DANIEL KHALIFE, a suspected terrorist, enjoyed about 75 hours of freedom after escaping from HMP Wandsworth, in south-west London, on September 6th. Three days later a police officer pulled him from a bike in north-west London. On September 11th he was charged with escaping custody. The court was told that Mr Khalife may have used sheets to tie himself to the undercarriage of a van leaving the prison.
Prison breaks in Britain have fallen precipitously since the 1990s. This is largely the result of new technology, such as scanners at gates, and cameras covering every corner of the prison estate, whose displays are permanently monitored from central control rooms. Probable candidates for escape bids are made to wear blue and yellow harlequin-style outfits. Yet despite all this, as Mr Khalife showed, audacious escapes are still possible. How?
Prison breaks depend on ingenuity. In 1980 a new wing opened in HMP Brixton, close to Wandsworth, to house the prison’s most dangerous criminals. To test its security, a team of specialist soldiers was challenged to break out. But although they failed, three prisoners would succeed.
The trio were not obvious accomplices. Gerard Tuite was a member of the IRA. James “Big Jim” Moody and Stanley Thompson were bank robbers. They tunnelled between their adjoining cells using a drill fashioned from a table leg, a broom head and a radiator cap. They applied paint, cardboard and tape to hide the damage to the 17-inch-thick walls. Then, in December 1980, they ascended the perimeter wall with the help of some scaffolding that was being used to make repairs, having left dummies in their beds. Scaling prison walls takes daring, but can pay off: in 1966 George Blake, a Soviet spy, escaped from HMP Wormwood Scrubs, in west London, using a ladder made of knitting needles.
Help from the outside is often essential. Tuite, Moody and Thompson had accomplices smuggle in drill bits, hacksaw blades and screwdrivers. In 1991 Pearse McAuley and Nessan Quinlivan, two other members of the IRA, shot their way out of HMP Brixton using a gun that had been hidden in the sole of a shoe posted to the prison from Ireland. In 1999 John Kendall, a gangland boss, and Sydney Draper, a murderer, flew out of HMP Gartree in Leicestershire in a helicopter that had been hijacked by an accomplice.
It is not yet clear whether Mr Khalife had any outside help. But he does seem to have been aided by his circumstances. As a terror suspect, he would seem to have been eligible for incarceration at HMP Belmarsh, a prison in south-east London with higher security than Wandsworth, where many prisoners awaiting trial in London are held. At the time of his escape he was working in the prison kitchens, where frequent deliveries from the outside world are received. That suggests he was not seen as a flight risk.
Prison authorities get wiser with each attempted escape. But they are hampered by the age of their estate and staffing shortages. The 172-year-old HMP Wandsworth holds some 1,600 prisoners but staff absences are high. Inspectors have said that this is the source of many problems at the “crumbling” and overcrowded prison.
Alex Chalk, Britain’s justice secretary, has said that the relevant security positions were staffed on the day of Mr Khalife’s escape. The issue, therefore, is whether proper procedures were followed: vans are normally thoroughly checked when leaving prisons. An investigation may uncover worrying results. Still, as Mr Khalife might attest, escape counts for little if it lasts for less than four days.■
