The prison escape of terror suspect and former soldier Daniel Khalife dominated the news last week – but the reporting of his capture almost broke the internet.
The 21-year-old fled HMP Wandsworth on September 6 while working in the prison kitchen, reportedly strapping himself to the underside of a truck in a movie-like bid for freedom. He was then at large for 75 hours before being caught in Northolt on Saturday after a plain clothes police officer pulled him off a bike on a canal towpath.
The escape was major news, throwing the spotlight on the prison service, then police, as they raced to track the former member of the Royal Signals, amid sightings in Wandsworth town centre, Richmond and Chiswick.
The jail break put the prison service under the spotlight, and police, as media outlets tracked every sighting during the manhunt.
When news came that Khalife had been arrested, it seems GB New journalist Martin Daubney wasn’t quite prepared to report it.
As GB News footage showed PM Rishi Sunak disembarking from a plane, Daubney switched gears to report the breaking news: “But first it’s the news headlines, no it’s not, we’re going straight to me, it’s breaking news, it’s fast happening, because as we just said, um, the terror man.”
Noticeably flustered, Daubney then reached for some notes, muttering to himself, “F***, it’s all gone wrong.”
And things didn’t get much better from there during his “car crash” performance, much to the amusement of GB News viewers.
On X, formerly Twitter, commenters found it difficult to pick out their favourite f*** up.
One person listed a few: “It’s fast happening”, “… the terror man” and “police have escaped”, and encouraged Daubney to “take a bow.”
Naturally, Piers Morgan couldn’t let it pass without chipping in.
Morgan noted that his fellow newsman had “accused me of failing as a journalist”, then shared the clip of Daubney’s terrible terror arrest meltdown.
Another commenter used the moment to reassure anyone worried about work on Monday, that “you cannot be as bad at your job as Martin Daubney.”
Other less polite commenters suggested Daubney’s performance showed why “people without any talent should be nowhere near breaking news”.
Another suggested the clip would become a training tool for young journalists.
Amusingly, someone else suggested the mix-up would be career-ending in most places, but not on GB News.