Jury sworn in for Daniel Khalife terror offences and prison escape trial

A jury has been sworn in for the trial of a former soldier accused of passing sensitive information that may be useful to an enemy, and escaping from prison.

Daniel Khalife, wearing a blue shirt and navy sleeveless jumper, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday charged with four offences.

The 23-year-old is alleged to have escaped from HMP Wandsworth in south London while on remand on terror and espionage charges by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry on September 6 2023.

He was arrested on a canal towpath in west London three days later after being pushed off a bike by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer.

Khalife also faces a charge of gathering, publishing or communicating information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iranian intelligence, contrary to the Official Secrets Act between May 1 2019 and January 6 2022.

In addition, he is accused of perpetrating a bomb hoax in Beaconside, Staffordshire, on or before January 2023, in which he placed “three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation” to spark fears it was “likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property”.

The fourth charge alleges Khalife elicited or attempted to elicit personal information about armed forces personnel that was likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism from a Ministry of Defence administration system on August 2 2021.

He denies all of the charges.

The trial, before Justice Cheema-Grubb, is expected to last about six weeks.