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This Is Why

Prisoner manhunt: How was a terror suspect able to escape?

This Is Why

Sky News

News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.0552 Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2023

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Terror suspect Daniel Khalife's escape from HMP Wandsworth – believed to be by strapping himself underneath a delivery lorry - led to a police manhunt involving all 43 forces in England and Wales. The 21-year-old ex-soldier was on remand charged with collecting information which might be useful to an enemy, understood to be Iran.

The justice secretary, Alex Chalk, has told MPs that an independent investigation will take place, while suggestions have been made that cuts to the Prison Service and overcrowded conditions at Wandsworth prison are partly to blame.

But what does his escape tell us about the state of the prison system in England? On the Sky News Daily, host Niall Paterson speaks to David Shipley, a former inmate at HMP Wandsworth, and Professor John Podmore, an ex-prison governor and inspector, about what's wrong with Wandsworth prison and others across the country?

Producer: Emma Rae Woodhouse
Interviews Producer: Melissa Tutesigensi
Promotions Producer: David Chipakupaku
Editor: Wendy Parker

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This Easter at M&S, you'll find a selection of the yummias chocolate animals.

0:04.5

There's Hick up the hippo with his darling chubby little legs.

0:08.0

And Sunny the Sloth, beaming with his milk and white chocolate features.

0:12.5

Toby the T-Rex, who's a bit green, bit scary, but charming at the same time.

0:17.4

And Ralph the Cavapoo.

0:19.2

I almost don't want to bite his scrumpious little nose right off.

0:22.9

But I will. All of these cuties for just seven pounds each. This is not just food. This is M&S food.

0:29.2

Selected stores. Pain in my hip. I keep feeling dizzy. I'm getting migraines more often.

0:39.6

There's another way to contact your GP practice by simply sending your symptoms and requests

0:45.2

through their website or the NHS app. We're delivering an NHS fit for the future.

0:51.7

Tap it, type it and we'll take care of it.

0:56.8

Julia, how do you spell vertebrae?

0:58.6

Oh, just tight pain in the neck.

1:04.1

When it's the stuff of Hollywood movies or big budget TV series,

1:07.7

we have a remarkable fascination with prison breaks.

1:10.5

When they take place in the southwest of London and involve a former soldier awaiting trial on terrorism and official Secrets Act offences,

1:16.6

well that fascination can pretty quickly turn to fear.

1:19.6

At the time of recording, Daniel Abed Khalif remains on the run from Wandsworth Prison,

1:24.6

accused of leaving fake bombs at a military base and gathering information

1:29.2

that could be useful to an enemy state. He's thought to have escaped whilst working in the

1:34.0

kitchen by strapping himself to the underside of a delivery van. A nationwide police search is

1:40.3

underway with delays at ports, motorways and airports as a result. By the time you hear this,

...

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