Prisoner and friend ‘helped Iranian spy after jail escape’

A prisoner and his friend assisted Iranian spy Daniel Khalife in his escape from jail by supplying him with a phone and cash, a court heard.

Former soldier Khalife, 24, sparked a nationwide manhunt when he escaped HMP Wandsworth using bed sheets to strap himself to the underside of the lorry on 6 September 2023.

Khalife was on remand awaiting trial for selling secrets to Iranian agents and perpetrating a bomb hoax at his army barracks.

He was arrested by a canal in Chiswick three days after he escaped, jurors heard.

Imran Chowdhury, 26, is said to have withdrawn £400 from an ATM for Khalife following his escape and was paid £120 for his help.

It is believed that Khalife bought a mobile phone with the money he had been given.

Chowdhury’s friend Adeel Khan, 32, worked with Khalife in the prison kitchen, arranged help for Khalife via phone from prison, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

Tom Williams, prosecuting, said: ‘[Khalife] left prison with no money and no phone. He needed both things to stand any chance of evading the large-scale Metropolitan Police investigation which was underway to find him.

‘There were people who were willing to give him that help, and that is what this trial is about.’

When he was arrested, Khalife was found with a red 2023 diary.

‘Mr Khan also had on him £200  in twenty pound notes’, said Mr Williams.

‘When he first escaped from prison he had to resort to stealing until someone withdrew £400 for him in Richmond.

‘The person who made that withdrawal for Mr Khalife was Imran Chowdhury.

‘Mr Chowdhury was paid £120 for doing so.’

Mr Williams told the jury that Khan and Chowdhury were friends.

‘The fact that they were friends is important. The prosecution’s case is that Mr Khan was providing instructions from inside Wandsworth Prison and that Mr Chowdhury was the man on the ground providing money to a man who had escaped from the same prison early that morning.

Mr Williams said that Khan and Khalife would have known each other well because they worked in the same kitchen at Wandsworth prison.

‘They both began working at the kitchen in Wandsworth, often at the same time. There were 190 shifts when they were on duty. They must have known each other well.’

The court heard that when Khalife reached Richmond he stole a baseball cap from a warehouse because he did not have the money to pay for it himself.

Mr Williams said that Khalife was regularly in contact with Khan in the days after his escape from jail.

‘You will note how  regular and persistent the contact with Mr Khan was.’

CCTV played in court showed Khalife with Chowdhury before and after the cash withdrawal, it was said.

In the footage Khalife appeared to be on the phone.

Chowdhury, of Parade Gardens, Chingford, and Khan, of Alma Avenue, Hornchurch, deny assisting an escaped prisoner.

Jurors were told Khan had admitted possession of an iPhone 8 in prison.

The trial continues tomorrow (tues).
ENDS