UK: 80 officers were absent the day terror suspect Daniel Khalife ‘escaped’ from prison

The UK government made a stunning revelation that 80 prison officers did not show up for work in HMP Wandsworth on the day terror suspect Daniel Abed Khalife famously escaped from the prison.

Around four in 10 of the staff employed in the prison failed to turn up as was expected, admitted a Tory minister despite the insistence of the government that staff shortages were not a reason for the security breach.

Khalife on Monday (September 11) was charged with breaking HMP Wandsworth prison on September 6 by strapping himself underneath a food delivery lorry. The former soldier, who is 21 years old, was arrested by a plain-clothes counter-terrorism officer on a canal towpath in west London on Saturday.

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Answering a Labour question about the issue of staffing on the day of the incident, Prisons Minister Damian Hinds said that only 61 per cent of the officers appointed at Wandsworth attended their shift.

However, the minister added, “All staff in both the kitchen and the gatehouse were on duty on 6 September. An initial investigation into Daniel Khalife’s escape did not find the staffing level to be a contributing factor.”

The government under Sunak has remained reluctant to accept shortage of staff or multiple absences are the reason behind the apparent security breach.

However, an independent investigation headed by ex-National Crime Agency's Keith Bristow is now looking at the wider shortcomings at Wandsworth – as security and staffing levels are set to be scrutinised.

'Too many prisoners compared to the amount of staff'

Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has insisted that “there are too many prisoners in Wandsworth for the amount of staff”, further stating that the issue of staff shortage has been raised over the years.

“The lack of staffing which has dogged the prison. I think when we last inspected at the end of 2021. They were 30% short of staff,” said the inspector, while speaking to the BBC after the Khalife fleeing incident.

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Hinds said that staffing levels present at Wandsworth on the day the security was breached “were above the minimum staffing level required”. Around 125 prison officers attended their shifts at the prison, however, 80 officers were absent.

MP for Wandsworth Rosena Allin-Khan, who raised the question about the arrangements on the day of the alleged escape, stated that she had raised concerns about “significant staff shortages” at the prison months ago.

“When I visited Wandsworth prison a few months ago, the biggest issue they were facing was staff shortages. This is why I raised concerns about staffing levels – which showed just six officers turned up for a shift one night in December. The government chose to ignore my concerns,” said Allin-Khan, while speaking to The Independent.

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