Second man charged with assisting former soldier Daniel Khalife after escape from jail

A second man has been charged with assisting former soldier Daniel Khalife after his prison escape.

Adeel Khan, 30, from Waltham Forest, East London, has been accused of aiding Khalif after he escaped from HMP Wandsworth on the underside of a lorry in September 2023.

Khan has also been charged with possession of a phone in prison.

He was charged by postal requisition in early January, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Last week, Imran Chowdhury, 25, from Chingford, East London, was also charged with helping Khalife after his escape.

Chowdhury appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on January 7 where he denied one count of assisting an escaped prisoner.

He was bailed to appear at Snaresbook Crown Court on February 4.

A 25-year-old woman who was arrested last February on suspicion of assisting Khalife has been told she faces no further action after no evidence was found.

Khalife, 23, was found guilty for spying for Iran after a trial in November last year.

Jurors at Woolwich Crown Court found that he had breached the Official Secrets and Terrorism Acts.

Khalife had already admitted to escaping from HMP Wandsworth, but was cleared of carrying out a bomb hoax at the Army barracks where he had been based.

The prisoner was eventually found and arrested just a few miles from the prison.

Khalife joined the army at 16, but was reportedly left “devastated” when he was told that his Iranian background would stop him getting the clearance he needed to work in intelligence at “the sharp end” of the military.

He then started passing official secrets to Iranian agents.

By the age of 19, Khalife had a NATO level of security clearance, which enabled him to see secret material.

He collected sensitive information including the names of 15 serving squaddies – including elite special forces soldiers which are thought to have been passed to Iran before Khalife deleted the evidence.

In November 2021 he anonymously called the M15 public reporting line, confessing to being in contact with Iran for over two years, saying he wanted to return to his normal life.

However, he then fled his base in Stafford, leaving behind a fake bomb.

During his November trial, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb warned the 23-year-old he would face “a long custodial sentence” when he is sentenced in early 2025.