Daniel Khalife: Confirmed sighting of escaped terror suspect, police say
Police have announced a confirmed sighting of escaped terror suspect Daniel Khalife in southwest London on Wednesday morning.
An eyewitness reported seeing a man fitting Khalife’s description “walking away from a BidFood van that had stopped near the south entrance to Wandsworth Roundabout”, about a mile from Wandsworth Prison, Scotland Yard said.
It was at the “top of Trinity Road, shortly after his escape”, the Met Police added.
The 21-year-old former soldier was then spotted “walking towards Wandsworth town centre”.
The sighting, which “could be very significant”, is “one of several key lines of enquiry that officers are pursuing”.
In addition, the London force is offering a reward of £20,000 for information that leads to Khalife’s arrest.
Anyone wanting to report a “live sighting” is urged to call 999.
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People can also submit “relevant imagery and video”, including doorbell and mobile phone footage, via the Met’s UK Image Appeal website.
Officers have received around 100 calls from the public so far.
The Met said it believes Khalife “does not pose a threat to the wider public”.
However, it is advising anyone who sees him to stay away and call 999 immediately.
Khalife escaped from Wandsworth Prison on Wednesday morning.
He was working in the kitchen and wearing a chef’s uniform when he held on to straps underneath a food lorry after it left the prison at 7.32am.
It is possible he has fled the country, investigators believe.
More than 150 of the Met’s counter terrorism officers and staff have been “working at pace around the clock”, Scotland Yard said.
“The sighting near Wandsworth Roundabout could be very significant, and this is one of many useful lines of enquiry that officers are perusing,” said Commander Dominic Murphy who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, speaking on a trip to India, said police are “working night and day to recapture the individual”.
The PM told reporters the justice secretary has ordered an internal inquiry to examine the “specific circumstances” around the escape.
Asked to elaborate further, Mr Sunak said it was important to “establish the facts first”.
Quizzed on potential “state involvement”, perhaps from Iran, the PM said it would not be appropriate to comment on an “ongoing police investigation”.
Earlier, police were searching Richmond Park, a few miles away.
They were stationed at key entry and exit points into the early hours of Friday, with two police helicopters overhead.
Richmond Park was closed during the operation.
By Friday afternoon, however, Sky News correspondent Milena Veselinovic said the search for Khalife had “largely moved away” from there.
She commented: “Residents told us they had been kept up all night by the police activity, but at this point it has largely moved away or if it does exist, it is quite subtle, a lot more low profile than it was overnight.”
It is assumed that Khalife knows the Richmond area well because he grew up nearby, while his mother and sister are believed to have lived in the vicinity until a few years ago.