No not that one. Britain has had its own escaped prisoner story this week, complete with increased security measures at the main airports. Daniel Khalife was on remand in Wandsworth Prison in SW London awaiting trial on terrorism offences and for spying. The BBC reports this is believed to have involved Iran. His capture however was a very British scene.
Khalife was born in London, his father has Lebanese heritage. Khalife joined the British Army which gave him access to the information he collected.
Prosecutors alleged that in August 2021 he obtained information about members of the armed forces from the Ministry of Defence Joint Personnel Administration System - and that the information was of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
That is a relatively minor terrorism offence because the maximum jail sentence is 12 months.
He was also accused of a bomb hoax almost four weeks before his arrest. The court was told that he had allegedly placed three canisters with wires on a desk in his accommodation, intending people to believe the contraption was a real explosive device.
Police investigations resulted in the more serious crime being charged by the Director of Public Prosecutions (Think a DA covering England). The DPP staff will only authorize charges if a conviction is likely so the delay was probably caused by the police collecting enough evidence. (He is of course presume innocent until his trial).
Mr Khalife is now accused of committing an act "prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state", contrary to the Official Secrets Act.
It's alleged that between May 2019 and January 2022 he obtained, collected, recorded, published, or communicated information which was useful to an enemy - a spying offence.
Khalife’s escape was remarkably simple, which is causing something of a Parliamentary kerfuffle. He had got a job in the prison kitchen. When a truck delivered the food, he scrambled underneath and held on until the vehicle was well clear of the prison. His school friends remember him as being a 100 metres champion and was obviously fit as a soldier.
It took 4 days to find him which I suppose pays tribute to his “How to escape if captured by the enemy” training in the army. Remember he had to travel out of a city which has CCTV cameras coming out of its ears. There are traffic control cameras on the main route and to collect fees for entering the Congestion and Emission charge areas, many with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (APNR) software. The London transport system is extensively covered by CCTV including on TfL trains and buses. Many other train operators have CCTV on the train and covering their stations. The police have access to these systems together with other local systems covering high crime areas like shopping streets. (These are often operated or funded by local councils or businesses). They can call on teams of super-recognisers to cover crowds. Add in the umpteen shops with CCTV security systems and you can see using public transport, stealing a vehicle or even walking main roads is risky.
Once he had managed to get a few miles west, there were a series of commons and rural parks that could provide cover. In parts the canals and their towpaths provide a route with little or no CCTV coverage. Greater London has so much tree coverage it is technically a forest so daylight helicopter searching is difficult.
Late on Thursday night, police searched Richmond Park, a 2,500-acre area southwest of the prison.
Two helicopters were used. It is also thought that infra-red technology was used to identify body heat.
The search was not based on specific information but Mr Khalife is known to have links in nearby Kingston-upon-Thames.
Overnight on Friday, the search appeared to focus on Chiswick in west London, after sightings of the missing prisoner were reported to the police by members of the public.
In the end it wasn’t the helicopters, CCTV, super-recognisers, police car mounted APNR cameras or the Armed Response Units that took him down. All it needed was old fashioned intelligence from a public used to the “Peel policing” principal
To recognize always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing cooperation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.
And the undercover officer who pulled him off the bike he was pedaling down a canal towpath.
Khalid will no doubt now spend his time before trial in the high security detention centre at Belmarsh Prison, South East of London.
A few days of more boots on the ground and teams of armed police cuddling their automatic rifles to reassure the public and all that waking up the good people of Richmond with their helicopter probably cost millions. Still the police will be grateful for the overtime during the current inflationary period.
The underlying story is serious but I did tell you it had a very British (and I find quite amusing) ending.