Ali Harbi Ali Found Guilty of Murdering Sir David Amess and Preparing Acts of Terrorism

A man described as a "fanatical terrorist" has been found guilty of the murder of MP Sir David Amess and for preparing acts of terrorism.The Southend West MP had been stabbed more than 20 times during a constituency surgery meeting in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on 15th October last year.

After he pretended to be an NHS employee new to the area, he found his way into the meeting and proceeded to stab Sir David Amess. While Amess was dying on the floor, Ali sent a note from his phone justifying his actions to his WhatsApp contacts and stayed in the room.

A man saw Ali standing holding a knife in his right hand, saying: "I want to kill David, I want them all to die." Ali was on the phone and the witness could hear a female voice saying: "What have you done?" Ali replied that he committed the killing because of Syria and that he wanted to be shot and killed.The man asked Ali why he had done it and he replied: "I wanted to kill David and every MP who voted for bombings in Syria, I wanted to die, be shot and be a hero."

After his arrest Ali told police he wanted officers to shoot him and had rushed towards them. When he realised the officers were unarmed, he dropped his knife after the police commanded it.The trial had taken place at the Old Bailey.

A jury took just 18 minutes to deliberate and then convict Ali Harbi Ali of murder and preparing acts of terrorism. Ali Harbi Ali from Kentish Town, North London, had denied the charges and claimed he targeted the MP over his vote for airstrikes on Syria.Ali refused to stand up in the dock on "religious grounds" as the guilty verdicts were read out in court. The judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, said that Ali will be sentenced on Wednesday.

The judge told the jury that Ali had no legal defence for the murder. Ali had been radicalised by Islamic State propaganda since 2014 while undergoing Prevent, the official UK anti-radicalisation scheme. He started planning attacks on MPs in May 2019. He had carried out reconnaissance on other MPs, even scouting the home of Michael Gove. Ali lingered around the Houses of Parliament, waiting for a chance to strike. The suspect was also spotted looking through a window of MP Mike Freer's north London constituency office.