There have been no confirmed sightings of fugitive Daniel Abed Khalife since he escaped Wandsworth prison despite receiving more than 50 calls from the public.
The 21-year-old former soldier working in the kitchen was wearing a chef’s uniform when he broke out of the Category B prison by holding on to straps underneath a food truck to make his getaway.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the Bidfood delivery vehicle was stopped by police an hour and five minutes after it left the prison around 2.6 miles away at the junction of Upper Richmond Road with Carlton Drive, near East Putney station.
Police have said it is possible he has already left the country but more than 150 counterterrorism officers and staff are focusing efforts in the Kingston and Staffordshire areas.
Commander Murphy said more than 50 calls have been received from members of the public but there have been no “confirmed sightings” despite it being a busy area of London.
He described the situation as “a little unusual” and “perhaps a testament” to Khalife’s “ingenuity” in his escape and his “movements after”.
“We have some of the best military in the world here in the UK and he was a trained soldier,” he said.
“So ultimately he has skills for perhaps some sessions of the public don’t have that I am really keen that we are using everything at our means to find him.”