Daniel Khalife: terror suspect arrested four days after escape from …

Terror suspect Daniel Khalife has been arrested in Chiswick, west London, and is in police custody, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Police had been searching the area after he escaped from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning by strapping himself to the bottom of a delivery lorry after leaving the prison kitchen in a cook’s uniform.

The force had offered a £20,000 reward for anyone with information that led to an arrest of the 21-year old former 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. He was discharged from the Army in May.

Officers had focussed on the Chiswick area after “intelligence-led activity” and confirmed sightings in the area overnight, including calls from members of the public. They had been stopping and checking cars, inspecting car boots and asking residents for ID. A police boat was seen on the River Thames close to the roads. Enhanced security checks also saw junctions eight and nine of the M20 being temporarily shu

Police in the Chiswick area in west London as the hunt for terror suspect Daniel Khalife entered its fourth day. (Pic: Jamie Lashmar/PA Wire)

Video footage obtained by the PA news agency shows police officers searching a Bidfood lorry with a sniffer dog after it was stopped as witnesses told of their shock as they learned about the incident.

Khalife’s disappearance prompted questions over staffing levels at the Victorian jail and whether he should have been in a higher security prison. Strapping was found underneath the 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.

He 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, alongside two urgent reviews looking at the categorisation and placement of all HMP Wandsworth prisoners and all those in custody charged with terrorism offences.