From a prison kitchen to Chiswick canal: A complete timeline of the Daniel Khalife manhunt
Police found and arrested terror suspect Daniel Khalife on the fourth day of a hunt for his whereabouts.
The search for the 21-year-old concluded after officers found him on Saturday in Northolt, near Chiswick, west London, following “intelligence-led activity”, and confirmed sightings overnight.
He fled HMP Wandsworth on September 6 - here is a timeline of events leading up to the recapture of ex-serviceman Daniel Khalife.
January 2022: Khalife is arrested, but released on bail.
January 27, 2023: The ex-serviceman, formerly of Beacon Barracks, Beaconside, Stafford, is charged with a terror offence and perpetrating a bomb hoax after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
He is accused of eliciting or attempting to elicit information “about an individual who was or had been a member of His Majesty’s forces which was of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism” on August 2 2021, contrary to section 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000.
He is also accused of placing “three canisters with wires at RAF Stafford with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property” on or before January 2 this year, contrary to section 51 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.
January 28: Khalife appears at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and is remanded in custody.
February 7: Khalife makes no indication of pleas when he appears in court again and his case is sent to the Old Bailey.
February 17: He appears at the Old Bailey for a brief preliminary hearing.
May 2023: The former soldier is discharged from the Army.
July 21: Khalife appears at the Old Bailey for a plea hearing.
A third charge under the Official Secrets Act is added before he is asked to enter pleas.
That charge alleges he committed “an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state”.
It states that between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022 he “obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be or might be or were intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy”.
He denies all three charges, and a six-week trial is set for November 13 at Woolwich Crown Court.
September 6: Khalife goes missing in his cook’s uniform from HMP Wandsworth and is believed to have used strapping to cling to the underside of a delivery vehicle.
The lorry leaves the prison through a gate leading on to Heathfield Road at 7.32am and Khalife is declared missing at 7.50am, the Met said.
Police are then notified at 8.15am and the vehicle is stopped in Upper Richmond Road near the junction with Carlton Drive in Putney, south-west London, at 8.37am.
Video footage taken by a worker at Rosy Lea Cafe shows police officers searching the Bidfood lorry with a sniffer dog.
Khalife’s escape prompts extra security checks at major transport hubs - delaying passengers travelling at airports as well as those at the Port of Dover.
There is uproar about the lack of government funding for public services, as well as why Khalife is held in a category B prison instead of category A.
September 7: The manhunt enters its second day.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk confirms an independent investigation will take place after Khalife’s escape, as well as two urgent reviews regarding the categorisation and placement of all HMP Wandsworth prisoners and all those in custody charged with terrorism offences.
Junctions eight and nine of the M20 are temporarily shut due in part to enhanced security checks relating to the search, Kent Police confirm.
A man is stopped by police at Banbury train station in Oxfordshire, gaining widespread social media attention, but it is not Khalife.
September 8: The hunt for Khalife stretches into a third day.
Reports emerge that police are searching Richmond Park in west London, just over four miles from HMP Wandsworth.
Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley says the force is considering whether the escape was an inside job.
The Met investigates a possible sighting after a man resembling Khalife was seen walking towards Wandsworth town centre shortly after the prison break.
The force also offers a £20,000 reward for information on Khalife’s whereabouts.
September 9: Khalife is "pulled off a pushbike" by a plain clothes officer on Rowdell Road in Northolt, London, the Met Police confirm.
After multiple sightings and a residential home is searched nearby, the officer recognises Khalife while he is cycling.
The terror suspect is arrested for being unlawfully at large and unlawfully escaping custody.
Commander Dominic Murphy, the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism chief, says the force had received "well over 100 calls" from members of the public to report sightings of Khalife, and that the public has been "absolutely integral" in capturing the ex-serviceman.
Mr Murphy adds that police will ensure that anyone who helped or supported Khalife in his escape faces justice.
The 75-hour manhunt concludes.
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