Crimewatch Roadshow Season 22 Episode 11

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Transcript

00:00Good morning and welcome to the programme.

00:02Today, how would you feel if your life savings were stolen?

00:07They've gone directly to the master bedroom,

00:10targeted the wardrobe with the cash and jewellery in it.

00:13£150,000, £50,000 worth of jewellery.

00:19Well, it's exactly what happened to one family,

00:22so can you help find who stole their hard-earned cash?

00:25This is Crimewatch Live.

00:27He's been jamming the switchboard both here and at the instant room on that case running card.

00:33Just to remind you, this was the abduction and reno-drop campaign and the handgun debate.

00:40Hello and welcome to Crimewatch 12.

00:42People rang and giving the same as fantastic as it's been.

00:46Thank you for joining us today for our final week of this series of Crimewatch Live.

00:58Yeah, but over the past fortnight, your calls have been flooding in,

01:02so thank you so much to everyone who's been in touch with us.

01:05Yeah, they really have.

01:06This morning, we have the exclusive story of one of the biggest manhunts in the Met's history.

01:12This is when prisoner Daniel Khalif tied himself underneath a food truck and escaped.

01:19I immediately knew that this was going into a manhunt.

01:22He posed a very real threat to national security.

01:25I don't think anybody should underestimate Daniel Khalif.

01:32The National Crime Agency will be talking about their clampdown on criminals who set up shop on the high street.

01:41And do you recognise this man?

01:43Wiltshire Police need to find him in connection to a serious sexual assault.

01:47Do get in touch with us and share our appeals.

01:52You can find all our contact details by scanning the QR code or the number to call is 08000 468 999.

02:01You can also text us on 633 999.

02:05Start with the word crime, leave a space and then write your message.

02:08And finally, you can email us, cwl at bbc.co.uk.

02:14Our first appeal today is about a burglary where a family who'd been stashing cash to help their kids get a good start in life literally lost everything.

02:24Earlier, I spoke to DS Jason Wheeler from Bedfordshire Police.

02:27But first, this is what happened.

02:32£150,000.

02:36£50,000 worth of jewellery.

02:40The victims were very distressed.

02:41It's massively affected them, just dreadful circumstances.

02:50My name's Kevin Howells.

02:52I'm a detective with Bedfordshire Police and I currently work in the burglary department.

02:59On Tuesday the 10th of September 2024, Bedfordshire Police received a report of a burglary at a family home,

03:07which occurred after the occupants had left for work.

03:11Somebody had broken into the house during the day and stolen a substantial sum of money and a substantial amount of jewellery.

03:18The amount of property stolen was £150,000 in various denominations in £1,000 bundles.

03:30The jewellery amount was £50,000.

03:32Again, a substantial amount that was been gifted to the family over a period of time.

03:37The house is a modest mid-terrace townhouse and these houses have rear alleyways for rear access.

03:49We believe that the suspect or suspects involved have gained access by breaking the lock on the back door.

03:55They've gone directly to the master bedroom, targeted the wardrobe with the cash and jewellery in it.

04:04The remainder of the house was undisturbed, so they knew where they were going and what they were looking for, I would suspect.

04:11They've carried out their burglary and exited by the front door, simply walking down the road

04:17with the property in a rucksack, which is taken from the house as well.

04:26Police began investigating through conducting house-to-house inquiries and gathering footage from nearby CCTV cameras.

04:35We obtained CCTV from a residential property on the Eastfield Road at 9.36 on the 10th of September,

04:43which shows the suspect walking away from the offence location.

04:48Male, wearing dark clothing, quite distinctive trainers and carrying a large bulky rucksack.

04:57He then walks into an alleyway where again we pick him up on further CCTV,

05:02where he can be heard talking to somebody on a mobile phone.

05:06He's talking in Romanian and the translation of that is words to the effect of,

05:17I've never seen anything like that in my life, I don't know what or I don't know how to do now.

05:22And there's a suggestion of a little huff or a laugh before he walks off of that camera.

05:27The fact that the individual is heard to be talking on his phone in Romanian is quite significant.

05:37It could suggest that somebody from the local Romanian community clearly is aware or has knowledge of the offence.

05:47In an effort to identify the man captured on CCTV around the time police believe the offence occurred,

05:56detectives reviewed footage from Monday the 9th of September, the day before the burglary.

06:04We managed to obtain town centre CCTV footage which showed two people who we believe may be connected.

