Monday, October 2, 2023

UK on High Alert after Terrorism Prison Inmate Escaped

Associated Press
September 7, 2023 | 5:22 pm
SHARE
A general view of HMP Wandsworth in London where a British soldier awaiting trial on terror-related charges has escaped from a prison in southwest London Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023 and police have launched an urgent manhunt. Counterterror police say Daniel Abed Khalife went missing from Wandsworth Prison early Wednesday. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
A general view of HMP Wandsworth in London where a British soldier awaiting trial on terror-related charges has escaped from a prison in southwest London Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023 and police have launched an urgent manhunt. Counterterror police say Daniel Abed Khalife went missing from Wandsworth Prison early Wednesday. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)

London.  British police hunted across the country on Thursday and put ports and airports on alert for a former soldier who escaped from a London prison while awaiting trial on terrorism charges.

Opposition politicians demanded to know how Daniel Abed Khalife managed to slip out of medium-security Wandsworth Prison and why he was not being held at a maximum-security facility.

Khalife, 21, is accused of planting fake bombs at a military base and of violating Britain’s Official Secrets Act by gathering information “that could be useful to an enemy.”

He was discharged from the British army after his arrest earlier this year and had denied the allegations. His trial was set for November.

Advertisement

Police said Khalife was dressed in a kitchen uniform of white T-shirt and red checkered trousers when he escaped from the overcrowded Victorian prison in south London.

Opposition politicians linked the escape to years of austerity under the Conservative Party, which has governed Britain since 2010. Many U.K. prisons, including Wandsworth, are over capacity and short of staff.

Cabinet Minister Michelle Donelan tried to reassure Britons that prison breakouts were “extremely rare.”

“This is not an epidemic or anything of that nature. This is an isolated incident,” she told broadcaster ITV.

But criminal justice expert Ian Acheson, a former head of security at Wandsworth Prison, said Khalife’s escape was “at best” a “catastrophic system failure.”

“It’s incredibly embarrassing for the prison service, but it’s not entirely surprising given what we know about what’s going on Wandsworth at the moment,” he told the BBC, adding that “Wandsworth, like so many of our flagship prisons, is in free fall.”

Tags:
SHARE

POPULAR READS


Lifestyle 3 hours ago

Government Grants Operational License to Bullet Train

The train operates along a dedicated railway spanning 142.3 kilometers and is integrated into the commuter system in Bandung and Jakarta.
News 3 hours ago

'Bring it on': McCarthy Responds to Gaetz’s Threat to Oust Him

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said she would vote to oust McCarthy as speaker if such a vote occurs.
Special Updates 3 hours ago

Pertamina Recovers Rp 850b Land Assets in East Java

The assets which Pertamina has just recovered lie in the East Javan ward of Gunungsari, and span about 583,131 square meters. 
Special Updates 4 hours ago

Pertamina, LKPP Ink Agreement on E-Catalog

Pertamina says it is the first state-owned enterprise to implement LKPP's e-catalog app.
Special Updates 5 hours ago

Pertamina Installs Solar Power for Merbabu Asih

This project is part of the so-called Energy Self-Sufficient Village (Desa Energi Berdikari) program.
COPYRIGHT © 2023 JAKARTA GLOBE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED