A Wandsworth Miracle

I recently strolled past Wandsworth prison with a few friends. It wasn’t intentional, but I was glad we did, as the menacing building provided entertaining talking points – namely, how it looked completely impossible to escape from. How wrong we were.

Days later, news broke that Daniel Khalife, an alarming combination of ex-soldier and terror suspect, fled captivity. As you might imagine, his escape (a pretty good yarn in itself) led to the typical lamentation and head-shaking we often see when one of our creaking public establishments shows signs of wear and tear. 

So what happened? And most importantly, what’s everyone got to say about it? Let’s take a look.

The Great Escape

Danielle Khalif was awaiting trial for a string of terrorism offences. Included in these were the planting of fake bombs at an RAF base and an attempt to sell military secrets to Iran. Thanks to these woefully ill-advised acts, he’s been held at Wandsworth prison since January.

While incarcerated, Khalife bagged himself a job in the kitchen – as far as gigs go, it’s a winner, with unlimited access to delicious prison food and plenty of time out of the cell. Despite being what many would describe as a dangerous prisoner, Khalife managed to cook without any serious questions being asked.

Fortunately, no IEDs were snuck into the desert. However, Khalif managed to strap himself to the bottom of a delivery van and escape. Exactly how this happened has not been released yet, although a report indicated that bedsheets might have been used.

Capture

For three days, not much happened. With little to go on apart from the occasional security expert throwing shade at HMP Wandsworth, media outlets were forced to deliver uninspiring headlines like ‘Khalife still on the run’. For a couple of days at least, it seemed he may have slipped the net.

Pretty quickly, however, sightings began pouring in from West London. Clearly wanting to enjoy his fleeting freedom, Khalif was seen galavanting around the leafy neighbourhoods of Richmond and Chiswick. At this point, his days were numbered. Eventually, the fugitive was apprehended cycling down Grand Union Canal in Northolt like a true citizen. Allegedly, he even smiled when caught, content to have caught a heatwave while on holiday.

That was that. The prisoner was back in chains. Now was the time for serious questions and, most importantly, figuring out who was to blame.

So many questions

There were many blame angles in this story. One of the more prevalent was why Khalife was where he was. According to ex-head of Belmarsh Professor John Podmore, an accused terror suspect with Khalife’s history should never have been incarcerated in Wandsworth - a medium security Category B Prison - let alone working in the kitchen. It’s hard to argue with his assessment.

More important was how the man was able to escape. Either it was a symptom of a broken system, brought about by a demoralised workforce wracked with staff shortages, stress and a lack of resources (how boring) or an inside job (far more interesting).

Unfortunately for the sensationalist in me, the inside job theory doesn’t have much concrete to go on. It seems based on the idea that the ineptitude required to allow something to slip through security in such a manner beggars belief. 

We don’t know what happened right now, so speculation is naturally rife. An inquiry has been launched by Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, which will supposedly shine some light on whether one of London’s biggest prisons is either corrupt and broken or just broken.