06:14The two males on the 9th who we believe are together are hanging around and loitering in and out of the road

06:23where the burglary was committed for over an hour period of time.

06:28There's no reason for those people to be in that area at that time if they're not acting together.

06:34One of those people was wearing the same clothing, same dark clothing, same distinctive trainers

06:44as the male that we identified walking away from the property on the day of the burglary.

06:56The burglary has had a devastating impact on the victims.

07:04I feel terrified by what has happened and do not feel safe in my own home.

07:09I hate being alone at home and burst into tears for no reason.

07:14I feel like my wings have been clipped, taking away my ability to focus on work when I'm there

07:20and my family responsibilities.

07:22I struggle to be motivated and feel that 15 years of hard work have been taken away.

07:27Burglaries affects victims in a number of ways. It's quite a traumatic experience.

07:36Some victims never get over it. Their property's been invaded,

07:41people have been through their personal stuff, taken sentimental items.

07:47The victims are very passionate people, hard-working, passionate people,

07:51and it's massively affected them and their life plans, really.

07:59The £150,000 that was stolen, it's a collection of family savings. So not just the victims, but

08:07belong to the victim's brother and nephews as well. A large portion of that was going to be used to

08:15put the victim's son through training so that he could become an aircraft pilot. That dream is now

08:21shattered for them. There was also a substantial amount that was being used for the victim's nephew,

08:27who was recently married, to start a new family home for him and his young family. Again, that's been

08:34taken away from them as well. So in terms of the jewellery, £50,000 worth, it's been gifted through

08:41the family. It was sentimental. Yeah, very much so. Very unlikely that they're going to see that again.

08:46So it's been a real kind of traumatic time for them to come to terms with.

08:57I'm joined now by DS Jason Wheeler of Bedfordshire Police. Jason, this is a huge amount of money and

09:05valuables that were kept inside this family home. Some viewers may wonder why it was kept in that way.

09:10It's quite unusual. Yes, £150,000 was stolen in cash, along with £50,000 worth of jewellery.

09:20See some of the images of the cash there. This is the actual cash that was stolen. But there is a

09:24reason why it was kept in this home the way it was. Yes, the family was keeping the family's money

09:31together. And they kept it in a wardrobe in their upstairs bedroom. And that's the way that they

09:41wanted to save their money. It was... For cultural reasons. That's right.

09:45One of the things, but there was a good reason why certainly a lot of that money was being kept the way

09:50it was, as what it was intended for. Yes, obviously they're devastated. They were saving for their son,

09:56who really wants to be a pilot. And they were saving for that reason. Yeah, a lot of the money

10:01was for that. It really is very, very sad. But you've mentioned the wardrobe. You mentioned where

10:05it was kept. And do you think the suspects actually knew that that's where the cash was being kept?

10:09Yes, it's a terrace property in Bedford. And the offender, offender, he broke into the back door

10:17and then targeted straight upstairs into that bedroom. None of the house was searched, which is

10:24unusual. Very unusual. I mean, you would have gone to countless burglaries throughout your career.

10:28And very often the entire home is ransacked, isn't it, to find something of value. But in this case,

10:34it was just that bedroom that was targeted, almost like they knew what was up there. So,

10:39Jason, can you just remind us when and where this took place? Yeah, this took place in Bedford,

10:45on Eastfield Road, which is a terrace, as you see, terrace street there. It occurred on the 10th

10:51of September at half past nine in the morning. And we can see the white line there is the direction.

10:58We believe the suspects left in that direction there. And you believe there's two people that

11:06have been caught on camera that might have some information about this case. You want to identify

11:12these two here. Let's just freeze that image and just talk us through what we're seeing here, Jason.

11:17That's right. On the 9th of September, around the same time, about half past nine in the morning,

11:22as the burglary afterwards, these two males appear to be walking up and down this street,

11:28College Street, and they appear to communicate with each other. I know you want to draw particular

11:33attention to the trainers that one of these males was wearing there. We can see those with the

11:39in the middle of the screen, because there's another clip of CCTV, this time the following day,

11:44so the day of the burglary itself, very close to where it occurred. And talk us through what we're

11:49seeing here. That's right. We believe this to be the offender on the phone, walking away from the

11:54offence location. The trainers he's wearing look very similar to the ones on the day before. They're

12:00quite distinctive. He's wearing a rucksack with red straps, and it feels, it looks quite bulky,

12:08and we believe that the money and jewellery is in that rucksack, which was also taken from the house.

