Ex-soldier accused of prison escape ‘pencil rolled’ from under truck, court told

A former British soldier accused of escaping from prison was spotted doing a “pencil roll” from underneath a truck before “casually” walking away, a court has heard.

Daniel Khalife, 23, is alleged to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south London while on remand by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry on the morning of September 6 2023.

Skye Vokings, who was driving through Wandsworth at the time, said she saw a man appear from under the vehicle wearing a “white T-shirt” and “pale pink gloves”.

The truck had stopped at a set of traffic lights on Trinity Road when the man appeared from under it, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

“I saw the male roll out from underneath,” she said in a written statement read to jurors.

“I saw him drop to the ground and then do a kind of pencil roll.”

He then “walked slowly and casually towards the nearest pavement… I remember him flicking his fringe back and behaving very casually as if nothing had happened.

“I had to wait for him to walk out of my way. I did not see what direction he walked in.”

The woman’s flatmate later contacted the police on her behalf, the court heard.

The driver of the Mercedes truck involved in the alleged escape, Balazs Werner, said police later searched underneath his vehicle and discovered a makeshift sling made of bedsheets between the chassis rails behind the rear differential.

The sling was attached to the metal frame, width-ways, with two metal carabiner clips on each end of the sling to secure it in place, the court heard.

In a written statement, Mr Werner said security staff at the prison would “occasionally” but “not always” check under his truck with a mirror when he delivered to the prison.

On the day Khalife is alleged to have escaped, the truck driver said he noticed “both kitchen doors were open” during his delivery to the site, which he thought was “unusual”.

Mr Werner said he did not see Khalife during the delivery.

As he was leaving the prison, two guards checked the vehicle with a “torch and mirror”, and told him someone was missing from the prison, the court heard.

When the guards told him he was free to drive off, he was surprised the prison was not in lockdown, and said “are you sure?”, jurors heard.

A prison worker, who prepared food for inmates said Khalife seemed “normal” on the morning he allegedly escaped.

While unloading the food delivery truck, the worker did not see Khalife or notice “anything unusual”, the court heard.

Khalife was arrested on a canal towpath in west London on September 9 2023 with a number of items including a mountain bike, a Waitrose bag with a phone, receipts, a diary and about £200 in notes, the jury was told.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood KC previously told the jury Khalife “quite deliberately escaped” after being escorted to the kitchen where he had a job.

On September 6, Khalife had been to Richmond and went to Mountain Warehouse, and the next day he was pictured in an M&S and Sainsbury’s, the court heard.

The assistant manager of the Rose Of York pub and hotel in Richmond said Khalife asked her if he could use the landline, jurors heard.

In a written statement, the assistant manager said Khalife looked “geeky”, and reminded her of a “bird watcher”.

The former soldier “looked tired” and had a notepad with phone numbers in it, the woman said.

Khalife spent a number of minutes on the phone and “seemed like he was talking to friends and trying to organise a lift”, the court was told.

Having been captured by police, Khalife “congratulated” the officer who pulled him from his bike on the towpath, the jury heard previously.

He also asked “how long police had been on him”, and said Wandsworth prison was “a joke”, his trial was told.

His absence was discovered during a headcount and then all movement in the prison was suspended, the court heard.

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

He denies all of the charges.

The trial continues.

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