U.Okay. Police Hunt Terror Suspect Who Escaped London Prison

A former British Army soldier going through terrorism-related expenses escaped from a jail in southwest London on Wednesday morning, prompting a nationwide manhunt by the police, who appealed to the general public for assist apprehending him.

The prisoner, Daniel Abed Khalife, is scheduled to go on trial in November on expenses that he breached the Official Secrets Act and terrorism statutes. He was charged in late January after a police investigation discovered that he had left pretend bombs at a army base to stir fears of a terrorist assault.

The Metropolitan Police stated they believed Mr. Khalife, 21, who escaped from the Wandsworth jail round 7:50 a.m., was nonetheless within the London neighborhood, the place he has ties to the Kingston space. The police described him as being 6 ft 2 inches tall, and stated he had been final seen sporting a white T-shirt, pink and white checkered pants and brown steel-toe cap boots.

“I also want to reassure the public that we have no information which indicates, nor any reason to believe, that Khalife poses a threat to the wider public, but our advice if you do see him is not to approach him,” stated Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the police’s counterterrorism command.

Commander Murphy stated, “We have a team of officers who are making extensive and urgent enquiries in order to locate and detain Khalife as quickly as possible.”

Ports and airports throughout Britain have been positioned on alert. There have been reviews on social media of lengthy strains forming at airports in London, Manchester and Glasgow as police and border management officers checked the identification of passengers.

The BBC reported that Mr. Khalife could have fled the jail by strapping himself to the underside of a meals supply van. It stated that he was reported to have been working within the jail kitchens and that he could have been wearing a chef’s uniform.

Wandsworth is assessed as a Category B jail, one stage under most safety. (Category A prisons are usually used to accommodate prisoners charged with terrorism or whose escape would pose excessive hazard to public security or nationwide safety.)

At a court docket listening to in February, prosecutors stated Mr. Khalife left pretend explosive gadgets at a base in Stafford, England “with the intention of inducing in another the belief the item was likely to explode or ignite.”

He was additionally accused of getting “elicited” private details about troopers from the joint personnel administration system of the Ministry of Defense, which was “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.”