Escaped prisoner Daniel Khalife has 'no-ill will towards Britain'

Friend of former soldier speaks out as family say the Army did not take his mental health seriously

Daniel Khalife, appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London, following his escape from prison. PA

The escaped terrorism suspect who was recaptured on Saturday holds "no ill will towards the British public," a friend who spoke to him in prison has said.

Daniel Abed Khalife, who was a serving soldier in the Royal Signals, was accused of collecting personnel information from the Army and placing a fake bomb on a desk in his barracks.

However, the friend, who spoke to him in Wandsworth jail after his initial arrest, said: "He holds no ill will towards the British public, in fact quite the opposite.

"When you listen to him talk, he is really quite clever. He is not what people might expect at all. He is very articulate."

The 21-year-old was remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, charged with escaping custody at HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday.

Khalife's family have questioned what happened to him during his four years in the Army, to turn him from a diligent and committed soldier to someone facing charges of terrorism and spying.

His mother urged him to seek help, saying he "does not live in reality, things get into his head that don't make sense."

Farnaz Khalife, 47, a former nurse originally from Iran, split from Khalife's father, Abed, who grew up in Lebanon, when he was young and brought him and his twin sister up alone.

Khalife had enjoyed watching TV programmes about the SAS growing up in Kingston, West London, and always wanted to join the regiment, his mother said.

He was told he had to go through the regular Army first and ordered weights and started working out at home.

His mother had enrolled him on a BTEC paramedics course at Richmond College but his heart was set on entering the Army.

With his mother's consent, he joined at the age of 16, attending the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, North Yorkshire before basic training in Pirbright, Surrey and then the Defence School of Communications Information Systems in Blandford Forum, Dorset.

He was eventually posted to the 1st Signal Brigade of the Royal Signals at Beacon Barracks, Stafford.

"The Army was so strict. He was disciplined, he was happy," Mrs Khalife said.

She said her son had become more distant after he turned 18 and "hardly called." He had visited her once in Wales after she moved there in 2020 but only briefly came into the house.

The last time she saw him was at Christmas when she was on her way back to Chiswick from visiting her daughter and spotted him at a bus stop.

"He was waiting with a suitcase for the 190 bus. I hugged him but he was embarrassed. I took a photo of him. I hadn't seen him for a year. He was really happy and he looked well.

"I didn't think it would be a few days later till all this happened."

Khalife was arrested for planting the fake device in January and was then charged and sent to Wandsworth jail.

His mother said she had been unable to call him in Wandsworth jail because he would not put her on his "approved list."

"All I got was a message through his solicitor, saying he was OK," she said. "I don't think he has ever told anyone to check him for mental health problems."

His mother, who arrived in Britain from Iran as a teenager and does not support the regime, said the idea that he had been leaking intelligence was ridiculous.

"He was too junior, he didn't have access to intelligence, he didn't have an important role. If he was a spy working for Iran, wouldn't they come and rescue him?

His mother urged her son to seek psychiatric help, adding that he had been suffering from episodes of mental illness since he was a teenager.

Khalife was taken to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in West London, as a teenager, his mother said.

"I told him to go to the Army doctor to get help but I don't think he did," she said.

After his arrest, she notified the Army, but said: "It doesn't sound like he was getting help at all. His problems were not being taken seriously."

"I am just worried about Dan, he's always in my mind, I just want to help him," she said. "When he was arrested, he laughed and winked, that's not normal. I feel helpless. This is not reality, it is a fantasy. He doesn't think like a normal person."

Mrs Khalife said she had found out that Daniel had escaped from prison during a visit to see her daughter in London.

"I was just getting back to Teddington and I got off the bus and opened my phone. His name came up, I didn't read the whole thing, I thought he must have killed himself, I was shaking, I had a panic attack and then I sat down and opened my phone and read the whole thing."

Khalife had tied himself under a food delivery lorry using bedsheets from the prison, Westminster Magistrates Court was told.

He was arrested on the tow path of the Grand Union Canal in Northolt at 10.41am on Saturday after a high-speed drive by a plainclothes police officer to intercept him, following a call from the public.

A search found he had with him a bag containing cash and a mobile phone. He had receipts indicating he had bought a change of clothes, food and possibly topped up a mobile phone.

He told officers that he did not take the kitchen job with a plan to escape and had acted alone. He had been to Richmond Park and Chiswick while on the run, adding that he "knew he would be caught eventually."

Khalife appeared in court on Monday wearing a grey, prison-issue tracksuit, behind glass in the dock, without handcuffs but flanked by two uniformed police officers and a security guard and with three detectives in the well of the court.

He spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and stood with his hands behind his back, occasionally looking around the court, as District Judge Tam Ikram, told him that bail was refused and his case would be sent to the Old Bailey later this month.

Khalife was charged with escaping from "lawful custody" while on criminal charges, contrary to common law.

Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, defending, said there was no indication of plea.

Khalife is due to face trial at Woolwich Crown Court in November charged with eliciting information about members of the armed forces under the terrorism act.

He was said to have obtained personal information from the MOD joint personnel administration system, 17 months earlier, on August 2 2021.

A further charge, under the Official Secrets Act, alleges that he committed "an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state" between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022.

Khalife allegedly "obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to another 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".

He is also charged with perpetrating a bomb hoax after allegedly placing three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation on January 2 this year "with the intention of inducing a belief in another that the said item was likely to explode or ignite."