12:14Yeah, quite distinctive rucksack. As you say, one very, very similar, if not the one, was taken

12:20from that address on this person at the time. And as you say, it looks bulky, could well have the

12:25cache inside it, whilst that image was captured there. So we need to find out who that was. It

12:31really is a significant piece of CCTV that isn't it for for many reasons, not just what they were

12:35wearing, what they were saying as well. That's right. When the suspect walks off, he's on the phone,

12:42the CCTV, you can hear that he's talking on the phone, and it's in a Romanian language.

12:48And what he says is, I've never seen so much. What do I do now, you know?

12:54So it's been translated, and that's what he's actually saying. I've never seen so much. There

13:00could be real significance behind that. We believe he's talking about the money and jewellery.

13:06Yeah, so we need to find out who he is, just to answer some questions about that, to find out what

13:11exactly has gone on. Jason, thank you. We really do hope the family are reunited with their life savings.

13:18It must be absolutely devastating for them. If you know anything about this, please do get in touch.

13:25Well, I'm now joined by Detective Superintendent Jeff Smith from Wiltshire Police with an important

13:30appeal for a really traumatic crime there, Jeff. Thank you so much for coming in to talk about it.

13:35Thank you for helping.

13:36Yeah, I know it's got the victim support behind this case, but this is about a serious sexual assault, isn't it?

13:43Yeah, we're looking to identify a man for a serious sexual assault that we think occurred between April and May 2022 in the Swindon area.

13:53Yeah, so this was an assault on a woman, wasn't it? On a woman, yeah.

13:57Now, we're not going to go into the details of the assault, but we do want to give some details

14:02about the man that you would like to speak to around this. And we've got some pictures, haven't we, to show?

14:07Yes, we have.

14:08So as you can see, it's a white man. He's a heavy, sort of big build, quite hairy, bald head.

14:22And there's a number of little, we believe a number of little scars on the back of his head,

14:25which could be quite distinctive. And then some of the other images you can see,

14:29he's got quite predominant lips and facial shape.

14:32Yes, because his profile is quite distinct, isn't it? So maybe people might recognise that.

14:36I recognise that.

14:38Yeah. So some features there, like you say, the scarring on the back of the head,

14:43that, you know, the fact he's quite big and hairy. There's a significant tattoo as well,

14:48isn't there? Should we have a look at that?

14:49Yeah, so in the tattoo, so there's quite a big tattoo on his chest. So I appreciate someone

14:58in his family might know him, but we would urge you to, if you know of a male with this tattoo,

15:03to come forward and help us with our investigation.

15:05Yeah. It's really important.

15:06Yes, it really is. And obviously these pictures are quite graphic in the sense of you seeing

15:11this man topless, but this is so important for you.

15:13It is. It's very important.

15:15Yeah. And, you know, there have been some arrests already, haven't they, connected to this case?

15:22Yeah, we've made a number of arrests so far, but we haven't identified this particular male.

15:26So we really would be keen to speak to him.

15:27So you really want to speak to this guy. And the reason we're doing this today with the full support

15:31of the victim is because this has had such an impact on her life.

15:35It has, yeah. So the victim's receiving specialist care from our support services

15:41to help her through this. And she's shown incredible bravery by agreeing to this appeal.

15:45Yeah, she really has, because she's given us a statement as well. I'm just going to read

15:48this to you because I think it speaks for itself. The victim told us,

15:52I jump constantly at noises, movements, and even shadows. I wake up having recurring nightmares

16:00that someone is there touching me. And although I'm screaming, no sound comes out,

16:06and nobody is coming to save me. I try to survive each day and hope that the next day is better.

16:13It feels like it never ends. I mean, that just shows you the impact on her life.

16:18Absolutely. It shows why it's so important that we speak to this male. I think that's really,

16:25it's very powerful. Yeah. And she's so brave as well in talking about all this. But as you said,

16:29being fully supported by our support. Yeah, especially support staff. Yeah. Well,

16:34thank you so much for coming in. Let's hope we can find who this man is. If you do recognize him,

16:39he could be from Swindon or further afield, then please get in touch. Have a look at those pictures

16:45and share them, of course, as well. You can scan our QR code or use the contact details just down

16:51by the clock there. Also, I should just add organizations that can provide support with

16:56issues like this one can be found at bbc.co.uk forward slash action line. Later on, we will be

17:04talking to Julia Pennington, who's trying to put the brakes on the cycle of re-offending by looking at

17:11people's past trauma. Now, though, we have an exclusive film for you with the counterterrorism

17:20command on a case that has dominated the headlines. This is when 21-year-old former soldier Daniel

17:26Khalif sparked a nationwide manhunt after literally bursting out of prison.

