Former British Army soldier Daniel Khalife received a ‘hero’s welcome’ and was congratulated by inmate for his dramatic escape after he arrived at HMP Frankland.
The 23-year-old spy sparked a nationwide manhunt after fleeing Wandsworth Prison in September 2023 by clinging to the underside of a food lorry.
After three days on the run, he was eventually spotted riding a stolen mountain bike along a canal towpath in Northolt, west London – about 14 miles away from the prison.
In November 2024, Khalife was found guilty of his prison escape as well as spying for Iran.
Earlier this month, Khalife was moved from scandal-hit Wandsworth Prison in south London to HMP Frankland, dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’ in County Durham.
On his arrival at his new jail, he is said to have been met with cheers and back-slapping from fellow inmates.
A source told the Mirror: ‘Khalife was brought and got a hell of a reception when he arrived on his wing. They were patting him on the back and treated him like a legend. It was a hero’s welcome. The other prisoners were cheering and clapping. They love him because of how he escaped.
‘It made the prison authorities look stupid. So all these killers and armed robbers were treating him like a conquering hero. They ignored the fact he is a convicted spy and what he was doing for Iran and against British soldiers.’
Former soldier Daniel Khalife spy sparked a nationwide manhunt after fleeing Wandsworth Prison in September 2023 by clinging to the underside of a food lorry
Earlier this month, Khalife was moved from scandal-hit Wandsworth Prison in south London to HMP Frankland, dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’ in County Durham (pictured from above)
In November 2024, Khalife was found guilty of his prison escape as well as spying for Iran
They added: ‘Some of the other inmates have been helping him out. It’s a massive contrast to how a lot of people are treated when they arrive at Frankland.
‘But he is not popular with a Muslim gang on his wing, perhaps because he was in the Army.’
The 23-year-old was jailed for 14 years and three months at Woolwich Crown Court in London last month and ordered to pay £10,000 towards prosecution costs.
Khalife was in the British Army when he ‘exposed military personnel to serious harm’ by collecting sensitive information and passing it to agents of Iran.
He was paid in cash and told handlers he would stay in the military for 25-plus years for them.
In September 2023, Khalife escaped from category B prison HMP Wandsworth in South West London by clinging to the underside of a food delivery truck.
He was caught on a canal towpath by a plainclothes detective days later after a major search.
Prosecutors in his trial said Khalife played ‘a cynical game’, claiming he wanted a career as a double agent to help the British intelligence services, when in fact he gathered ‘a very large body of restricted and classified material’.
Khalife was sentenced to six years for committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state, and another six years – consisting of five years in prison and one on licence – for eliciting information about members of the armed forces. The judge also passed a sentence of two years and three months for the jail break.
Last November, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court found that Khalife had breached the Official Secrets Act and the Terrorism Act. He was cleared of carrying out a bomb hoax and had already admitted during his trial to escaping from Wandsworth prison.
Justice sources said he had been moved to Frankland as it is ultra-secure and inmates are categorised based on their risk to the public, staff and other prisoners.
MailOnlnine has approached the Prison Service and the Home Office.
Daniel Khalife: From teenage soldier to Iranian spy
Daniel Khalife made headlines in September 2023 when he escaped from HMP Wandsworth where he was awaiting trial accused of spying for Iran. Here is a timeline of events leading up to his conviction.
- September 2018: Two weeks before his 17th birthday, Daniel Khalife joins the Army, completing his basic 23-week military training at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, finishing in February 2019.
- March 2019: Khalife moves on to his 12-month specialist Phase 2 training at the Defence School of Communication and Information Systems at Blandford Forum in Dorset.
- April 2019: Khalife creates a contact, visible on both of his iPhones, with a +98 number – the dialling code for Iran. He later tells police he initially made contact with a well-known individual, connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Hamed Ghashghavi.
- June 2019: An English-speaking handler is in contact with Khalife, with later examination of his phones showing he is in communication with an ‘Ir’ contact over Telegram.
- August 2019: He is instructed to travel to London to pick up cash left by his handlers, with the intention that he should travel to Iran. Khalife collects £1,500 left in a dog poo bag in Mill Hill Park in Barnet, north London.
- March 2020: The signaller is posted to the 16th Signal Regiment in Stafford, a multi-role unit which delivers information and communication services to the armoured brigades’ headquarters, among other responsibilities.
- August 2020: Khalife travels to Istanbul in Turkey for six days to ‘deliver a package’ to Iranian intelligence. Messages show he offers a contact saved as ‘David Smith’ to stay in the Army for 25+ years, stealing information to order. He also gives a description of an internal military system which would identify service personnel.
- February to April 2021: Khalife stays in contact with Iranian handlers while posted to Fort Hood in Texas. He takes a series of screenshots of systems marked ‘Secret’, including a password record sheet.
- June 2021: Khalife uses information from an internal list of promotions to look up the full names of soldiers, including some in the special forces, on an HR system. He makes a handwritten list including their service number, rank, initials, surname and unit, including the SAS and SBS.
- October 2021: Khalife is told by his Iranian contacts to travel to Kensal Green Cemetery in north-west London. Later that afternoon, he goes to the popular Portobello Road in Notting Hill. The reason, he later tells police, was to receive cash.
- November 2021: Khalife makes two anonymous calls to MI5 from an unregistered mobile, having earlier tried to email MI6 using the ‘Contact Us’ page on the intelligence service’s website. MI5 makes nine attempts to return his calls, but is not able to reach him.
- January 2022: Khalife is arrested for allegedly gathering information for Iran.
- January 2023: The signaller places a device on his desk and flees his barracks, having realised he is facing serious criminal charges. He leaves a note saying his options are taking his own life or absconding. A soldier who arrives in the room pulls wires out of the device to prove it is safe.
- January 26, 2023: Khalife is found in the town of Stone, Staffordshire, not far from his barracks, having spent more than three weeks living in a stolen van.
- May 2023: Khalife is officially discharged from the Army.
- September 6, 2023: Khalife escapes from HMP Wandsworth in south-west London while on remand by strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery lorry. He visits Richmond and goes to Mountain Warehouse, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s stores while on the run.
- September 9, 2023: Three days after his escape, Khalife is arrested on a canal towpath in west London with a number of items including a mountain bike, a Waitrose bag containing a phone, receipts, a diary and about £200 in cash.
- October 8, 2024: Khalife’s trial begins at Woolwich Crown Court.
- November 28, 2024: After 23 hours and 10 minutes of deliberation, a jury convicts Khalife of spying for Iran. He is cleared of perpetrating a bomb hoax.
- February 3, 2025: Khalife is jailed for 14 years and three months at Woolwich Crown Court
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British soldier Daniel Khalife who fled jail and went on the run after being caught spying for Iran is treated as a ‘legend’ behind bars at infamous Monster Mansion jail
