The hunt for escaped terror suspect Daniel Khalife has entered its third day as the runaway inmate continues to dodge recapture.
Khalife, 22, was awaiting trial for terror and Official Secrets Act offences when he escaped from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday morning (September 6), the Metropolitan Police said.
The escaped inmate, who had served in the British Army, made the jailbreak by clinging upside down to the underside of a delivery truck as it left the southwest London penitentiary.
READ MORE: Brit soldier accused of terror plot escapes from jail as UK airports put on alert
Here's everything we know about his escape so far.
Brazen escape
Khalife was working in the prison kitchen and made the dash after serving breakfast to his fellow lags.
He made his way to the delivery area at around 7.50am before hiding under the van and securing himself with makeshift straps.
"It is utterly ridiculous he managed to escape so easily with such a basic old-fashioned ploy," ex-Met Police commander John O’Connor told The Sun of his escape.
"Escaping by clinging to the underside of a van is the sort of thing you see in old World War Two films."
'Inside job' probe
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Inside terror suspect's brazen prison break 'more like something out of WW2'
Police announced today they are investigating whether Khalife's bid for freedom may have been an "inside job".
It is thought the young ex-soldier may have had help pulling off his plan, with Metropolitan Police Commissioner telling LBC it's "unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment".
"It is clearly pre-planned, the fact that he could strap himself onto the bottom of the wagon," he said this morning.
Asked if police are looking into whether it was an "inside job", the commissioner said: “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?”
London Park on lockdown
Last night cops swarmed on Richmond Park in southwest London as helicopters patrolled the surrounding area.
This morning officers confirmed the increased police presence was linked to the search for missing Khalife.
One witness told The Sun: "There are so many police involved. It's a huge operation – they must have a good reason to think he might be in there."
Richmond Park is just more than two miles from where cops found the vehicle on Upper Richmond Road in Putney following the escape – but by that point he had vanished.
Khalife also has links to the area, having grown up in a flat on the opposite side of the park in Kingston.
May have fled the country
A "national incident" was declared following Khalife's disappearance and Border Control were placed on high alert.
Extra ID checks are now in place and travellers can expect long queues at airports across the UK.
Meanwhile, the Port of Dover was plunged into chaos as long queues saw many disgruntled travellers held up.
Despite the measures, however, police reckon Khalife may still have managed to flee the country.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met Police's counterterrorism control, warned: "It's absolutely possible… he has already left the country.
"We believe him to be here, but we keep an open mind."
Meanwhile security expert Professor Anthony Glees of the University of Buckingham told the Daily Star: "Khalife had about forty minutes, perhaps more, to get well away and if I were he, I'd have headed straight for an airport."
Terror charges
Khalife was awaiting trial when he made his escape.
He was initially taken into custody after being charged with collecting information, notes and documents which would be "useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".
The ex-soldier, who was stationed at Beacon Barracks in Beaconside, Stafford, is accused of taking soldier details from the MoD personnel files.
He also allegedly carried out a bomb hoax, leaving "three canisters with wires" on a desk at RAF Stafford on January 2, 2023.
He was discharged from the British Army back in April and is due to stand trial on November 20.
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