The Oxford drug dealer who escaped from prison disguised as cellmate

Jamad Rad walked out of HMP Bullingdon in August 2003, two decades before on-the-run soldier Daniel Khalife made his own escape from category B prison HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday (September 8) - sparking a nationwide manhunt.

Khalife, 21, was on remand awaiting trial for allegedly planting fake bombs at a military base while he was a serving British Army soldier.

While scores of prisoners walk-out of open jails every year, including this killer driver who ended up being arrested in Oxford last summer, escapes from higher category jails like HMP Bullingdon and HMP Wandsworth are very rare.

The last high-profile escape from Bullingdon came almost exactly 20 years ago.

It was August 8, 2003. Some two years earlier, Jamad Rad, also known as Jahed Khan Rad, had been jailed for six years for dealing hard drugs, after heroin and crack cocaine were discovered during a raid at his home in Cardigan Street, Jericho. He later lost an appeal at London’s Royal Courts of Justice.

Jahed Khan Rad's custody shot, released after his escape from prison in 2003 Picture: Thames Valley Police (Image: Thames Valley Police)

He and his cellmate, Omid Malek, both then 22-years-old, shaved their heads and wore matching skull caps. They also created forged photo ID cards, fooling gaolers into believing the men were one another.

Why? Because Malek, who would later tell an Oxford jury he had acted under duress from his cellmate Rad, was serving a much lighter sentence – 12 months for possession of ecstasy – and was due for release.

Oxford Crown Court heard in 2004 that Rad was mistakenly released, as guards believed he was Malek.

The escape only came to light when Malek and his family, who were waiting for him outside the jail, asked why he had not been freed.

A manhunt was launched and a public appeal for information issued on August 18, 10 days after the escape.

He was later caught at Dover, trying to board a ferry to Germany using a forged passport. Although born in Afghanistan, his family was in Germany and he was a German citizen himself.

Daniel Abed Khalife, 21, went missing from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday (Image: Metropolitan Police/PA) (Image: Metropolitan Police/PA)

In 2004, Rad said his escape was motivated by fear of being deported to Afghanistan, where he had not lived since the age of three. The Home Office had written to him in May 2003, three months before his escape, informing him he would be sent to the war-torn country.

Having admitted escape from lawful custody, he was given a 15 month prison sentence in 2004. It was to be served on top of his six year jail term for dealing drugs.

Last year, Oxford Crown Court heard that another HMP Bullingdon prisoner, Ryan Searle, managed to briefly escape his gaolers after he was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital for treatment in July 2020.

He slipped his handcuffs by dislocating his thumb while he was in the bathroom, but only made it to the hospital car park before he ‘came to his senses’ and gave himself up.