17:33A manhunt has been launched after a terrorist suspect escaped.

17:37There is a concern that he might try to escape the country.

17:41Daniel Khalif posed a very real threat to national security.

17:45It was a dream to be a real spy, to be James Bond, become a double agent.

17:51I am better than everybody here. I am more intelligent than everybody here.

17:56Everyone wants to find him. So the race is really on now.

17:59Commander Dominic Murphy is head of the Met's counterterrorism squad.

18:11I lead a team of specialist detectives and police staff who are involved in responding to threats

18:19from counterterrorism or national security investigations.

18:23Many of those officers live in the shadows, their identities secret.

18:27My role is one of the senior investigating officers within counterterrorism policing,

18:34investigating national security matters within the UK.

18:40More than 20% of our demand now comes from investigations that relate to foreign states

18:46that wish to do us harm. At any one time, the team have a number of

18:51terrorism suspects in prison awaiting trial. On September 6th, 2023, one of those suspects triggers an alert.

19:02We were in the office just after 8am when I received a phone call.

19:07And they said that one of your suspects has escaped from HMP Wandsworth.

19:14Then they told me it was Daniel Khalif. And that's really when I realised I probably wouldn't be going home for a few days.

19:21Daniel Khalif is a 21-year-old former British soldier, but counterterrorism command suspect he is a spy for the Iranian government.

19:30Being familiar with Daniel Khalif, I immediately knew that this was going into a manhunt.

19:37He was an individual who posed a very real threat to national security.

19:44With a suspected spy on the loose in the nation's capital,

19:48Commander Dominic Murphy decides to ask the British people for help.

19:52I would ask the public, don't approach him directly, call 999. Ultimately, the public are going to be the key to

19:58finding Daniel Khalif anywhere he might be in the UK.

20:02A manhunt has been launched after a terrorist suspect escaped.

20:06Police describe their investigation as fast moving and dynamic.

20:11The nation holds its breath as a chilling cat and mouse chase begins.

20:16It soon becomes one of the largest manhunt operations in British history.

20:22Clearly, it's incredibly urgent that this prisoner could be brought back to prison.

20:26And because of the nature of the charges, there is a concern that he might try to escape the country.

20:32Less than an hour after Khalif's escape, police make a key discovery.

20:37At 8.37am, they stop a catering lorry almost three miles from the prison.

20:43After searching it, they discover strapping tied to the underside of the vehicle.

20:48Daniel had tied a sling underneath that lorry and had climbed onto that sling.

20:57Detectives discover that the 21-year-old had secured a coveted job in the prison kitchens,

21:03which gave him access to the delivery vehicles.

21:06We know that the prison delivery lorry had arrived on that morning.

21:10When this delivery van came into the kitchen area to unload the goods,

21:15Daniel managed to sneak out of the kitchen into the courtyard area,

21:20where he wasn't allowed to, or authorised to go, and crawl underneath the van.

21:28As Daniel went through the double set of gates to leave the prison,

21:32there was a cursory check of the vehicle, but Daniel was quite well hidden.

21:37And so when the lorry left, Daniel wasn't discovered.

21:42And the old clear was given, and that vehicle slowly left through the main gate.

21:50By the time the truck was stopped, Daniel had already vanished.

21:54More than 150 officers and staff from the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism unit

22:00are urgently trying to track down Daniel Khalif.

22:03The border force, port and airports are all on high alert.

22:08Easily over 200 officers were deployed on this investigation.

22:11And when you look at borders, that number is even much higher.

22:15Daniel was, in effect, a Terrorism Act and Official Secrets Act prisoner.

22:19And so no stone was going to be left unturned trying to find him.

22:28Police begin trawling through footage from London's vast network of CCTV.

22:33We were able to track the early movements of Daniel from the time he climbed out from

22:38underneath the lorry at the traffic lights. In this case, that was a core part of our ability

22:42to track his movements around London. But Daniel Khalif has military training

22:48and has no intention of being caught. CCTV, taken just hours after his escape,

22:54shows him wearing a face mask while stealing a cap from a shop in Richmond.

