Daniel Khalife: About 40 inmates moved from Wandsworth prison after escape

Dozens of prisoners were moved from HMP Wandsworth after the escape of terror suspect Daniel Khalife, the justice secretary has said.

Alex Chalk told the BBC "approximately" 40 inmates were transferred this week, amid questions about whether the 21-year-old should have been held on remand at the Category B jail.

But the minister said "relevant security protocols" had been in place.

Mr Khalife is in police custody after being arrested in north-west London.

The former soldier was held by a plain-clothed officer on a canal towpath in Northolt on Saturday, following a four-day manhunt.

The justice secretary says preliminary investigations into the escape from Wandsworth prison have determined that correct security protocols and staffing levels were in place at the time.

But speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said: "The real question is whether the protocols were followed to the extent they should be."

Mr Chalk said he had asked for two reviews into the matter, one around the circumstances and another about prison categorisation. He has also ordered an independent investigation into the incident.

Earlier Mr Chalk told Sky News: "Out of an abundance of caution some prisoners there, some of those on remand, have been moved.

"Additional resources have of course gone into Wandsworth, so there's additional governor support, a former governor with particular expertise in security.

"But also... around 40 prisoners have been moved just while we get to the bottom of what took place in Wandsworth. That is a sensible, precautionary measure."

Asked how the 40 prisoners were chosen, or why their movement was relevant, the Ministry of Justice declined to comment.

The Met Police said Mr Khalife had been arrested on suspicion of being unlawfully at large and being an escaped prisoner.

• Who is Daniel Khalife? Profile of prisoner who escaped

• How police closed in on Daniel Khalife - in maps

His getaway began in the kitchens of the prison - where he held a job - after he attached himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry on Wednesday morning.

He was at Wandsworth prison pending a trial in November.

Mr Khalife is accused of trying to spy for an enemy state, understood to be Iran, obtaining information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, and plotting a fake bomb hoax. He denies the charges against him.

Mr Chalk told the BBC that the procedures at Wandsworth prison to prevent escapes included taking a physical head count after unloading goods from a lorry, searching a vehicle before it goes through and leaves an airlock, having equipment for looking under a vehicle and staff being in place on the gates.

"Plainly, we have got to get to the bottom of what precisely was done by the relevant individuals", Mr Chalk continued.

"But that has got to happen methodically and fairly to all involved."

Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said that Wandsworth Prison was "failing" and suggested inmates spend up to 22 hours a day in their cells.

Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he also criticised the level of staffing and overcrowding in prisons.

"What that means is more prisoners sharing cells that were designed for one person, continuing to use these old battered, crumbling vermin-infested Victorian jails, which would make fantastic museums or flats but really are not fit for purpose for the 21st Century."

Mr Taylor argued that there are not enough staff in place "to do the things with prisoners that are actually going to help them to not offend when they come out".

Police had offered a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to Mr Khalife's arrest and detectives said they had received more than 100 calls from people offering information.

Elsewhere, the Mail on Sunday reports claims from security sources that Mr Khalife was apprehended after spies from the UK's new intelligence nerve centre, made up of agents from MI5, MI6, and specialist police, bugged the phones of people they believed were linked to him.

How police closed in on Daniel Khalife

Mr Khalife had been spotted by a member of the public emerging from underneath a lorry at Wandsworth Roundabout shortly after he escaped on 6 September.

The Met began reviewing CCTV footage and using a helicopter to search areas in west and south-west London.

Police said their investigation "took a different course" on Friday night, when officers conducted an "intelligence-led search at a residential premises" in the Richmond area.

While Mr Khalife was not found there, the force received a number of calls from the public with sightings of the suspect nearby.

The Met said on Saturday morning it was focusing on "intensive search activity" efforts in and around the Chiswick area, after Mr Khalife had been spotted.

He was detained at 10:41 BST on Saturday - about 14 miles from the prison - after a plain clothed officer pulled him from a bicycle on the canal towpath in the Northolt area.