Daniel Khalife: HMP Wandsworth inmate recalls kitchen colleague

By Adriana Elgueta

BBC News

An inmate who worked with escapee Daniel Khalife in the kitchens at HMP Wandsworth has told the BBC that he said “he was going be famous”.

The 21-year-old ex-soldier escaped from the jail on Wednesday morning strapped to the bottom of a delivery lorry.

Chris Jones, 53, said during their time in the kitchens he prepared food while Mr Khalife unloaded lorry deliveries.

He said Mr Khalife had been brought in as a vulnerable prisoner to work alongside other inmates in the kitchen.

Mr Jones was released from HMP Wandsworth in June after being acquitted after seven months on remand, and now works as a roofer.

He told BBC London that his fellow prisoner seemed “quite down to earth and up for a laugh but didn’t come across as a criminal mastermind”.

Mr Jones added: “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.”

Before he escaped, Mr Khalife was on remand at HMP Wandsworth awaiting trial in relation to alleged terrorism and Official Secrets Act offences at an RAF base. He is accused of collecting information that might be useful to an enemy; it is understood the “enemy” referred to in the charge is Iran.

Asked how easy an escape might have been, Mr Jones said he was “surprised but not surprised”.

He explained: “We always used to joke about that lorry; jump in it and drive off, but there was a lot of security staff around the kitchens so it is a surprise he got through there.

“A prison staff member would stand by the lorry ticking off the goods as they were unloaded; you could not move around freely. If you wanted to move from the coffee shop to the kitchen, the staff would log a move.

“Having said this, many mistakes were made all the time, all down to staffing issues,” according to Mr Jones, who told the BBC he spent seven months on remand before being cleared of conspiracy to blackmail.

“One time we were put on lockdown because there was an inmate missing, but it turned out that he had been released the day before but it hadn’t been correctly registered.

“So in that sense, I’m not surprised that someone slipped up, or that they didn’t have enough people to staff the kitchen, and that he took his chance to unload the truck and vanish underneath the lorry.”

Mr Jones said he thought staffing issues were at the root of the jail’s “diabolical conditions”; an independent report on HMP Wandsworth published in September 2022 found that there was a “staffing crisis”.

It said: “Significant staffing problems are adversely affecting the delivery of a consistent regime. Although technically fully staffed, over 30% of staff are non-operational on a regular basis, for a number of reasons, rising sometimes to over 40%.

“With an increasing number of more volatile young prisoners, and incidents of violence at alarming levels, the recruitment, training and retention of appropriately skilled and well-motivated staff is essential. The board is very concerned that this is not happening.

“Yet again, the conditions which prisoners are confined, often two to a cramped cell, are inhumane and degrading.”

The report also pointed out that the majority of prison officers had less than two years’ experience and this lack of “prison craft” was an issue.

Mr Jones said that on one occasion, he was not let out of his cell for two weeks, with no shower or exercise, because staff “couldn’t or wouldn’t” open his cell door.

He said: “Through their laziness, the prisoners always suffered. Conditions are the poorest I’ve ever seen. In 2023 the conditions in Wandsworth are worse than prisons in 1989-1990 which was the last time I was in.

“It’s known as being the worst and dirtiest in the whole system. The kitchen was full of dead rats, and mice constantly came through my cell door.”

A spokesperson for BidFood, the supplier that owned the van Mr Khalife used in his escape, said: “Yesterday morning we were made aware of a security incident involving one of our vehicles, whilst out on delivery.

“We can confirm that our driver fully co-operated with the police on this matter before returning back to the depot. We will continue to assist the authorities in their ongoing investigation.”

The Prisons Service said that they are undertaking a programme of maintenance activity at Wandsworth to improve the safety and decency of the prison, including replacing the healthcare unit, updates to fire safety, window replacements and refurbishments of showers.

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