How the Daniel Khalife manhunt came to a dramatic end by a London canal

A 75-hour manhunt for a terror suspect accused of spying for Iran came to a dramatic end beneath a graffiti-strewn bridge spanning the Grand Union Canal on Saturday.

On a towpath alongside brightly coloured narrowboats in Northolt, west London, Daniel Khalife, 21, was thrown from his mountain bike by a plain clothes officer shortly before 11am.

Startled eyewitnesses described how the former soldier, who had broken out of HMP Wandsworth four days earlier, looked bewildered as three officers pinned him down, tying his hands behind his back. Khalife laughed and told police: “It’s not me. I haven’t done anything,” So much for his being a master of escape and evasion.

The arrest, on suspicion of being unlawfully at large and an escaped prisoner, ended a humiliating jail break that has brought the question of how terror suspects are housed and treated within the prison system into sharp focus.

The search had “gathered momentum” on Friday afternoon as a flurry of calls from the public and intelligence came into their control centre.

Intelligence had been received linking Khalife to a home in the borough of Richmond, just south of the River Thames. Although he was not found at that address, new sightings came in, suggesting he had crossed Chiswick Bridge into Chiswick.

It is believed the fugitive used a mountain bike to weave his way along the river towpath up through quiet Victorian streets before making his way towards Grand Union Canal in Greenford.

By now, more than 100 calls had been received by counter-terrorism police. Undercover officers had been deployed to key locations in the hope of spotting him.

At 10.41am, a few plain clothes officers stationed on a towpath of the canal sandwiched between Rowdell Road and the A40 flyover, noticed a young man on a bike pedalling hard and fast towards them.

An eyewitness, who did not want to be named, but was working near the canal at a yacht building company, said: “Khalife was on a push bike – then bosh, seconds later he wasn’t on the bike any more. There were three undercover officers and then about 50 to 60 police arrived.”

Nearby was his bike, a sleeping bag and a Waitrose bag filled with groceries. He was wearing shorts, a white T-shirt and trainers, suggesting he had either had help to change his clothes or had found some discarded items while on the run.

He obviously had help – new clothes, a bicycle, but wasn’t being hidden as such, what was the purpose of his breakout? Did he have information to impart quickly? Was he then expendable? Or is he not as big a fish as he boasted in Wandsworth and all he was trying to do was patch things up with a girlfriend?  Him as Intrepid and she as Vera Atkins (not)

The 21-year-old was discharged from the Army in May, and denies the charges against him. Believed to be of Iranian descent, he is due to stand trial in November.

Although the nature of his alleged offences raised the prospect that he may try to flee the country, police focused on the belief he had remained in London – he was brought up in the Kingston area of south-west London and may even have a support network in the capital on which he could rely.

A source told The Telegraph: “The Met threw the kitchen sink at this. Every resource was being used, with every lead followed up.”

The force also offered a £20,000 reward for information on Khalife’s whereabouts. On Saturday night, Mr Murphy insisted that no one had yet claimed any of the reward money, but admitted that it remained a possibility after so much help from the general public.