THIS is the moment Daniel Khalife allegedly escaped from prison while clinging to the bottom of a food lorry.
The former soldier was being held on remand accused of passing secrets to Iran when he made the Wandsworth jail break, it is said.
Khalife was arrested four days after fleeing the jail, jurors heard[/caption]
Khalife, 23, allegedly used a makeshift sling made of knotted bedsheets for the escape.
He can be seen in footage shown to jurors today leaving his cell on September 6 last year wearing a blue top and dark trousers.
Khalife was then seen pulling a catering trolley for his kitchen duty shift.
Footage then shows a white Mercedes sprinter van outside the Category B prison in South West London.
As it pulls away, Khalife was allegedly left holding on to the underside using the makeshift sling.
He then did a “pencil roll” away from the lorry before heading on a shopping spree across London, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
The ex-soldier picked up a baseball cap from a Mountain Warehouse as a head count at the prison sparked a nationwide hunt.
He was also captured strolling through Richmond and managed to change his wardrobe multiple times while on the loose, it was said.
Jurors heard the following day, he purchased a newspaper that carried a story about his alleged escape.
Khalife also allegedly purchased an £89 mobile phone, which he used to contact an Iranian spy, before heading to McDonald’s.
Once there, footage showed him buying a £1.09 espresso before changing his clothes in the toilet.
He went on a shopping spree after fleeing, the court heard[/caption]
Footage showed him buying a coffee in McDonald’s[/caption]
Khalife was arrested four days after he allegedly fled prison on the footpath of the Grand Union Canal in Northolt, West London.
He is also trial accused of spying for Iran while serving in the British Army.
Khalife, who was brought up in Kingston, South West London, by his Iranian mum, joined the Army in September 2018 – two weeks before his 17th birthday.
He was allegedly in contact with Iranian security service members within just one month of joining the Royal Corps of Signals.
Khalife used fake email addresses for the alleged espionage and sent details about SAS and SBS personnel to his handlers, jurors heard.
He was paid £1,500 for his services, which he collected in August 2019 in a dog poo bag from a park in Barnet, North London, jurors heard.
At one point, Khalife contacted MI6 saying he wanted to be a “double agent” and later told police his contact with the Iranians was all a double bluff, the court was told.
He denies gathering, publishing or communicating information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iranian intelligence, contrary to the Official Secrets Act between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022.
Khalife also denies having elicited or attempted to elicit personal information about armed forces personnel that was likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism from a Ministry of Defence administration system on August 2 2021.
The former soldier has also pleaded not guilty to escaping from prison, contrary to common law.
The trial continues.
Khalife managed to change his clothes while on the run, it was said[/caption]
Khalife is also accused of spying for Iran[/caption]
