Mistakes that allowed spy Daniel Khalife to evade detection and escape prison

Daniel Khalife’s daring escape from HMP Wandsworth in 2023 revealed significant problems in the prison system.

But as the 23-year-old’s trial on espionage charges began in October, the theme of shame in the way the Army, police and British security services treated him also emerged.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the security failings in the army revealed during the trial, as well as the mistakes that allowed the spy to evade detection and escape prison.

Khalife enlisted in the British Army in September 2018, two weeks shy of his 17th birthday, and completed basic military training before joining the Royal Corps of Signals, a specialist unit that provides communications, IT and cyber support to the military.

The soldier completed his year-long specialist training in early 2020 and was assigned to the 16th Signal Regiment in Stafford.

Defense barrister Gul Nawaz Hussain KC told the hearing at Woolwich Crown Court that inappropriate use of WhatsApp was “common”.

Soldiers, including the Caliph’s superiors, used their personal phones to send training manuals, door codes and even photos of secure computer screens from secure areas.

Khalife was a member of a group chat called “Fabulous Falcon F***tards,” a reference to the Army’s Falcon communications system they were working on.

The signalman was never told that he had done anything wrong by using WhatsApp.

Testifying, a senior army intelligence officer identified only as Soldier A said the messaging service was not considered a secure form of communication by the military.

A veteran Army IT specialist agreed, telling jurors it was disturbing to hear sensitive information being sent over WhatsApp.

The hearing was shown a Ministry of Defense directive telling soldiers not to use WhatsApp for any “official business”, but no one in Khalife’s unit was ever disciplined for the issue.

In June 2021, an internal spreadsheet containing troop promotions was sent to the Brew Room Boys group chat, of which Khalife is a member.

He retrieved the details from the spreadsheet before logging into the internal HR system to book leave to try to learn the soldiers’ names.

The list of soldiers, including those serving in the Special Air Force and Special Boat Services, was sent by mistake and leaked to the press.

“Leaks are not that rare in the military,” Mr. Hussain said.

In November 2021, Khalife made an anonymous call to MI5’s public tip line, admitting he had been in contact with Iran for more than two years.

He offered to help British security services and said he wanted to return to his normal life.

His lawyer told the court that if Khalife had not contacted MI5 to tell them about his involvement with Iran, neither they nor the police would have known about it.

The signalman emailed MI6 about his plan as early as August 2019 but received no response.

MI5 made nine attempts to return his calls but were unable to reach him.

The security agency reported him the following month and he was arrested in January 2022.

The police were not aware of his activities before MI5 approached.

Khalifa, who was released on police bail in January 2023, escaped from his barracks.

He spent three weeks in a stolen van just five miles from the barracks before he was caught, but the vehicle containing crucial evidence was not found by police for another eight months.

A national manhunt has been launched for the former soldier, who managed to escape from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023.

Five days before his successful escape, he attached a hanger made of kitchen trousers and carabiners to the underside of a truck.

Balazs Werner, the driver of the Mercedes truck involved in the incident, said that when he was delivered to the scene on the day of the escape, he noticed “both kitchen doors were open” and thought this was “unusual”.

As he was leaving the prison, two guards checked the vehicle with “torch and mirror” and told him that someone was missing from the prison.

When the guards told him he could drive, he was surprised that the prison wasn’t on lockdown and asked, “Are you sure?” he asked. but they were allowed out of the prison gates.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), a group of volunteers appointed by ministers tasked with reviewing detention conditions at HMP Wandsworth, said in a report published earlier this year that an inspection had identified numerous security failures at the prison following the escape.

The IMB said the incident had led to numerous reviews and actions, including finding “previously unavailable funding” for security improvements and “significant investment” to stop “illegal items” being taken into prison.

According to the report, the security audit was carried out in November, and 39 recommendations were made in the internal review completed in December.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not yet released these documents, summarized its findings or confirmed details of the disciplinary action taken against the staff.