Imran Chowdhury, 25, is accused of assisting Khalife after he broke out of HMP Wandsworth by tying himself under a food truck. It is alleged Chowdhury withdrew £400 in cash from his bank account and handed it to Khalife. The former soldier was convicted last year of spying for Iran and breaking out of prison, and is due to be sentenced next month.
It is said Khalife was helped by Chowdhury to evade police for more than three days, and allegedly used the money to buy a mobile phone to call his Iranian contact, as well as to purchase food and clothes. Chowdhury was allegedly acting on the instructions of another man known to Khalife from his time in prison, the court heard.
Chowdhury, of Parade Gardens, Chingford, appeared in the dock at Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday to face the allegation for the first time. He pleaded not guilty to assisting a prisoner in an escape, and District Judge Briony Clarke sent his case to the crown court for trial.
“The defendant is charged with assisting Daniel Khalife, who this court knows escaped from Wandsworth Prison on September 6, 2023”, said prosecutor Emma Harroway. “That attracted worldwide press coverage, and he was captured three days later.”. Khalife, a former British Army soldier with the Royal Corps of Signals, used a pair of prison kitchen trousers for a makeshift sling to make his prison break.
