Terror suspect Daniel Khalife’s escape from a prison in the UK was “clearly pre-planned” and “it is a question” whether it was an inside job, London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner has said.
Sir Mark Rowley branded it “extremely concerning” that the 21-year-old, who escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south-west London on Wednesday, was “on the loose”.
His comments came as the force confirmed officers had been searching overnight in Richmond Park – a few miles from the jail – as part of the nationwide manhunt.
Khalife, an ex-soldier who was awaiting trial after allegedly planting a fake bomb at an RAF base and gathering information that might be useful to terrorists or enemies of the UK, was discharged from the British army in May.
He is believed to have escaped by strapping himself to the bottom of a delivery lorry after leaving the prison kitchen in a cook’s uniform.
Mr Rowley told LBC: “It is clearly pre-planned, the fact that he could strap himself on to the bottom of the wagon.”
A prison escape is “unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment”, he added.
The Met chief did not rule out the escape being an “inside job” when asked if police were looking at that possibility.
“It is a question. Did anyone inside the prison help him? Other prisoners, guard staff? Was he helped by people outside the walls or was it simply all of his own creation?” he replied.
Khalife’s disappearance has prompted questions over staffing levels at the Victorian jail and whether he should have been in a higher security prison.
Mr Rowley said it did “seem odd” when asked if he was surprised to learn the terror suspect, who is reportedly accused of gathering information for Iran, was being held in a category B facility.
The hunt for Khalife is a “massive operation” involving “well into three figures of officers” as well as help from constabularies around the country and Border Force, the commissioner told the radio station.
“At the moment we are still really keen to get any reports from members of the public,” he added.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly declined to say if he was confident Khalife would be found.
“We do have fantastic security services and police services. I don’t think it would be useful or credible for me to speculate,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain programme.
“The important thing is that we let the police, the investigators, do their work.”
Strapping was found underneath a Bidfood delivery lorry which police stopped just over an hour after it left the prison at 7.32am, with officers suggesting Khalife held on to the bottom of the vehicle to escape.
The Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism commander Dominic Murphy said it is testament to Khalife’s “ingenuity” that there have since been no confirmed sightings of him.
“He’s a very resourceful individual, clearly, and our experience of him shows that, so nothing is off the table with him at the moment,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Police have not ruled out the possibility he may have managed to flee the country, despite heightened border checks.
Khalife was declared missing at 7.50am, with police notified at 8.15am. The lorry was stopped on Upper Richmond Road, near the junction of Carlton Drive, at 8.37am.
CCTV footage later emerged of the van driving along a road in London after it had left the prison.
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk confirmed an independent investigation will take place after Khalife’s escape, alongside two urgent reviews looking at the categorisation and placement of all HMP Wandsworth prisoners and all those in custody charged with terrorism offences.
Wandsworth prison’s performance has been rated a “serious concern” and watchdogs issued a string of warnings about the jail in the year before the incident.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said staff shortages are “the source of many problems” and that “in an ideal world” Wandsworth would be shut.
One former inmate, who worked alongside Khalife in the prison’s kitchens, said the escapee had struck him as “odd” and had told him he was “going to be famous”.
Chris Jones (53), who BBC London reported was released in June after being acquitted following seven months on remand, told the programme: “We always used to joke about that lorry – jump in it and drive off – but there was a lot of security staff around the kitchens so it is a surprise he got through there.”
Khalife, who denied the three charges against him, is described as slim, 6ft 2in, with short brown hair.
He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown, steel toe-capped boots, but police stressed he may have changed his clothes quickly.
Khalife has links to the West Midlands – having been stationed at the Ministry of Defence’s Beacon Barracks in Stafford – and Kingston upon Thames in south-west London, but Mr Murphy said the hunt is covering the whole of the UK.
Police have said there is no reason to believe Khalife poses a threat to the public but urged people not to approach him if they spot him and to call 999.
