Former UK soldier pleads not guilty to prison escape

Daniel Abed Khalife escaped from the prison while awaiting trial. British authorities have issued an all-ports alert to track down a former soldier awaiting trial on terrorism charges, after he escaped from jail by clinging to the bottom of a delivery van (AFP)

• The BBC has reported he was accused of gathering intelligence for Iran
• After a four-day nationwide manhunt, police said he was recaptured by a plain clothes officer while cycling alongside a canal

LONDON: A former British soldier charged with terrorism and Official Secret Act offenses pleaded not guilty on Thursday to breaking out of prison and going on the run.
Prosecutors say Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, escaped from London’s Wandsworth prison on Sep. 6 by attaching himself to the underside of a food delivery truck.
After a four-day nationwide manhunt, police said he was recaptured by a plain clothes officer while cycling alongside a canal in west London.
Khalife, wearing a blue and yellow sweatshirt, appeared by videolink at the Old Bailey on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to one count of escaping from lawful custody.
He was previously in custody awaiting trial on a charge of obtaining information from the Ministry of Defense’s Joint Personnel Administration System, a charge under the Terrorism Act, while he was based at barracks in central England in 2021.
Khalife is also accused of staging a bomb hoax by placing three canisters with wires on a desk and a further charge of obtaining information which might be “directly or indirectly useful to an enemy.”
The BBC has reported he was accused of gathering intelligence for Iran.