aged 16.

“He was quite a nice chap. He was always at the front of the pack for phys [physical training],” said the former colleague.

“It was quite a weird feeling knowing that you were friends with him and now he’s this type of person… You do wonder what’s gone on.”

He described Mr Khalife as resourceful, adding that he had learned “basic survival skills” in the Army – including how to keep clean, find water and read maps.

Mr Khalife went on to serve at Beacon Barracks in Stafford, a base for two Army signals regiments.

On Friday, Cdr Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, described their investigation as “fast-paced and dynamic”.

He said the Wandsworth roundabout sighting “could be very significant”.

“We are going to find you. Give yourself up to the police and face justice,” Cdr Murphy said in a message directed at Mr Khalife.

Mr Khalife is described as slim, 6ft 2in (1.9m), with short brown hair.

Police say there is no reason to believe he poses a threat to the public, but have urged people not to approach him and instead call 999.

Detectives believe he was still wearing his prison-issue cook’s uniform when he slipped out of the category B jail on Wednesday.

Some 150 Met Counter Terrorism Command officers have been deployed in the search since Khalife was declared missing at 08:15 BST.

A search took place on Thursday night into the early hours of Friday in Richmond Park, south-west London – just 2.8 miles (4.6km) from the prison.

BBC News was told it was not based on any specific lead or intelligence, and search efforts have been scaled back.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the force was exploring the possibility the former soldier was helped by other prisoners or guards.

And Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said an independent investigation would take place following the escape.

It will run alongside reviews looking at the categorisation and placement of all HMP Wandsworth prisoners, and all those in custody charged with terrorism offences.

Additional reporting by James Gregory