Detectives make second arrest in connection with alleged escape of prisoner

Metropolitan Police detectives have arrested a woman as part of their ongoing investigation into the alleged escape of prisoner Daniel Khalife from HMP Wandsworth last September.

The 25-year-old woman was arrested at an address in east London on suspicion of assisting an offender and she was taken to a London police station, before being released on bail until a date in late April.

Detective Chief Superintendent Gareth Rees, Head of Operations for the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, which is leading the investigation, said: "We continue to carry out a thorough investigation into the full circumstances of the alleged escape of Khalife, and we have now arrested two other people as part of this.

“I know there continues to be a great deal of interest in this case, but I must remind the public that Khalife is awaiting trial. It is therefore extremely important that people do not report, comment upon or share information which could in any way prejudice the future court proceedings."

Information from the public is vital to all police investigations.

If you see or hear something that doesn’t feel right and could be linked to terrorist activity, trust your instincts and act by reporting it in confidence at gov.uk/ACT or the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321. In an emergency, always dial 999.

The latest arrest follows that of a 24-year-old man on Wednesday, 17 January on suspicion of assisting an offender. He remains on bail to a date in late April.

Neither the 24-year-old man nor the 25-year-old woman arrested are members of staff at HMP Wandsworth.

+ Daniel Khalife is due to go on trial at the Old Bailey in October 2024 after pleading not guilty to charges alleging he escaped from HMP Wandsworth. Khalife has pleaded not guilty to, and is awaiting trial for the following four offences:

1) On the 6th day of September 2023, then being a prisoner in His Majesty’s prison at Wandsworth, being remanded in custody pending trial as ordered at the Central Criminal Court on the 21st day of July 2023, escaped, contrary to common law.

2) On 02.08.2021 at Beaconside, Stafford, Staffordshire, elicited or attempted to elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to section 58A of the Terrorism Act 2000.

3) On or before 02.01.2023 at Beaconside, Stafford, Staffordshire, placed an article with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property, contrary to section 51 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

4) On dates between 1 May, 2019 and 6 January, 2022 Daniel Khalife obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person, articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be or might be or were intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy, contrary to section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911.