As we reported earlier, the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism laws has questioned why Daniel Khalife - a terror and espionage suspect - wasn't being held in a higher security prison.

Jonathan Hall KC told BBC Radio 4 that since Khalife had been "charged with collecting information which might be useful to an enemy" he "ought to be held more securely".

You can hear his remarks in full here:

A newsagent has claimed he saw a man who resembled Khalife jumping into a getaway car in Putney on Wednesday, around two miles from Wandsworth prison, the Telegraph is reporting.

Following the newspaper's report, the Met police has just released a statement saying they are "aware of news reports about a shop assistant who believes they saw Daniel Khalife".

"We are trying to identify this man so we can speak with him. We urge him to contact us by calling 999," it says.

Daniel Sandford
Home Affairs Correspondent

“Daniel Khalife will be found, and he will be made to face justice,” the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk KC MP told the Commons.

In order to maintain the management of the prison system in England and Wales, ministers will want to show that escapees are rapidly hunted down and brought back to jail.

Of course Khalife is not a convicted prisoner, he was in jail while awaiting trial.

But Scotland Yard has made it clear that further charges may be brought.

Cdr Dominic Murphy of counter-terrorism command said: “Once we secure Daniel Khalife back into prison, we will be seeking to investigate him for this escape.”

What everyone in the criminal justice system will want to avoid is the perception that it is easy to escape, and that those who do so may not be found.

It might be obvious, but the stakes are high. The credibility of the justice system is in question.

How do prison categories work in England and Wales?published at 14:37 British Summer Time 8 September 2023

14:37 BST 8 September 2023

The escape of Daniel Khalife has sparked a government report looking into why the terror suspect wasn’t placed in a higher security prison. But what are the different types of prison and how is it decided which category prisoners are sent to?

People sentenced to prison in England and Wales are assessed to see which type of prison they should be sent to. This considers factors such as the risk of the prisoner escaping and whether they might threaten the stability of a prison.

In England and Wales there are four categories of prison, external for men:

• A – highest security, escape should be impossible
• B – high security, escape should be near impossible
• C – low security
• D – lowest security

Prison categories A-C are “closed”, which means prisoners are subject to high security measures. Category D “open” prisons allow low-risk individuals to spend time away from the prison, carrying out work in the community, for example.

Category B prisons can also be used to accommodate people awaiting trial who are taken from court in the local area. This is the category of prison Daniel Khalife was held at as a high – but not the highest – risk prisoner.

Category B prisons such as Wandsworth hold prisoners who have committed serious offences, external but do not require maximum security. This could include threats to kill and terror offences.

There are different category systems for prisons in Scotland, external and Northern Ireland., external

Daniel Khalife should have been held in a more secure prison because of his espionage charge, the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation has said.

Khalife has been "charged with collecting information which might be useful to an enemy" and "ought to be held more securely", Jonathan Hall KC told Radio 4's World at One programme.

"The question for me is... how did someone who was suspected of espionage - a crime against the state - end up in that position?"

"They knew he was charged with an offence under the Official Secrets Act, that's a very serious offence... one would have thought that you would look at the advanced capabilities that might come with working for or having relations with a hostile state."

He also warned against legislation to make all of those accused of terrorism to be placed in a category A prison and classified as a high-escape risk.

"Some are very dangerous and some less so... some are even on bail, even after being charged."

Our reporter, Matt Graveling is outside Richmond Park keeping you updated with the story.

Police have been searching the huge west London park, although it was not based on any specific lead or intelligence, BBC News has been told.

"Little clues” provided by the public could be essential to helping the public track down Daniel Khalife, retired police sergeant Mel Thomas tells PA news media.

Calling the British public "70 million separate CCTV" sources, Thomas says a tip off from someone could be key to catching Khalife.

A sighting in a town, for example, could give law enforcement "more opportunities" to catch Khalife especially if he does not know he’s been seen and doesn’t move away from that location.

Catching him however won't necessarily be easy, Thomas adds, saying it is a "needle in the haystack" case. And it "does take some guts" to crawl under a vehicle to make your escape, he says - and it pits law enforcement agencies against someone who has been trained by the UK military.

In this clip the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley explains that a prison escape is "unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment".

Are there actually 4,000 extra prison officers?published at 13:02 British Summer Time 8 September 2023

13:02 BST 8 September 2023

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly claimed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning: “We have already recruited 4,000 extra prison officers.”

While the latest figures for England and Wales, external from the Ministry of Justice show an increase in staff of 4,458 over the last year, they are not all prison officers.

More than half of them work for the Probation Service.

Over the past year there has been an increase of 701 band 3-5 prison officers (that’s a figure excluding managers and support staff), which takes the total number to 22,426.

That total is 4,000 more than the low-point in prison officer numbers, which was recorded in March 2015, which may be what Mr Cleverly was referring to. But it is still almost 2,500 below where it was at the end of March 2010.

Image source, PA Media

Charlie Taylor, chief inspector of prisons, said HMP Wandsworth "really needs closing" .

He published a report into the facility in 2022, which included revelations that there had been an increase in violence and use of force by officers, and also pointed to "squalid" living conditions, overcrowding and understaffing.

Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sky News earlier on Friday, Taylor said the prison should be closed "in an ideal world", but due to the current "crisis" in prison places this is not possible.

"There are only just enough places available at the moment for prisoners coming in," he explained.

He also said most Wandsworth inmates were locked up for 22 hours a day, so any hopes of rehabilitation were “fanciful”.

Taylor went on to say that prisons had a "critical duty in terms of public protection", but efforts were being hampered by the "revolving door of people coming in and out of prison".

Image source, Pool

Rishi Sunak is in India for the G20 summit of the world's biggest economies. He arrived in Delhi today and has been taking questions from the BBC's political editor Chris Mason.

