Daniel Khalife pleads not guilty to escaping custody at HMP Wandsworth

Daniel Khalife has pleaded not guilty to escaping from prison on the underside of a van, at court today.

The former soldier made his second appearance in court today, at the Old Bailey, after he was charged with escaping from prison. But he pled not guilty to escaping from HMP Wandsworth where he was on remand after being charged with terror offences earlier this year.

The 21-year-old appeared via video link from the higher security HMP Belmarsh at the Old Bailey to deny the charge. Khalife, who was wearing a blue and yellow sweatshirt, said: “I am not guilty.” Khalife had previously been in jail awaiting trial after allegedly planting a fake bomb on a RAF base and gathering information that might be useful to a terrorist.

He denied those charges at a previous hearing at the Old Bailey in July. Mr Justice Jeremy Baker joined the charges and Khalife will be tried at Woolwich Crown Court on November 13 for all four offences. He will reappear at the Old Bailey on October 13 for a review hearing where the trial date may be discussed.

A court sketch of Khalife at Westminster Magistrates Court (Julia Quenzler / SWNS)

The former soldier turned terror suspect became the most wanted man in the UK after he allegedly escaped from category B prison on September 6. Westminster Magistrates Court previously heard he did this by using bed sheets to strap himself to the bottom of a food delivery van, whilst said to be dressed as a chef.

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Counter terror police sprung into action after he was reported missing to them and launched a huge operation that involved phone tapping and bringing in the SAS. Khalife eventually spent 75 hours allegedly on the run from Wednesday 6 to Saturday 9 September when a plain-clothes counter terrorism officer pulled him from a push bike, when he was riding along a canal towpath.

The court also heard that when he was arrested he had a bag of cash and a mobile phone with him - he had also changed out of the clothes he had been wearing in prison. The former soldier had been missing for four days, according to police, before he was reportedly pulled off a bike by a plainclothes counter-terrorism officer.

The Metropolitan Police said a member of the public reported seeing a man matching Khalife's description walking away from a Bidfood van that had stopped near the south entrance to Wandsworth Roundabout on Wednesday morning. Officers carried out a search in the Richmond area and although Khalife was not found there, the force received a number of calls from the public with sightings of the suspect nearby in west London.

The former prisoner was allegedly on the run for 75 hours before being caught and has pled not guilty today (Sky News)

The moment Khalife was arrested in west London (The Sun / News Licensing)

This led to an intensification of the search effort that saw police check gardens, stop and inspect cars, and ask residents for their IDs throughout the Saturday morning. Khalife was then allegedly said to have been found cycling along a canal towpath in Northolt, barely eight miles from the prison he had allegedly escaped from.

Footage shows the former trooper handcuffed on the ground besides a sleeping bag and a Waitrose cool bag. The officer yelled "Don’t move or we’ll shoot" as they caught the terror suspect, who witnesses say was heard crying: "It's not me! I ain't done anything," as he was wrestled to the ground before his hands were tied together.

In his first appearance at court, dressed in a grey tracksuit and flanked by two police officers and a dock officer, he only spoke to confirm his name and date of birth.

Khalife had been in prison on remand after being charged with terror offences related to a fake bomb hoax at an RAF base earlier this year, and eliciting personal information about soldiers likely to be useful to a terrorist. Before being arrested the first time he was attached to the Royal Signal Corps.

His original trial had been set for November before he escaped. During the initial court appearance, it was alleged that Khalife had been to Richmond Park and in Chiswick as well, before being eventually caught. The Met Police had been offering a £20,000 reward for any information leading to his capture.

On the day Khalife vanished from HMP Wandsworth in the escape he denies, there were 80 officers who didn't turn up for their shifts at the prison. This was almost 40 per cent of all staff due to work that day.