Pictured: Moment Daniel Khalife, ‘runaway’ from prison, sat on the canal footpath after being ‘knocked off his bike and picked up’ – as the plainclothes police officer tells the trial, the ‘spy’ congratulated him on his arrest

Shoeless and handcuffed on a canal towpath, this is the second prison fugitive Daniel Khalife arrested after three days on the run.

A nationwide manhunt was launched last September after the British soldier escaped from HMP Wandsworth, where he was awaiting trial on espionage charges.

A ‘jovial’ Khalife is said to have congratulated a police officer for catching him after he was wrestled off a bicycle next to a canal in north London.

The 23-year-old is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of getting out of jail by clinging to the bottom of a food truck and spying for Iran.

The arresting Metropolitan Police officer – who cannot be named for legal reasons – described the moment he dragged Khalife off a bicycle in Northolt, north London, during his testimony on Friday.

Shoeless and handcuffed on a canal towpath, this is the second prison fugitive Daniel Khalife arrested after three days on the run

A nationwide manhunt was launched last September after the British soldier escaped from HMP Wandsworth, where he was awaiting trial on espionage charges.

Khalife was “pleasant to be around,” “quite jovial” and “friendly” after he was arrested, the officer said.

“He congratulated me on my arrest,” he told the court.

The officer, who was dressed in plain clothes at the time, had been alerted via his radio to a possible sighting of Khalife cycling along the canal towpath at around 10:35 am on Saturday 9 September 2023.

He described how he drove forward to a point further along the canal where he could intercept Khalife.

‘It was a fairly quickly evolving situation. “I found a place to park the car and jumped out very quickly with my equipment, which was hidden so normal people wouldn’t know I was a police officer,” he said.

He saw the man he thought was Khalife cycling in his direction along the canal and ran down the stairs leading from the sidewalk to the canal towpath, Taser drawn.

‘I was sure it was Daniel Khalife, I shouted ‘stop, police, you are under arrest!’ – this happened very quickly.

“He comes towards me when I pulled my Taser out, I used those words on him and when he saw the Taser being pointed at him he flinched but the speed he was going he had no chance to stop .

“He was so close that I grabbed his arm and pulled him off the bike and onto the ground.”

The officer told the court that Daniel Khalife complied and allowed himself to be handcuffed, meaning backup could then be called over the radio.

The 23-year-old is on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of getting out of jail by clinging to the bottom of a food truck and spying for Iran.

Khalife is accused of abusing his trusted position within the Royal Signal Corps to pass classified material to Iranian agents between 2019 and 2022.

In addition to the bicycle, Khalife also had a Waitrose bag containing various items, the court heard.

Asked about Khalife’s behaviour, the officer said: ‘He was friendly to me, he was quite jovial – at no point did he try to resist. He was pleasant to be around.’

Under cross-examination by Khalife’s lawyer Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, the officer was asked if he could elaborate on his comments on the accused’s conduct.

“He congratulated me for catching him,” he said. “That was a passing comment.”

Mr Hussain then told the officer that Daniel Khalife had heard him shout ‘stop or I will shoot!’, before watching him slip down the stairs leading to the canal towpath.

Mr Hussain said: ‘The truth is that Daniel Khalife got off his bike and came towards you, you didn’t have to arrest him.’

Laughing, the officer said, “That’s absolute nonsense.”

Mr Hussain continued: ‘He actually came to you and said, “It’s okay, you’ve got me”?’

The officer, still laughing, said, “That’s complete nonsense.”

Khalife denies that he committed an act prejudicial to the security or interests of the state by obtaining information about members of the armed forces, committing a bomb attack and escaping from lawful custody.

Khalife is accused of abusing his trusted position within the Royal Signal Corps to pass classified material to Iranian agents between 2019 and 2022.

He also allegedly collected the names of soldiers working in elite army units – information that prosecutors say could be useful to a terrorist.

But Khalife has claimed he was actually trying to work as an amateur ‘double agent’ to help MI6 and MI5 by smoking out Iranian spies on British soil.

He told police he decided to set up his own undercover operation after learning during army training that his Iranian heritage would likely prevent him from getting his dream job in intelligence. Khalife said he had hoped his covert efforts would prove he was trustworthy enough to get a top-level security clearance.

The process continues.