Police officers from the Metropolitan Police have successfully arrested Daniel Khalife in Chiswick, west London.
Khalife was the prisoner who escaped from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday, 6 September.
The police officers who apprehended Khalife were armed, and police dogs were also present during the search. Officers stopped and checked cars and searched car boots, as well as asking residents for proof of ID.
Khalife was arrested on Saturday, 9 September, at 11:00 in Chiswick and is currently in police custody. On Friday, the Metropolitan Police offered a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to Khalife’s arrest after he was sighted near Wandsworth Roundabout.
Khalife escaped from Wandsworth Prison on Wednesday morning while working in the prison kitchen wearing a cook’s uniform.
It is believed he held onto straps on a truck to make his escape. More than 150 of the Met’s counter-terrorism officers and staff were deployed around the area to find Khalife.
Police received tips from the public who claimed to see a man fitting Khalife’s description walking away from a BidFood van that had stopped near the south entrance to the Wandsworth Roundabout at the top of Trinity Road shortly after his escape.
Officers focused their search around Richmond Park overnight into the early hours of Friday, 8 September, in a desperate effort to catch Khalife, a prisoner whose escape had brought several questions and doubts about the security of London prisons.
Khalife, 21, a former soldier, was declared missing at 07:50 on 6 September. The Met was notified of his escape at 08:15 and immediately tracked down a delivery van that Khalife used in his escape.
At 8:37, police officers stopped the van on Upper Richmond Road, near the junction with Carlton Drive, where police discovered a strapping on the truck’s underside.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We believe Khalife was hiding underneath the van and used this strapping as part of his escape. We previously gave details of the route the van which we believe Khalife escaped on took after it left Wandsworth Prison, based on GPS data detectives had obtained from the vehicle.”
On Thursday, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk announced an independent inquiry into the escape.
Khalife is a former member of the Royal Signals who was based at Beacon Barracks in Stafford and was on remand awaiting trial, accused of leaving fake bombs at a military base under the Terrorism Act and another under the Official Secrets Act, which alleges he committed “an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state”.
