The Saturday morning news that Daniel Khalife, the terror suspect who escaped from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning, had been spotted in Chiswick caused predictable intrigue in the leafy west London district. Police swiftly mustered in the area. Some drivers were being stopped and others reportedly asked for identification.
A police helicopter had been whirring overhead for much of the night and some residents said they had awoken to find officers sweeping through gardens. Police dog handlers and armed officers were all spotted along one of the area’s main roads by early morning.
Then some people out in the idyllic setting of Chiswick House and gardens, taking in a cool morning walk before one of the hottest days of the year, spotted more police activity around the grounds.
One man out for a bike ride with his family reported police in the area and said the alarm had been going off on the scaffolding surrounding an old temple building that is being restored.
By mid-afternoon, well after Khalife had been located, there was still the occasional hum of a police helicopter overhead, but the becalmed atmosphere at the scenic park could not have been more removed from the manhunt just hours before.
Locals were sunbathing, playing tennis on the grass and throwing balls to their dogs near the streets where police had been trampling that morning. The hunt subsided as quickly as it had started, and some in the park were more concerned in locating the nearest ice-cream vendor than the recent whereabouts of a prison absconder.
For others, the end of the search came as blissful relief – not to their safety, but to their night’s sleep. “At least it means the helicopters will stop going all night,” said Max Tregoning, a regular in the park, who lives close by. “There must have been some kind of information because police have been around here for the last two days.”
The story left him with a dim view of Wandsworth prison and the state of the criminal justice system. Pictures of the beleaguered prison in the media concerned him. “It’s no way to treat people and doesn’t exactly do much for rehabilitation.”
Others noted that if Khalife had tried to hide out in the picturesque park at any point, it wouldn’t have marked him out as an expert fugitive. “This is an obvious place to come, and homeless people will often try to come here for the seclusion,” said one local. “But I think it is searched at night.” The park has small patches of trees, as well as the odd empty building.
For most, the unsettling news did not affect the chance to get outside and enjoy one of the last hot days of the year. “I haven’t let it bother me too much; it’s not influenced my decision – I think it’s been hyped up far too much,” said Lynne, packing up after an afternoon of sunbathing.
Of more concern to her was the fact that anyone could escape prison by simply holding on to the underside of a delivery van. “You’ve got to question the security in our prisons,” she said.
