THIS is the moment Daniel Khalife allegedly escaped from prison while clinging to the bottom of a food lorry.
The former soldier was being held on remand accused of passing secrets to Iran when he made the Wandsworth jail break, it is said.
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Khalife, 23, allegedly used a makeshift sling made of knotted bedsheets for the escape.
He can be seen in footage shown to jurors today leaving his cell on September 6 last year wearing a blue top and dark trousers.
Khalife was then seen pulling a catering trolley for his kitchen duty shift.
Footage then shows a white Mercedes sprinter van outside the Category B prison in South West London.
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As it pulls away, Khalife was allegedly left holding on to the underside using the makeshift sling.
He then “pencil rolled” away from the lorry before heading on a shopping spree across London, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
The ex-soldier picked up a baseball cap from a Mountain Warehouse a nationwide hunt was launched.
He was also captured strolling through Richmond and managed to change his wardrobe multiple times while on the loose, it was said.
Jurors heard the following day, he purchased a newspaper that carried a front page story about his alleged escape.
Khalife also allegedly purchased an £89 mobile phone, which he used to contact an Iranian spy, before heading to McDonald’s.
Once there, footage showed him buying a £1.09 espresso before changing his clothes in the toilet.
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Khalife was arrested four days after he allegedly fled prison on the footpath of the Grand Union Canal in Northolt, West London.
During a police interview, the former soldier said he “f***ed up” his body underneath the truck.
He also said he did not realise how “unbelievably dangerous” it was until the vehicle turned on to a main road where the speed limit increased.
Asked why he had allegedly escaped, Khalife replied: “Can’t tell you.
“There’s a reason why I was so calm when the officer arrested me.
“I could have jumped in the water, I could have f***ed him up.
“Everything’s gone to plan.”
Khalife is also currently on trial accused of spying for Iran while serving in the British Army.
The former squaddie, who was brought up in Kingston, South West London, by his Iranian mum, joined the Army in September 2018 – two weeks before his 17th birthday.
He was allegedly in contact with Iranian security service members within just one month of joining the Royal Corps of Signals.
Khalife used fake email addresses for the alleged espionage and sent details about SAS and SBS personnel to his handlers, jurors heard.
He was paid £1,500 for his services, which he collected in August 2019 in a dog poo bag from a park in Barnet, North London, jurors heard.
At one point, Khalife contacted MI6 saying he wanted to be a “double agent” and later told police his contact with the Iranians was all a double bluff, the court was told.
He denies 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.
Khalife also denies having 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.
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The former soldier has also pleaded not guilty to escaping from prison, contrary to common law.
The trial continues.
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