On Khalife, he says the public will be anxious but adds that the police are working "night and day" to recapture the prisoner.

Asked if he has confidence in the Wandsworth Prison governor, Sunak did not answer directly, saying the detail of what happened is still being established and it would be "right" to let the internal inquiry conclude.

As the manhunt for prisoner Daniel Abed Khalife enters its third day, let's take a look at the latest developments:

• Khalife's escape has been described as "clearly pre-planned" by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who says a prison escape is "unlikely to be something you do on the spur of the moment"
• The commissioner said the hunt to find Khalife is a "massive operation" and he urged members of the public to come forward if they have any information about the case
• Earlier today police were searching Richmond Park - a vast wooded area in south-west London - for the 21-year-old but by 09:00 the park was open to the public as normal, with no police activity. The search of the park was not based on any tip-off
• Khalife was jailed in January and is accused of trying to gather information for a hostile state. The BBC understands that state is Iran

Alex Binley
Live reporter

We've been hearing a lot about conditions for inmates and staff working in Wandsworth prison, so here's a look at the report, external published last June by HM Inspectorate of Prisons looking at the conditions in UK jails.

It was measuring the prison against the recommendations made in September 2022.

• Levels of violence amongst prisoners and against staff remained high and had increased in the previous six months.
• Use of force by officers against prisoners was also high and had increased since the last visit. But the report noted that work was underway to make sure the use of force was proportionate and it was investigated if this was not the case.
• Wandsworth remains one of the most over-crowded prisons and living conditions are poor. Prisoners shared cells built for one, inmates on one ward were having to shower in "squalid" conditions and the mental health inpatient unit was described as "unacceptable".

Image source, HM Inspectorate of Prisons

• Most prisoners were locked up for 22 hours each day but the report noted that inmates were now allowed outside once a day. Inmates were also unable to learn skills or qualifications that would help them on release.
• Improvements in primary mental health care had been made.
• But waiting times for prisoners requiring mental health care or treatment outside of the prison were too long.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has said there were questions about the link between "government austerity" and Daniel Khalife's escape from Wandsworth prison.

Khan told the PA news agency: "I know from my own experience, as the member of parliament previously for Tooting where Wandsworth prison is, (there are) big problems in relation to it being overcrowded and being a Victorian prison, lack of investment, lack of enough staff and those questions will need answering from the government."

Chris Jones, an inmate who worked with Daniel Khalife in Wandsworth prison's kitchen, told the BBC Khalife said "he was going to be famous".

He explained during their time in the kitchens, he prepared food while Khalife unloaded lorry deliveries.

Chris said Khalife was "quite down to earth and up for a laugh, but didn't come across as a criminal mastermind.

"He did seem like an odd sausage. One lunchtime, he came in saying that he was going be famous. I told him: 'I think you've got on the wrong bus, mate.'

"He would come to work with a comb and mirror constantly checking his appearance, although I can't say I thought much of it."

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

The BBC has been told that a drone, assisted by police search teams, was deployed around the Channel Tunnel facility in Kent yesterday afternoon.

Drones are regularly used to track migrants at sea - and there's been no official confirmation that operation definitely related to Khalife.

But, at the same time, it could have been a complement to the enhanced lorry checks at the border.

Accounts of searches don't tell us for sure where Khalife is hiding - but they indicate the scale of the resources that Scotland Yard and its partners are prepared to throw at capturing Britain's most wanted man.

Image source, PA Media

Here's a bit more from Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who spoke to LBC earlier.

He refused to confirm whether notebooks were found in Daniel Khalife's cell in Wandsworth prison after he escaped on Wednesday.

During the phone interview, he also said he couldn't comment on how the straps Khalife used to attach himself to the underside of the delivery van were made.

Barrister and former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Lord Carlisle, says the prisoner escape is a “catastrophic incident and causes great concern at many levels”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, he said it is good that the government is conducting an independent review, and “it causes concern on why the perpetrator was in that prison, whether he escaped solo or if there were state actors - possibly Iran”.

“Wandsworth prison was 31% short in man power and particularly bad at weekends… the evidence I’ve seen shows the government did nothing to address that problem.”

Lord Carlisle explained, “the idea that someone was judged for spying for Iran and terrorism offences was able to work in a Category B prison in the kitchen with access to knives is mind-boggling”.

Reviewing how Daniel Khalife planned his escape, Carlisle added, “One of the possibilities for escape is a hostage situation and knives play into that kind of situation”.

“[There will] have to be an audit of the prison, and more general issues about the management of the prisoner.”

Tom Grundy
BBC News

Richmond Park seems to be open as normal this morning despite police saying it had been searched overnight in connection to the missing terror suspect, Daniel Khalife.

We’ve seen no police activity across the 2,500-acre estate since arriving at 09:00. Richmond Park is London’s biggest Royal Park.

Cyclists and walkers we’ve spoken to here are continuing to use the area as normal, unbothered by the overnight police activity.

Richmond Park searches show scale of manhuntpublished at 09:57 British Summer Time 8 September 2023

09:57 BST 8 September 2023

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

The police searches at Richmond Park are the clearest sign yet of the scale of the manhunt.

But let's not get ahead of events. We should not assume that police know Khalife is hiding in the thicket among the royal park's deer herds.

For a start, the 2,500-acre beauty spot is an obvious search location because it is broadly in the area of south-west London between Wandsworth and Kingston-upon-Thames where Khalife has links.

If police have actual evidence of his movements - perhaps from CCTV cameras or a phone they believe he obtained - then they may have been narrowing down his assumed movements.

So, actionable intelligence or not, commanders will have decided that sending up helicopters with body-heat detecting technology was worth a punt either way.