Adeel Khan, 32, has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for providing assistance to Daniel Khalife after he had escaped from HMP Wandsworth under a food lorry. They had both worked in the prison kitchens together during their time at Wandsworth: Khalife, who had been a soldier in the British Army, was remanded in custody awaiting trial for charges under the Official Secrets Act 1911 and the Terrorism Act 2000; Khan was contesting his extradition to France for trafficking firearms.
When Khalife escaped early in the morning on 6 September 2023, supported under the lorry only by a makeshift sling made from bedsheets, he had with him a diary which contained Khan’s details. Whilst he was on the run, Khalife asked members of the public in Richmond Park if he could borrow their phones, which he would then use to call Khan repeatedly on an iPhone he had with him in prison. Khan arranged for one of his friends to meet Khalife near an ATM in Richmond after dark and withdraw £400 for him. Khalife spent some of the money on a mobile phone, which he used to send a message to his IRGC handlers, and to continue speaking to Khan. Khalife was arrested on the fourth day of his escape next to a canal in Northolt, as he was cycling out of London on a stolen mountain bike.
Tom Williams appeared for the Crown in Khan’s trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court; he was junior counsel for the Crown (led by Mark Heywood KC) in the prosecution of Khalife at Woolwich Crown Court, who was sentenced on 3 February 2025 by Cheema-Grubb J to 14 years and 3 months.
