Terror suspect’s prison escape ‘clearly pre-planned’ – Met boss

Sir Mark Rowley branded it “extremely concerning” that the 21-year-old, who escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south-west London on Wednesday, was “on the loose”.

His comments came as the force confirmed officers had been searching overnight in Richmond Park – a few miles from the jail – as the nationwide manhunt entered a third day.

The Met have also urged a shop assistant to come forward after media reports said the man believed he saw Khalife after he escaped.

Khalife, an ex-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, was discharged from the Army in May.

He is believed to have escaped by strapping himself to the bottom of a delivery lorry after leaving the prison kitchen in a cook’s uniform.

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.

Speaking on LBC, Sir Mark said: “It is clearly pre-planned, the fact that he could strap himself on to the bottom of the wagon.”

A prison escape is “unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment”, he added.

The Met chief did not rule out the escape being an “inside job” when asked if police were looking at that possibility.

“It is a question. Did anyone inside the prison help him? Other prisoners, guard staff? Was he helped by people outside the walls or was it simply all of his own creation?” he replied.

Speaking to broadcasters in New Delhi, the Prime Minister would not comment on suggestions there could be foreign state involvement in the escape.

Pressed on whether he had confidence in the prison’s governor Katie Price, Rishi Sunak insisted it was important to “establish the facts first”.

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

Sir Mark said it did “seem odd” when asked if he was surprised to learn the terror suspect, who is reportedly accused of gathering information for Iran, was being held in a category B facility.

The hunt for Khalife is a “massive operation” involving “well into three figures of officers” as well as help from constabularies around the country and Border Force, the commissioner told the radio station.

“At the moment we are still really keen to get any reports from members of the public,” he added.

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.

The Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism commander Dominic Murphy said it is testament to Khalife’s “ingenuity” that there have since been no confirmed sightings of him.

“He’s a very resourceful individual, clearly, and our experience of him shows that, so nothing is off the table with him at the moment,” he told reporters on Thursday.

Police have not ruled out the possibility he may have managed to flee the country, despite heightened border checks.

Kent Police said in addition to the increased security checks, traffic making its way to the Eurotunnel had also been affected by a suspicious vehicle being stopped at 10.30am on Friday – with army explosives experts called in.

The force said a man had been detained but it was not being linked with the search for Khalife.

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

Wandsworth prison’s performance has been rated a “serious concern” and watchdogs issued a string of warnings about the jail in the year before the incident.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said staff shortages are “the source of many problems” and that “in an ideal world” Wandsworth would be shut.

The prison is in the Tooting constituency, which Sadiq Khan represented as an MP for more than a decade until he was elected mayor of London in 2016.

He said he was aware of “big problems” at the jail while he was an MP, including overcrowding and staff shortages, telling PA questions “will need answering” about the “link between government austerity and this man escaping”.

One former inmate, who worked alongside Khalife in the prison’s kitchens, said the escapee had struck him as “odd” and had told him he was “going to be famous”.

Chris Jones, 53, who BBC London reported was released in June after being acquitted following seven months on remand, told the programme: “We always used to joke about that lorry – jump in it and drive off – but there was a lot of security staff around the kitchens so it is a surprise he got through there.”

Khalife, who denied the three charges against him, is described as slim, 6ft 2in, with short brown hair.

He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, red and white chequered trousers and brown, steel toe-capped boots, but police stressed he may have changed his clothes quickly.

Khalife has links to the West Midlands – having been stationed at the Ministry of Defence’s Beacon Barracks in Stafford – and Kingston upon Thames in south-west London, but Mr Murphy said the hunt is covering the whole of the UK.

Police have said there is no reason to believe Khalife poses a threat to the public but urged people not to approach him if they spot him and to call 999.