Khalife read newspaper about alleged prison escape

Mr Khalife was seen on CCTV buying a newspaper

A jury has seen CCTV footage of a former soldier reading newspaper articles about his breakout from prison while allegedly on the run.

Video shown at the Woolwich Crown Court trial of Daniel Khalife showed him in a west London newsagent reading the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror.

The prosecution allege he hid underneath a food truck to escape Wandsworth prison in south-west London on 6 September 2023.

Mr Khalife, 23, is also accused of collecting sensitive military information for Iran. He denies the charges against him.

The 23-year-old is accused of escaping Wandsworth Prison

In a video compilation shown to the jury, footage shows Mr Khalife leaving his cell shortly after 07:00 BST on the morning of his alleged escape.

He is seen briefly in the kitchen area where he worked and then a Bidfood truck is seen driving out of the prison's main gate.

The prosecution accuse him of hiding underneath the truck in a makeshift sling near the rear axle.

A woman driving behind the van, Skye Vokins, saw him rolling out from under the lorry near Wandsworth roundabout, flick his fringe and walk calmly off, the court heard.

It was later discovered he was missing at the prison and police were notified at 08:18.

Later on the day of the alleged escape, Mr Khalife was recorded on CCTV entering Mountain Warehouse shop, picking a blue cap and then leaving apparently without paying.

The jury was shown video of Mr Khalife in Marks & Spencer

The next day at 08:00, Mr Khalife is seen on CCTV using cash to buy two shirts and some jogging bottoms in a Marks & Spencer store in Kew.

Two hours later, he is seen topping up his phone in Sainsbury's in Hammersmith, and then buying a Samsung phone for £89 in another shop on King Street.

On 8 September after 08:00, the former soldier was recorded in a newsagent in Chiswick, where he reads newspaper articles about his escape and buys a copy of the Daily Mail.

By now Mr Khalife had made a search for "Can a phone be tracked from IMEI?". An IMEI number is a unique identifier for a mobile phone handset.

The prosecution says he also sent messages on Telegram to an account linked to Iranian intelligence, including a message that read "I wait".

On the morning of Saturday 9 September, CCTV caught him in a McDonald’s in Southall, west London, where he changed clothes in the toilet and bought an espresso.

The court heard Mr Khalife also changed his outfit in the McDonald's toilets

Not long after that he was arrested on a canal towpath in nearby Northolt.

The day after he was recaptured, Mr Khalife told the interviewing officer that in the army “you’re literally trained for escape and evasion", the court was told.

"You’re trained to live in the woods, you’re trained to kill people,” he said.

“You put a soldier in a cage, he only thinks about how can I get out of the cage."

The court heard Mr Khalife told officers he "never thought" it was a crime to escape from prison and he did not realise how “unbelievably dangerous” it was underneath a truck until the speed limit increased.

He complained about the "terrible" picture that had been circulated of him during the manhunt and regretted being a "burden" on the country when hearing about lorries being stopped and airport delays.

Money found in van, seen right, being used by Mr Khalife.

The court heard that Mr Khalife wrote notes during his time missing, saying that he "didn't want to betray the UK" by working for Iran and that he "started with good intentions".

In one note he allegedly wrote: "I will decorate myself in the pursuit of a democratically elected government in Iran.

"I would rather die in the pursuit of redemption rather than be branded a traitor by my friends and colleagues."

He also referenced "liaising" with the Russian defence attache as well as officials from the Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The notes were found in a Ford Transit van which was on false plates.

Jurors were told the van was reported stolen between 3 and 9 November 2022 from Stafford Barracks, where Mr Khalife had been based.

The van also contained a camp bed and £18,000 in cash. It was found in a car park in Stone, Staffordshire, on 7 September 2023 during the hunt for Mr Khalife.

Mr Khalife denies escaping from prison, gathering information useful for Iran, collecting names of special forces soldiers useful to terrorists and perpetrating a bomb hoax at his barracks in Stafford.

He also faces charges against the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act, and is accused of perpetrating a bomb hoax.

The trial continues.