22:59It's clear he's trying to hide his identity. The following day, he's captured,

23:04buying new clothes from a shop in Kew. And the ex-soldier has a big head start.

23:09Now, clearly, that's some time behind Daniel. So, this is not a live feed. This is not

23:14us sitting in a control room. This is, you know, good, hard detective work to try and track his movements.

23:20And police believe their best chance of finding Daniel Khalif remains a tip off from the public.

23:27We had numerous potential sightings. We had sightings down on the south coast. We had sightings

23:35up in the north east. We had sightings around London in a host of locations. It's like trying

23:41to find a needle in a haystack. This is a young soldier who was quite innovative in how he did

23:48things and so had considered his plan quite carefully. A real cat and mouse moment where we

23:55were going from point to point, from call to call, to try and locate Daniel. But actually,

24:02we had no real idea where Daniel was.

24:09What a wild story. It is, isn't it? And we're going to see

24:12the dramatic conclusion of that massive manhunt later on in the programme.

24:17Now, though, we're looking at a crime that might be happening on a high street near you. Now,

24:22we're talking about businesses that look like normal shops, but in reality are a front for criminal

24:29activity. Yeah, on a big scale as well, because an estimated 12 billion pounds a year is laundered

24:34in the UK. So, we're now with Sal Melkey from the National Crime Agency to tell us more about a huge

24:40operation you and your team have been involved in, Sal, this morning. Can you also just clear up,

24:46what, if someone's unfamiliar with the term, is money laundering? Yeah, hi both. So, money laundering

24:52is just the process of making criminal money appear legitimate. So, you'll hear the phrase washing

24:57money quite a lot. That essentially means trying to bring it into, I guess, a mainstream process,

25:02such as, for example, in this case, a cash-intensive business, and making that money appear legitimate.

25:07So, running it through the tills, running it through the accounts, getting it into the banking system.

25:12And then, to all intents and purposes, that money is clean money. It's gone through a shop. It's the

25:16profits of that shop. But what we know, and what other people know, is actually it's the proceeds of

25:20drugs, the proceeds of trafficking, and proceeds of some of the worst offences in our society.

25:24Yeah, lots of it. And you've been working on, on a huge scale with you and your team,

25:29to crack down on these illegal businesses. Tell us about that, this operation.

25:32Yeah. So, we set up something called Operation Machinise earlier this year. That's a national

25:38crime agency-led operation, but in partnership with the police, trading standards, immigration

25:42enforcement, and HMRC. And it's a big deal. We're trying to get our arms around a big problem,

25:49and that is money laundering on the high streets, and trying to reverse the trend that we've seen

25:54in recent years. So, a lot of criminal elements infiltrating our high streets,

25:58be that to money launder, as I explained, but also to evade tax and act as hubs for polycriminality.

26:03Yeah. I'm totally fascinated by this, because there are so many different types of businesses

26:08we're talking about. But we've got some footage as well, haven't we, of this? So, tell us what's going

26:12on in this? Yeah. So, in the first operational burst that was in over March and April this year,

26:19we raided hundreds of shops, and that led to 35 arrests. We seized a million pounds,

26:24and we also safeguarded 80 people. There was over a quarter of a million illegal cigarettes and vapes

26:32also seized. So, you can see some of the contraband being taken by officers there.

26:37And obviously, the illicit goods is the more visible part of the offence, and in the background,

26:42we're trying to unpick things like money laundering and other types of criminality

26:46that are being run out of these shops. Yeah. And obviously, there's the obvious

26:49products which are out on shelves and things, but you also find in your investigation,

26:53the secret compartments where other stuff's hidden too. Tell us about that,

26:57because we've got some footage. Yeah. So, you can see these concealments,

27:01and the concealments can be used to store illicit goods, but they can also be used to stash cash,

27:07for example. So, the proceed of drugs, or in fact, to stash drugs themselves.

27:12And the dogs, yeah. So, is that the dogs basically working that out?

27:18Yeah, that's right. So, the dogs are great. You know, they're very cute, but they also have a purpose,

27:22and that purpose is to sniff out things like illicit commodities, find cigarettes and things like that

27:27behind concealments, and find cash as well. Yeah, because obviously, there's the products,

27:31the cash and things, but there's so much more criminality that you uncover from all this,

27:35isn't there? Yeah, that's right. So, there is a pernicious, serious organized crime element to this.

