A UK inmate who helped a former British soldier who spied for Iran to evade police after he escaped from prison has been sentenced to four and a half years in jail.
A nationwide manhunt was launched when Daniel Khalife broke out of Wandsworth Prison on September 6, 2023, by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry. He was awaiting trial on spying charges at the time.
Khalife was jailed for 14 years and three months in February 2025 for delivering a large amount of restricted and classified material to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including the names of special forces officers.
While he was on the run, the Met Police said it became clear that Khalife was not acting alone in his attempts to evade capture. Investigators discovered that Khalife was communicating with Adeel Khan, 32, who he knew from working together in the prison kitchen. Khan used an illicit mobile phone and arranged for the fugitive to be given £400 ($540) in cash.
Khan's girlfriend at the time was given the bank details of his friend, Imran Chowdhury, 26, and the money was deposited in his account. CCTV shows Mr Chowdhury taking Khalife to a cash machine in Richmond, south-west London, on the day of the escape and withdrawing the £400.
After a two-week trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Khan was found guilty in July of assisting an offender. He had previously pleaded guilty to possessing a mobile phone in prison.
Mr Chowdhury was tried alongside him but was acquitted after he told the court he did not know he was giving money to an escaped prisoner.
Helen Flanagan, head of Counter-Terrorism Policing London, said the sentence “reflects the seriousness” of the support that Khan gave Khalife and “demonstrates that anyone who assists a wanted criminal can expect to face justice themselves".
"A huge amount of police resource was dedicated to the manhunt for Daniel Khalife, a man who has since been convicted of espionage and terrorism offences,” she said. "Adeel Khan knowingly assisted Khalife's attempts to evade capture by arranging for him to receive £400 in cash, enabling him to purchase a mobile phone and other items that helped him remain on the run.”
The hunt for Khalife sparked a nationwide manhunt, as the security services put all ports and airports on high alert. A reward of £20,000 was offered for information on his whereabouts.
He was captured early on September 9, when he stole a bike and tried to escape along a canal towpath, but was seen by a member of the public and intercepted by undercover officers, 11km from the prison.
During his trial, it emerged that Khalife was sent training manuals, door codes and pictures of secure computer screens through WhatsApp. He worked at a base in central England, which is home to some of the UK's sensitive military communications covering global operations.
He claimed he had been in touch with members of the Iranian government as part of a ploy to work as a double agent for the UK, a scheme he said he had devised from watching the TV series Homeland.
Khalife was born in London to an Iranian mother and Lebanese father and is understood to have only visited Iran twice as a young child.
