• merridew@feddit.ukOP
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m intrigued by his Not Guilty plea for escaping custody when he was previously in custody, and then found to have escaped it. I don’t know much about legal procedures, but that does seem quite bold.

    • JoBo@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      He’s got absolutely no reason to plead guilty. He’s not going to get a lighter sentence so he might as well cost them as much as possible by forcing a trial, and extending the news coverage of this embarrassing story.

      Not a fan of the guy or his ideology but, from his perspective, this makes perfect sense.

      • DJDarren@thelemmy.club
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        1 year ago

        It’s like obviously guilty people appealing their sentence: they have a right to do so and as such their solicitor will recommend that they do it. There’s almost no chance of them getting their sentence overturned or reduced, but you don’t ask, you don’t get.

        • JoBo@feddit.uk
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          Because they’re going to throw the book at him regardless now.

          He may also disagree with the “lawfully detained” bit of the charge, given that he has pleaded not guilty to the original charges he was due to stand trial for. But he doesn’t really have anything to lose either way. There are screaming tabloids on the case now, he might as well spin it out.

          • Bernie Ecclestoned@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            I’d have thought they’d want less fuss, so would offer him a deal…but you’re right, I don’t think he’d accept anyway. The media circus is all he’s got.

            • JoBo@feddit.uk
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              1 year ago

              This is the UK. We don’t do plea bargains. There are sentencing guidelines which include giving credit for an early guilty plea but, in this case, I doubt it will make much difference to whatever sentence he eventually gets.

    • thehatfox@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      Maybe he somehow fell and got stuck under the truck, and then got lost on his way back to the prison?

      As far as I know you can enter a not guilty plea regardless of the circumstances. Maybe he wants to appear a martyr, and use the resulting trial to attract attention.

    • Chariotwheel@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      I want him to win just to see the bold story that someone made him not guilt.

      It would need to be fantastic and I want to see that.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The former soldier Daniel Khalife has pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey in London to escaping from HMP Wandsworth, where he was on remand after being charged with terrorism offences earlier this year.

    He is accused of escaping from prison on 6 September by allegedly strapping himself to the underside of a food delivery vehicle.

    Khalife was arrested on a canal towpath in west London at 10.41am on 9 September after being pulled off a push bike by a plainclothes counter-terrorism officer.

    He had been in Wandsworth prison awaiting trial after allegedly planting a fake bomb at an RAF base and gathering information that might be useful to terrorists or enemies of the UK.

    Mr Justice Jeremy Baker joined the charges and Khalife will be tried at Woolwich crown court on 13 November for all four offences.

    He will reappear at the Old Bailey for a review hearing on 13 October, when the trial date may be discussed.


    The original article contains 204 words, the summary contains 159 words. Saved 22%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!