27:41So, the proceeds that are being washed through these shops are linked to some of the most horrible

27:46offenses in our society. So, human trafficking, drugs trafficking, other types of serious violence

27:53that it leads to on our streets, and just generally making the high street feel like an unsafe place.

27:58So, we see lots of different types of criminality, and we also see lots of different types of premises

28:03being used. So, you know, that ranges from million-pound premises in prime locations through

28:08to small shops on a high street in a town or a village. Why do you think it is that we're seeing

28:13more of these? Well, it certainly seems we're seeing more of these at the moment.

28:16Yeah, I mean, it's a great question. I think most people have seen an increase over the years in

28:22shops that maybe look a little bit suspicious to them, and there's a number of reasons for that.

28:26One is they're readily available. Two is, if you think about being a criminal, you often want to

28:31take the path of least resistance. So, being able to set up a shop that appears legitimate,

28:36so take a barber shop, for example, to set that up, you need a pair of clippers and a chair. If you're

28:42a smart criminal, you can also run the supply chain. So, you can also sell the clippers and sell the

28:46chair, and then you can create a more elaborate route to launder your money and make it harder for

28:51the police and national crime agency to find. What blows my mind is the variety of shops we're

28:57talking about. So, you've mentioned barbers. We've seen an off-licence there, but there are loads,

29:01aren't there? Yeah, that's right. So, you know, there is nothing intrinsic about a barber shop other

29:07than it's quite easy to start up, and there's nothing intrinsic about barbers wanting to be

29:11involved in criminality. Far from it, actually. We see vape shops, mobile phone shops, mini-marts,

29:17off-licences. All types of shops on the high street engage in this criminality. So, it's really

29:22important to remember this isn't restricted to any one type of shop, and it's also not restricted to

29:26any one type of demographic of individual. Just need to stamp them out, don't we? Yeah. What do you do

29:30then if you think that a shop near you or that you've passed or been in is one of these fronts?

29:37Yeah. So, the best advice is if you suspect criminality to report it to your local police force

29:42through 101 or their local website, we really rely on that local intelligence and fusing that

29:47with national intelligence to identify these shops. Don't jump to any conclusions. A shop just may be

29:52struggling and needs support. And also, don't be part of the problem. So, if you see products being

29:59sold and maybe they look suspiciously cheap, that might be because they are. So, don't buy those goods

30:04and services. You know, what I would also say as a reminder, you know, there are thousands of shops

30:08out there doing this, and we are going to get to all of them. It will take a bit of time,

30:12and we require the public support to do that. Yeah. And don't assume the people working in them

30:16know about it either, because they might be... Yeah. A hundred percent. They may be

30:19coerced. Victim and all this. They may be coerced into working. Thank you, Sal.

30:21Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Now, after an audacious prison break,

30:26the search for Britain's most wanted man continues.

30:31Daniel Khalif has been on the run for more than 48 hours. As he continues to evade arrest,

30:37detectives take a closer look at his military record.

30:50After joining the British army at 16, he rose rapidly through the ranks, but wanted more.

30:57It's clear that one of the things Daniel wanted to become was a member of the security services or

31:03the intelligence community. But he was told because his mother was Iranian, he wouldn't pass the high

31:10level security checks necessary to do intelligence work. Security journalist Duncan Gardam has followed

31:17his case closely. Daniel Khalif describes that moment as a really difficult moment in his life,

31:24like all the chess pieces going off the board. And suddenly, all his dreams and all his fantasies

31:30all came to nothing. Having been dealt an enormous blow to his ambitions of becoming an elite officer,

31:37Daniel came up with a new plan. He decided that he could do it on his own, become a spy.

31:46Khalif would try to convince the Iranian government that he could spy for them.

31:51He wanted to try and establish a relationship with the Iranian intelligence services.

32:00Daniel did this by looking on a U.S. government website to see who in the Iranian regime had been

32:06sanctioned by the U.S. government.

32:07He manages to find a Facebook page for one of them. And so Daniel messaged him and thereby made contact

32:21with a unit called the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. It's a specialist unit within the Iranian army.

32:29It shows that it wasn't the Iranians that recruited Daniel, it was more that Daniel reached out to them.

32:38Khalif passed over a number of forged documents to his new Iranian handlers.

32:44We found lots of instances of communications between Daniel and his handlers,

32:49talking about Daniel's capabilities, what he had access to within the British military,

32:54what he was willing to do for them, and what he would get in return.

