Man on Trial for Helping Iranian Spy Worked for the Telegraph, Court Told

A man accused of helping an Iranian spy in his high-profile prison escape attempt worked for the Telegraph newspaper, a court has been told.

Imran Chowdhury, 26, from Chingford, east London, is accused of assisting Daniel Khalife, who went on the run after escaping HMP Wandsworth on 6 September 2023 while awaiting trial for spying for Iran. Chowdhury is being tried at Snaresbrook crown court alongside Adeel Khan, 32, from Waltham Forest. Both deny the charges.

Khalife sparked a police manhunt after hiding underneath a food delivery van as it left the prison grounds. He was recaptured three days later and sentenced in 2024 to 14 years and three months for spying for Iran.

On Tuesday, Thomas Williams KC, speaking for the prosecution, told the court that around the time Khalife was making his escape attempt, Chowdhury “was at work at the offices of the Telegraph newspaper where he worked in a technical role – not a journalist, it’s important we’re clear about that.”

He told the court: “You may conclude that his job meant, for instance, that he had a good understanding of digital technology,” and that due to his role in a news organisation Chowdhury had full knowledge of who Khalife was.

Williams said the event was “the highest profile escape from prison in many years, given that he [Khalife] was a soldier charged with espionage and terrorism offences.”

He added that Chowdhury “knew what he was doing would assist Mr Khalife in evading the police”.

Before the trial began, members of the jury had to declare that they had never worked for the Telegraph to avoid conflicts of interest.

On Monday, Williams told the court that on 6 September 2023 Khalife “left prison with no money and no phone. He needed both of those things to stand any chance of evading the large-scale Metropolitan police service investigation” to find him.

Khalife was arrested with £200 in £20 notes. He had resorted to stealing until someone made a withdrawal at an ATM and gave him the money. “The person who made that withdrawal for Khalife was Imran Chowdhury. Mr Chowdhury was paid £120 for doing so,” Williams said.

CCTV footage shows Khalife and Chowdhury walking side-by-side down a high street in Richmond, south-west London, before turning into an alleyway in which there is no CCTV, but there is a cash machine – which Chowdhury allegedly used to withdraw £400 for Khalife using his American Express card.

The prosecution alleges that Khan was providing instructions from inside Wandsworth prison and that Chowdhury was the “man on the ground”, being passed those instructions.

Khalife used the money allegedly provided to him by Chowdhury to buy clothes and a cheap Samsung J5 mobile from a shop in Hammersmith, Williams said. Khalife used this phone to text his Iranian handlers saying: “I wait.”

Khan arrived at Wandsworth prison in March 2023, and he and Khalife knew each other as they had both worked in the prison kitchens together on 190 shifts.

When Khalife was arrested, he had a red 2023 diary in which “he had written the name, prison number and mobile phone number of Adeel Khan,” Williams said.

When police arrived at Chowdhury’s property on 27 January 2024, he was “evasive and obstructive about his devices”. His phone had Apple News, NYT, Twitter and TikTok on it. Some but not all of the search history had been deleted. Williams said the remaining search history showed that Chowdhury had “an interest in the investigation into Khalife”.

The Telegraph has been approached for comment.

The trial of Chowdhury and Khan continues.