Daniel Khalife: Prison escape ‘pre-planned’ as police urge witness to come forward

1694183188 A retired military officer has said that British army-trained soldiers are capable of acting under pressure, and voiced concern on the prospect of Khalife exiting the country. Giving an insight to the mental state of an army soldier, Major Michael Shearer told Sky News: ‘Soldiers know how to handle these type [of] pressures.’ ‘The state of mind that soldiers have… [there] is constantly a part of their being that is thinking: ‘How will I deal with that?” Asked if he had faith in Border Force to catch him if he tried to flee the country, Major Shearer said he was worried. ‘We’ve got thousands of illegal immigrants coming into the country every day that our border force and other parts of our institutions cannot manage,’ he said. ‘So how [do they] find one individual on the way out? I’m at a loss to give comment on.’ Holly Evans 8 September 2023 15:26 1694181978 The Metropolitan Police have urged a shop assistant to come forward after media reports that he believed he saw on-the-run terror suspect Daniel Khalife. The eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, told the Telegraph that he had seen a ‘tall, lanky dude’ jumping into a black vehicle outside Wandsworth County Court. In a statement, the force said: ‘We are aware of news reports about a shop assistant who believes they saw Daniel Khalife. ‘We are trying to identify this man so we can speak with him. We urge him to contact us by calling 999.’ A shop assistant believes that he saw fugitive Daniel Khalife (Lucy North/PA) Holly Evans 8 September 2023 15:06 1694181932 Khalife could be hiding underground in an attempt to avoid thermal cameras, SAS veteran Chris Ryan has said. He told Talk TV that getting hold of clothes would be difficult given Khalife’s 6ft 2in frame, but if he is or was in Richmond Park, he would have had access to water while the weather would have allowed him to stay comfortable outside. Given the size of the park and its mixture of woodland and overgrown shrubbery, it could provide plenty of hiding spots for the fugitive. ‘If he’s had help, he’ll be in a safe house now, so all he’s got to do is lie low for a couple of weeks before making a move,’ Mr Ryan said. He also posed the possibility of Khalife staying in a garden shed that backs on to the park. Holly Evans 8 September 2023 15:05 1694178913 An anti-corruption professor has said there have been reports in the past of prison officers colluding over escape attempts. Robert Barrington, professor of anti-corruption practice at the University of Sussex, said: ‘Prisons are extremely high risk for corruption in any circumstances in any country.’ ‘In the UK there have been lots of noises from unions and prison officers of the conditions they are working under,’ he added on his slot on BBC Radio 4 programme World At One on Friday. ‘The prison servivce since that report has seen the counter corruption unit revamped. But that unit is operating under great pressure.’ He added: ‘Typically corruption is about smuggling things in but there was a report around five years ago that a bribe of around £5,000 could get you to a more favourable prison. ‘There have been reports of corrupt officers colluding in escape attempts in the past.’ William Mata 8 September 2023 14:15 1694178639 An anti-corruption professor has said he would not be surprised if there was bribery going on in UK prisons behind the scenes. Robert Barrington, professor of anti-corruption practice at the University of Sussex, said: ‘Prisons are in a pretty dire state and the few figures we have for corruption in the past few years have not been encouraging.’ Speaking on World At One on BBC Radio 4 he added: ‘About 15 years there was a leaked Met report which said that there were about 1,000 corrupt police officers. A freedom of information request about six or seven years ago said 150 officers had been disciplined in some way. ‘It is hard to quantify the level of corruption. ‘Wandsworth itself was said to be the Carphone Warehouse of prisons because of the wide availability of smuggled mobile phones which had been brought in by corrupt staff. ‘That was then [in 2015 when the report was made] and austerity has bitten even deeper since then. ‘If this was any country in the world you would be asking who was bribed. And it wouldn’t be any surprise if this was happening in the UK.’ William Mata 8 September 2023 14:10 1694178213 A woman who works in Richmond has told of the ‘overwhelming’ sounds of ‘constant’ sirens and helicopters circling overhead for ‘hours and hours’ last night. Speaking to The Independent from Richmond Park on Friday morning, Chloe Dobbs said she passed ‘so many blue lights and more and more police vans coming’ on her way home on the bus to Ham on Thursday evening. ‘I’m normally quite a tough cookie, quite fearless,’ she said. ‘But when I got off the bus right by one of the park entrances, I suddenly felt really fearful. ‘I was walking down my street and there was not another human in my area. The guy could literally be in a bush a few metres away from me. In that moment I thought this is crazy and went straight home and double-locked my door.’ While the sounds of sirens blared until she went to sleep at 1am, the 23-year-old said she awoke to silence. Upon arriving in the park this morning, she said it had reopened after being ‘locked off’ and the ‘huge police operation was clearly scaled back compared to last night’. She was spotting helicopters overhead and hearing sirens intermittently, but she said: ‘It’s really strange how everyone is just enjoying the park and their morning walk. Everyone seems completely relaxed.’ Ms Dobbs described Richmond Park as ‘the ideal place to hide’. She said: ‘It’s super overgrown at the moment, with bushes as tall as me. You could really hide under thick ferns and grass, even from helicopter lights. It’s such a big park.’ Tara Cobham 8 September 2023 14:03 1694177851 The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has said the force is ‘exploring a possibility’ that Daniel Khalife was helped in his escape from HMP Wandsworth. Sir Mark Rowley said on Friday that it was ‘unlikely’ to have been a spur of the moment effort, adding he was ‘surprised’ that the terror suspect was in a category B prison. He told LBC: ‘We are going to have to look at everything in this investigation… Was it pre planned? Did anybody on the inside help him?’ Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley William Mata 8 September 2023 13:57 1694177446 LeShuttle car-carrying service through the Channel Tunnel has been suspended, although this is not linked to the Daniel Khalife search. Kent Police said earlier on Friday that this was to do with another incident. A spokesperson for the tunnel operator said: ‘A suspicious vehicle has been intercepted during a routine security check at the Channel Tunnel Terminal in Folkestone. ‘Kent Police and specialist officers are dealing with the incident. ‘Access to the Folkestone terminal is currently suspended awaiting the outcome of the police intervention. ‘Customers are advised to check on the LeShuttle website and social media for the latest travel information. ‘Customers are advised that, as a consequence of this incident, travel will be severely disrupted throughout the afternoon and to prepare to modify their travel plans as a consequence.’ An aerial view of the Eurotunnel site in Folkestone William Mata 8 September 2023 13:50 1694177231 The commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has said it could take as many as three years to rid the force of corruption. Sir Mark Rowley told LBC on Friday that ‘bureaucratic’ processes are slowing down probes as the Met struggles to get to grips with a rising number of officers being sacked for ‘bad behaviour’. “I think this is two or three years work where we get rid of those hundreds of officers who are letting everyone down,’ he said to Nick Ferrari. “Because we don’t have clear route to sack officers who fail revetting, system has fallen into disrepute.’ Sir Mark Rowley has been forced to readdress the issue of public trust in his police force (Victoria Jones/PA) William Mata 8 September 2023 13:47 1694176844 Kent Police has released a statement after the Channel Tunnel incident earlier today – and it is understood it is not in connection to the search for Daniel Khalife. ‘At around 10.30am on Friday 8 September 2023 a suspicious vehicle was stopped at the Channel Tunnel terminal in Cheriton,’ a statement read. ‘Explosives experts from the British Army have been called to the scene and a cordon has been put in place for the safety of the public. ‘This is currently having an effect on traffic approaching the terminal. A man has been detained in connection with the incident and enquiries are ongoing.’ William Mata 8 September 2023 13:40