33:01This was, without a doubt, a dangerous game that Daniel was playing.

33:04He was security cleared, he had access to sensitive material,

33:09and he was willing to collect that material and send it onwards.

33:20On at least two occasions, Daniel collected cash.

33:22The cash was left for him in what's known as a dead letter drop.

33:29A thousand pounds was left in a park in Mill Hill, and Daniel Khalif picked up the money and took a selfie.

33:39And a picture of the money.

33:41He wasn't actually getting paid that much money.

33:45Daniel was motivated by his own sense of self-importance and by his own ego.

33:52He was drawn in, and he couldn't resist doing more and more.

33:56As well as written communication, Khalif sent voice notes asking if his contacts would train him.

34:02I wanted to have some training from you guys, and I think the best training for me is inside of Iran.

34:11He's left a voice note to his handler to say, I'm the smartest person on the unit.

34:16I'm one of the most intelligent people. I won an award.

34:20I am better than everybody here. I am more intelligent than everybody here.

34:23He even travelled to Turkey to meet his contacts.

34:32While in Istanbul, he takes a video of himself outside the hotel just to prove to the Iranians that he is actually there.

34:42And it seems, hands over, a USB encryption stick.

34:47Now Daniel Khalif decides to trade in his bargaining chip.

34:51He calls MI5 and MI6, telling them he has cultivated a relationship with a valuable asset.

34:59Expecting to be welcomed as a hero, he is treated as a spy, arrested and released on bail.

35:06Before officers could charge him, he flees, leaving them a terrifying surprise.

35:12He leaves a bomb on his desk in his barracks and disappears.

35:21With a hoax explosive device.

35:23That appeared to be something that would just delay the focus and attention on him and his escape.

35:31Barty's tracked down and sent to Wandsworth Prison to await trial.

35:36Daniel Khalif has still not given up on his dream and he is working out how to escape from Wandsworth jail.

35:50Helicopter searches continue and house-to-house inquiries by plainclothes detectives have been taking place.

35:56But Britain's most wanted man remains on the run.

35:59The hunt for Daniel Khalif moves into its third day.

36:03Nothing is off the table here. We will do everything we can to find him wherever that takes us in the country.

36:09The escaped terror suspect, Daniel Khalif. We have a couple of new lines from the Met Police here in London.

36:16We had numerous potential sightings but no real solid leads of where Daniel could be.

36:23And that's the point where you really start being frustrated and the stress levels increase

36:29because there's obviously a demand, a thirst for information. Everyone wants to find him.

36:34Then on the morning of Saturday the 9th of September, 75 hours after the escape, some credible sightings come into command.

36:47Two or three calls came in from members of the public to say that an individual matching Daniel's description was close to a canal towpath.

36:54One of our officers managed to spot an individual riding a bike along the canal towards him at speed.

37:08The undercover officer pushes him off his bike and arrests him.

37:16Backup officers quickly swarm the scene.

37:20As Daniel Khalif is handcuffed, he reportedly winks and laughs.

37:24Breaking news just coming in to us from the Metropolitan Police who have confirmed in the past few minutes

37:31that they have arrested a terror suspect.

37:33A national manhunt now at an end.

37:36Britain's most wanted man, Daniel Khalif, arrested at this spot in West London.

37:41It's good news that we've recaptured the person concerned.

37:45My thanks to the police but also to the public.

37:48Finally locating Daniel was a moment of pure relief,

37:51exhilaration. It was fantastic to be part of it.

37:56I think everyone on the team knew how much blood, sweat and tears

38:01and how much effort had gone into the last three days.

38:05In February 2025, Daniel Khalif is sentenced to six years for espionage and terrorism charges

38:12and a further two years and three months for his escape.

38:19I don't think anybody should underestimate Daniel Khalif.

38:24He really did pose an absolute threat to national security.

38:27He's also an individual though that demonstrated his ingenuity by escaping from prison,

38:32something that's extremely rare.

38:35He managed to escape prison.

38:37He managed to obtain a job in the prison kitchens when really he probably shouldn't have.

38:42And he managed to establish that relationship with his Iranian handlers.

38:45That ambition there is huge, but it's also hugely flawed and that's really Daniel's downfall.

38:56I don't think Daniel Khalif was a bad person.

39:01I don't even think he was unlikable.

39:04He dreamed just a little bit too much.

39:12Daniel Khalif just kept going too far and broke too many rules.

39:22Wow, what a story, hey?

