An inmate of Wandsworth Prison helped convicted spy and former Teddington school pupil Daniel Khalife get money to go on the run after he escaped under a food delivery truck from the prison, a court was told yesterday (Monday, 13 July).

Khalife, who was convicted in 2024 of spying for Iran, approached at least five members of the public while he was on the run - including the assistant manager of the Rose of York pub in Richmond, and a driver delivering an ice sculpture to Scott's seafood restaurant - and asked to use their phones.

According to The Times, Khalife is said to have used the phones to make a series of "desperate" calls to Adeel Khan, 32, from Highams Park, east London, who was in HMP Wandsworth and had an illicit phone.

Khan then allegedly contacted his girlfriend, who transferred money to Imran Chowdhury, 26, from Walthamstow, as payment to travel to Richmond and withdraw £400 from a nearby cash machine on the evening of the escape.

Snaresbrook Crown Court has been told that Khalife, then a serving soldier, had arrived in Wandsworth prison in January 2023 to await trial on charges of spying for Iran and perpetrating a bomb hoax at his base.

He escaped from prison on September 6, 2023, holding on to the bottom of the food lorry and supported by a sling he had made from bedsheets attached with carabiner clips to the vehicle's undercarriage.

Khalife was sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison back in February last year after he was found guilty of spying for Iran and escaping from Wandsworth Prison.

Tom Williams, prosecuting, told the jury that Khalife had 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".

He added: "There were people who were willing to give him that help. 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 arrested three days later next to a canal in Northolt, west London, as he was cycling out of the capital.

He was carrying a diary, the jury was told, in which he had written the name, prison number and phone number of Khan, who had been working in the kitchens with him on the morning of his escape.

Khalife also had £200 in £20 notes — what was left of the money Khan had been "instrumental in arranging", Williams said.

Khan had arrived at Wandsworth in March and began working in the kitchen with Khalife. The two did 190 shifts together.

On August 15, Khalife wrote "Mr Khan" in his red diary and, on August 20, Khan began using an illicit iPhone 8 that was registered to his girlfriend.

Khalife wrote Khan's prison number in his diary along with his Snapchat handle, the number of the iPhone and Khan's brother's mobile number.

On August 21, he added a star and the word "failed", said to have indicated an unsuccessful escape attempt.

According to The Times, 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.

Khan and Chowdhury deny intending to "prevent, hinder or interfere" with Khalife being taken into custody. Khan has pleaded guilty to possessing a mobile phone inside a prison without authority.

The trial of Khan, from Waltham Forest, and Chowdhury, from Chingford, continues.