Escaped inmate Daniel Khalife 'used the phones of members of the public to get money from a fellow prisoner while he was on the run', court hears

By DUNCAN GARDHAM and SAM LAWLEY, NEWS REPORTER Published: 21:13, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 21:13, 13 July 2026 Escaped inmate Daniel Khalife allegedly used the phones of members of the public to get money from a fellow prisoner while he was on the run, a court has heard. The 23-year-old spy sparked a nationwide manhunt after fleeing Wandsworth Prison in September 2023 by clinging to the underside of a food lorry. After three days on the run, he was eventually spotted riding a stolen mountain bike along a canal towpath in Northolt, west London - about 14 miles away from the prison.  In November 2024, Khalife was found guilty of his prison escape as well as spying for Iran. He was sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison in February last year. While on the run, the inmate used phones to make a series of 'desperate' calls to Adeel Khan, 32, who had an illicit phone inside the prison, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard on Monday. Khan then contacted his girlfriend who transferred money to Imran Chowdhury, 26, as payment for him to travel to Richmond and withdraw £400 from a nearby cashpoint on the evening of the escape. While on the run, Khalife approached at least five members of the public - including the assistant manager of the Rose of York pub in Richmond, West London, and a driver delivering an ice sculpture to a 'very nice seafood restaurant' called Scott's - and asked for their phones. Tom Williams, prosecuting, told the jury that Khalife left prison with no money and no phone but 'he needed both of those things to stand any chance of evading the large-scale Metropolitan Police Service investigation which was underway to find him'. Escaped inmate Daniel Khalife, pictured, used the phones of members of the public to get money from a fellow prisoner while he was on the run, a court has heard 'There were people who were willing to give him that help,' he added. 'That is what this trial is about. 'By that evening, Khalife's face was all over the media, as very significant efforts were being made to find him all over the country. In fact, he had not gone as far as some people thought.' Khalife was in the British Army when he 'exposed military personnel to serious harm' by collecting sensitive information and passing it to agents of Iran. He was paid in cash and told handlers he would stay in the military for 25-plus years for them. In a diary found on his person when Khalife was arrested, he had written the name, prison number and mobile phone number of Khan, who was working in the kitchens with him on the morning of his escape. The spy also had £200 in £20 notes, the remainder of the money that Khan had been 'instrumental in arranging', Mr Williams said. Khan had arrived at Wandsworth Prison in March, and began working in the prison kitchen with Khalife, sharing 190 shifts together. On August 15, the spy wrote the words 'Mr Khan' in his diary and, on August 20, Khan began using an illicit iPhone 8 which was registered to his girlfriend, the court heard. Khalife wrote Khan's prison number in his diary along with his Snapchat handle, the number of the illicit iPhone and Khan's brother's mobile number and, on August 21, a star and the word 'failed', said to indicate an unsuccessful escape attempt. He succeeded over two weeks later and was then allegedly helped by Khan, known as 'Adzz', and Chowdhury, who had lived about a mile away from him. Mr Williams told the court: '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.' By the afternoon of September 6, the first day of Khalife's escape, he had reached Richmond where he went into Mountain Warehouse and stole a baseball cap because he did not have the money to pay for it. After walking along the riverside, he approached a man in Richmond Park and asked to use his phone, reading out a number from a contact book in his hand. Initially Khan did not pick up so Khalife called again and left him a message at 6.31pm, lasting almost 4 minutes. Later that evening, he tried again, borrowing the phone in a pub called the Rose of York where the assistant manager later told police he had a 'well-spoken voice and came across as slightly geeky, maybe like a bird-watcher'. This time he got through to Khan and, from 8.02pm, the pair spoke for nearly 3 minutes.  At 8.19pm, Khalife used another member of the public's phone in the Richmond area to call Khan again, this time lasting 1 min 15 secs. Mr Williams said that the spy 'desperately needed Mr Khan's help by this point' and at 8.41pm, Khan messaged his girlfriend with Chowdhury's bank details and said: 'put 120£ in this ac [account] please, thank u baby.' At around the same time, a man was delivering an ice sculpture to Scott's restaurant in Richmond, when Khalife approached him and asked to use his phone. Khalife called Khan for a third time and spoke to him for about one minute at 8.48pm. 'You'll note how regular and persistent the contact between Khalife and Mr Khan was,' Mr Williams said.  A court artist sketch of Khalife at Westminster Magistrates' Court in November 2024 'All Khalife had with him, at this point, was what he had been able to take with him under a food lorry, and that wasn't going to last him very long.' At 8.55pm, £120 arrived in Chowdhury's Barclays account and, within 40 minutes, Chowdhury put 'Old Town Hall', close to Scott's in Richmond, into his Waze navigation app and set off, the court heard. Khalife called Khan for a fourth time at 9.58pm, using a phone belonging to another member of the public - and they spoke for just over a minute. Around 40 minutes later, the escapee could be seen on CCTV, recovered later, walking along George Street in Richmond and then disappearing down a side alley where there was a cash point. Chowdhury withdrew £400 for Khalife, using his American Express card and the pair emerged, walking back towards the river, Khalife with a mobile phone to his ear. It may have been Chowdhury's phone but police have not been able to access all of his devices, Mr Williams said. Mr Williams added that Khan 'would have to have given careful thought to who could be trusted with a task like this - the consequences if it went wrong, or if Mr Chowdhury told the wrong people about it, would be very significant'. Khan and Chowdhury deny intending to 'prevent, hinder or interfere' with Khalife being taken into custody, while Khan has pleaded guilty to possessing a mobile phone inside a prison without authority.  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.