Daniel Khalife pleads not guilty to escaping custody at Wandsworth prison

Former soldier Daniel Khalife has pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey in London to escaping custody at HMP Wandsworth where he was on remand after being charged with terrorism offences earlier this year.

The 21-year-old appeared via video link from HMP Belmarsh, which is in the south-east of the capital, to deny the charge. Khalife, who was wearing a blue and yellow sweatshirt, said: “I am not guilty.”

He is accused of escaping from prison on 6 September by allegedly strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery vehicle.

Khalife was arrested on a canal towpath in west London at 10.41am on 9 September after being pulled off a push bike by a plainclothes counter-terrorism officer.

More details soon …