39:24Well, now we're focusing on the power of rehabilitation because over a quarter of people

39:29who are sent to prison end up re-offending after release.

39:32That's according to the latest statistics.

39:34So how can we break this cycle?

39:36Well, it's something Julia Pennington is tackling through her organisation, Dignify.

39:41And Julia, thank you so much for coming in to talk about this,

39:43because you've had incredible success from this, which we'll get to.

39:46But tell us a bit about what you do.

39:49So Dignify is an organisation that I set up in 2019.

39:52And really, we set up to help people to recover from trauma symptoms and experiences of trauma.

39:58But that's really evolved into training professionals,

40:00working with different organisations in the criminal justice system to help the workforce

40:06also recover from trauma.

40:07And we're doing some stuff on reform and system change as well across the country.

40:11Yeah. And this was something you came up with, isn't it,

40:13from your own experiences of working in the criminal justice system?

40:16Yeah, I've worked in criminal justice for over 20 years in probation services,

40:21youth justice services, and I've always been intrigued in terms of the why.

40:24Why do people do terrible things to other people?

40:27And about 10 years ago, I was involved in some research where I got to ask that question

40:31to hundreds of people, and they all told me trauma stories.

40:34And so that made me think we needed to do things a bit differently.

40:37Yeah. So trauma is the common thing between everyone here.

40:41But how do you tackle it? Because it's so broad, what causes the trauma?

40:44It is. But it's not about the actual experience.

40:47It's about the brain and the body and how we learn to process those experiences or not process them.

40:52And what we find in the criminal justice system, a lot of people haven't processed those experiences.

40:57Instead, they've developed rage, shame, alcohol addictions, drug addictions,

41:03different maladaptive coping strategies that have prevented them from rehabilitating and moving on.

41:08Yeah. So you're all about getting them out of that kind of survival mode so that they can thrive.

41:14Yeah, definitely. Because when we've been through lots of experiences of trauma

41:17and experiences that have made us feel scared or unloved,

41:21you know, we move into that survival brain, that kind of lower part of the brain,

41:24which doesn't think it's just reactive.

41:26So we're about helping people to get that front part of the brain online

41:29so they can problem solve, be less reactive and really start to understand

41:34their patterns of behaviour and the things that are leading them back through that prison door.

41:39Yeah. So it's about breaking it down and trying to find the root cause

41:41and then solving that and breaking habits and things.

41:44And you've had a real success with this, haven't you? Yeah. Tell us about that.

41:46Yeah. We only set up in 2019. I'm from Manchester and our footprint's right from Cumbria.

41:52We've been working with Cumbria police right the way down to the South West.

41:55We've been working in Bristol, the West Midlands, London. So we're right across the country already.

42:00Yeah. But you started as a pilot, didn't you? With eight people. Yeah. With eight people.

42:06Yeah. And none of those people went back to jail. We tested it. None of those people went back to jail.

42:11Some of them had wonderful outcomes. So that's where it started to evolve.

42:14We became a lived experience company. We listened to people's experiences of trauma

42:18and we started to train police officers, social workers, school teachers, youth justice officers.

42:23And it's just evolved from there. Wow. So every part of the community.

42:26And how many people have you got trained now, do you think?

42:29We've trained over 9,000 people in the last six years,

42:32and we've worked with over 500 people in prisons and in the community as well.

42:35Yeah. And I can see you're not going to stop there, are you?

42:38We're not stopping there. We've got lots to do.

42:40Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming in to talk about it.

42:43It's incredible, the success you're having. It's amazing to hear about it.

42:45So thank you and good luck with it. Thank you. Thanks for inviting me.

42:50Absolutely huge success there. Great to hear. Well, thank you so much for watching today.

42:54Remember, you can catch up on iPlayer. It's on there for 30 days.

42:58Do check it out. And remember, you can also share our appeals and our wanted faces as well.

43:03Share them with friends and family. See if anyone knows who they are.

43:05Tomorrow, we have got a truly heartbreaking appeal about a fatal stabbing in a tragic case of mistaken identity.

43:14Two men came in with masks and they started indiscriminately stabbing at him.

43:22Why would anyone do this?

43:26Yeah, the family want answers. Well, police are looking for one man in connection to this devastating case.

43:31Yes. We will see you tomorrow. Same time, remember, 10.45.

43:34Yeah. See you then. Bye-bye.

43:36We'll see you next time. Bye.

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