A summary of today's developments
Met Police commander Dominic Murphy said officers had so far not received any confirmed sightings of Daniel Khalife since he escaped from Wandsworth prison in South London on Wednesday morning.
Commander Murphy added there were more than 150 investigators and police staff from counter terrorism command working in London on the “fast paced investigation” to find Khalife, with support from forces and agencies around the country.
Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, told Sky News that Wandsworth prison should be shut down. Speaking on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge programme, he said: “When you find a prison like Wandsworth, it really needs closing ultimately - it is not a suitable prison. “In an ideal world one would, but of course you need jails because you need to service the courts.”
Wandsworth prison’s performance was rated as a “serious concern” and watchdogs had issued a string of warnings about the jail in the past year. In the Annual Prison Performance Ratings for 2022/23, published in July, Wandsworth was among nine rated as a “serious concern”.
The Metropolitan police have confirmed a video of a man who appears to look like Khalife, the prisoner who escaped from Wandsworth prison, being arrested in the Banbury area is not him.
An investigation is under way into why Khalife, a former soldier accused of terrorism, was held in a lower-security prison, Michelle Donelan, the science secretary, said.
The escape of a former soldier from a London jail has provoked a furious political row with ministers criticised over cuts and staff shortages that have left potentially dangerous inmates in low-security prisons, writes Haroon Siddique, Dan Sabbagh and Aletha Adu.
With the hunt for Daniel Khalife involving 150 counter-terrorism officers, the police were on Thursday urgently trying to establish whether the 21-year-old had help fleeing from HMP Wandsworth.
Detectives said Khalife, who is facing espionage charges, strapped himself to the bottom of a van, raising questions about the equipment he used and how he was not detected as the vehicle left the prison.
The chief inspector of prisons, the chair of parliament’s justice committee and the prison officers’ union, the POA, all said HMP Wandsworth was known to have staffing issues, adding to pressure on the government over Khalife’s escape on Wednesday morning, which Labour said “beggars belief”.
Khalife’s presence in a category B prison when he has been charged with such serious offences also prompted concerns that other high-risk inmates might not be held in security conditions commensurate with their alleged crimes.
