Prison 'runaway' Daniel Khalife 'congratulated officer for arrest'

Shoeless and handcuffed on a canal towpath, this is the moment prison fugitive Daniel Khalife was arrested after three days on the run.

A nationwide manhunt was launched in September last year after the British soldier escaped from HMP Wandsworth where he was awaiting trial on spying charges.

A ‘jovial’ Khalife was said to have congratulated a police officer for catching him after he was wrestled off a bike next to a canal in north London.

The 23-year-old is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of leaving the prison estate by clinging onto the bottom of a food truck, as well as spying for Iran.

Giving evidence on Friday, the Metropolitan Police's arresting officer - who cannot be named for legal reasons - described the moment he dragged Khalife from a bicycle in Northolt, north London.

Khalife was 'pleasant to deal with', 'quite jovial' and 'friendly' after being stopped, the officer said.

'He congratulated me on catching him,' he told the court.

The officer, who was in plain clothes at the time, had been alerted over his radio to a possible sighting of Khalife cycling down the canal towpath at around 10.35am on Saturday, September 9 2023.

He described how he drove ahead to a point further along the canal where he could intercept Khalife.

'It was quite a fast-moving situation, I found a place to park the car, very quickly jumped out with my equipment, which was concealed so normal members of the public wouldn't know I was a police officer,' he said.

He spotted the man he believed to be Khalife cycling in his direction up the canal and ran down the steps leading from the pavement to the canal towpath, with his Taser drawn.

'I was sure it was Daniel Khalife, I shouted 'stop, police, you're under arrest!' - this happened really quickly.

'He's coming towards me when I pulled my Taser out, I use those words to him and, on seeing the Taser being pointed at him, he flinched, but at the speed he was going didn't have a chance to stop.

'He was so close I grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him off the bike to the floor.'

The officer told the court that Daniel Khalife complied and allowed himself to be handcuffed, which meant back-up could then be called over the radio.

As well as the bicycle, Khalife had with him a Waitrose bag containing various items, the court heard.

Asked about Khalife's demeanour, the officer said: 'He was friendly towards me, he was quite jovial - at no point did he try to resist. He was pleasant to deal with.'

Under cross-examination by Khalife's barrister, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, the officer was asked if he could elaborate on his comments about the defendant's demeanour.

'He congratulated me for catching him,' he said. 'That was an off-hand comment.'

Mr Hussain then put it to the officer that Daniel Khalife had heard him shout 'stop, or I will shoot!', before watching as he slipped down the stairs leading to the canal towpath.

Mr Hussain said: 'The truth is Daniel Khalife got off his bike and he came over to you, you didn't have to arrest him.'

Through laughter, the officer said: 'That's absolute rubbish.'

Mr Hussain continued: 'He actually came over to you and said "it's OK, you've got me"?'

The officer, still laughing, said: 'That's complete and utter rubbish.'

Khalife denies committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, eliciting information about members of the armed forces, perpetrating a bomb hoax and escaping from lawful custody.

Khalife is accused of exploiting his trusted position in the Royal Signal Corps to pass classified material to Iranian agents between 2019 and 2022.

He is also alleged to have gathered the names of soldiers working in elite Army units - information which the prosecution said might be useful to a terrorist.

But Khalife has claimed he was actually trying to work as an amateur ‘double agent’ to help MI6 and MI5 by smoking out Iranian spies on British soil.

He told police he decided to mount his own undercover operation after learning during Army training that his Iranian heritage would likely stop him getting his dream job working in intelligence. Khalife said he had hoped his covert efforts would prove he was trustworthy enough to be granted security clearance at the highest level.

The trial continues.