Man charged with helping British ex-soldier in London prison getaway

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LONDON (AP) — A man has been charged with assisting a former British soldier later convicted of spying for Iran in his escape from a London prison, police said Monday.

Imran Chowdhury, 25, was charged with one count of assisting an escaped prisoner for helping Daniel Khalife after he broke out of Wandsworth prison in September 2023, the Metropolitan Police said.

Khalife strapped himself beneath a food delivery truck and ignited a massive police search while he was on the run for three days.

Khalife, 23, was convicted in November of violating Britain’s Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act by collecting information useful to an enemy — Iran. He faces sentencing later this year.

Police did not specify what assistance Chowdhury provided to Khalife while he was on the run. A 25-year-old woman who had been arrested on suspicion of helping him will not face charges, police said.

Khalife had testified at his trial that his contacts with the Iranian government were a ploy to work as a double agent for Britain, but his lawyer said his James Bond aspirations were more “Scooby Doo” than “007.”

Prosecutors said his crime was serious and that he had passed on secret and sensitive information that could have exposed other troops to serious harm.