Escaped prisoner Daniel Khalife - whose breakout from a Category B prison is being probed as a potential "inside job" - may have burns on his face, a former Met Police detective said.
Peter Bleksley, who became a founding member of SO10, Scotland Yard's most secretive undercover squad, warned pharmacists to keep watch for a man with burn injuries and requesting help. It is thought Khalife, 21, will have suffered a "very unpleasant burn" as he clung onto the underside of a van to flee HMP Wandsworth and head for London's affluent suburbs.
If this has happened, it is believed the former soldier - or someone on his behalf - will visit a pharmacy, chemist or shop where medical supplies are sold to seek advice or treatment.
Peter Bleksley, who was a detective with Metropolitan Police, believes pharmacists should be vigilant (Andrew Teebay/Liverpool Echo)Addressing staff at such outlets, Mr Bleksley said: "Just keep your eyes out today if somebody comes in asking for advice on how to treat burns, and sourcing bandages, ointments and the like, just in case that is a scenario that may have happened."
In an interview with Sky News, the former detective stressed Khalife would have risked falling off the van when he clung to it, albeit with strapping, on Wednesday and would have been vulnerable to burns because exhaust systems, which typically run the length of such vans, get extremely hot.
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"The slightest touch of that exhaust system will leave you with a very unpleasant burn," Mr Bleksley continued. His interview came ahead of the Metropolitan Police's search of Richmond Park in southwest London in the early hours of this morning. Two helicopters with heat-seeking cameras circled the royal park in the hunt for the fugitive.
Police patrol Richmond Park in the capital as they hunt for the fugitive (Alex Lentati/LNP)And the route the van is understood to have taken on Wednesday saw it go through Wandsworth itself and stop in Putney, southwest London, where police swooped. Khalife was not there, although strapping was found on the underside of the lorry. There are multiple supermarkets, chemists and other shops in both Putney and Wandsworth, and their surrounding areas.
The escape is being probed as a potential "inside job" by Met Police. The service's boss says the escape was "clearly pre-planned" and IT expert Khalife, raised in London, may have had help from others outside the jail.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: "It is clearly pre-planned, the fact that he could strap himself onto the bottom of the wagon," Sir Mark said this morning. He told LBC a prison escape is "unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment".
Khalife is accused of carrying out a hoax bomb attack on January 2, of this year, where he planted the fake bombs, three cannisters with wires protruding from them, at MOD Stafford military base. The BBC reported that in February, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard he allegedly left fake devices "with the intention of inducing in another the belief the item was likely to explode or ignite".
He was based at Beacon Barracks, Beaconside, Stafford, and also allegedly elicited information about personnel within the forces that could be "useful" to a terrorist. He is accused of collecting the “articles, notes, documents, or information” between May 1, 2019 and January 6, 2022.
He was originally charged with two offences on January 27 following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, and a third allegation of breaking the Official Secrets Act was added at his Old Baily appearance. Mr Justice Jeremy Baker remanded Khalife in custody until his trial.
Khalife was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown steel toe cap boots. He is of slim build, has short brown hair and is around 6ft 2ins tall. If seen, the public are advised not to approach Khalife and to call 999 immediately, quoting reference CAD 1631/06SEP23.
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