Sir David Amess MP was “assassinated for terrorist purposes” by an Islamic extremist who had plotted attacks on other MPs including Michael Gove, the Old Bailey has heard.
Ali Harbi Ali, 26, is accused of stabbing to death Sir David, 69, in a “cold and calculated murder” during a meeting with the public at a church in his Southend West constituency.
It is said the fatal knife attack was carried out “in revenge” for the bombing of Syria, with Ali hoping he would be shot dead by police to become a “martyr”.
Jurors heard Ali, from Kentish Town, allegedly pretended to be one of Sir David’s constituents to get a meeting with the veteran MP, and is accused of being a “committed, fanatical, radicalised Islamist terrorist”.
Prosecutor Tom Little QC said Ali had allegedly been plotting an attack on a high-profile politician “for a number of years”, and is accused of reconnaissance at Mr Gove’s west London home and the constituency office of Finchley and Golders Green MP Mike Freer.
“This is a case involving a cold and calculated murder”, Mr Little told the court.
“A murder carried out in a place of worship. A murder carried out because of a warped and twisted and violent ideology. It was a murder carried out by a young man who for many years had been planning just such an attack and who was, and is, a committed, fanatical, radicalised Islamist terrorist.”
Sir David was stabbed 23 times in the attack, with signs that he had struggled with the knifeman in a bid to fend off the blows.
Members of Sir David’s family are in court for the trial, divided from the defendant in the dock by a makeshift screen.
It is said Ali said “sorry” before carrying out the knife attack, and later said he wanted to kill all MPs who had backed the war in Syria.
‘Murdered while simply doing his job’
“The man that was murdered was a man who was simply doing his job helping members of the public – a job he loved, a job he enjoyed, a job that he had been doing for many years and a job that he was very good at – that job was serving the public”, said Mr Little.
“That job was being a Member of Parliament. The man that was brutally murdered by this defendant was Sir David Amess MP.
“He had been a member of Parliament for many years. At the very time that he was attacked by this defendant he was meeting constituents.
“The defendant tricked his way into meeting Sir David Amess by pretending to be one of his constituents when he was not. Having arranged the meeting by fraud he travelled across London armed with the knife that he was to use to murder Sir David Amess.
“This was nothing less than an assassination for terrorist purposes. It is a crime to which, we say, he has no defence.”
Sir David died from stab wounds after being attacked at a church in Leigh on Sea, Essex, on October 15 last year.
‘Killer apologised before stabbing MP’
Mr Little said Ali “appeared relaxed and chatty” as he went into the meeting with Sir David, and was initially on his phone before starting to question the MP.
“The defendant then said he wanted to talk about foreign affairs”, said the prosecutor.
“He said that he knew Sir David had initially supported the Iraq war but had changed his mind. Sir David looked confused at this.
“At this point the defendant’s mobile telephone rang or perhaps made a notification sound such as when receiving a message or messages.
“The defendant said ‘sorry’ and then pulled out a knife and stabbed Sir David Amess.
“Sir David screamed. The defendant stabbed him again. Indeed he stabbed him multiple times in a vicious and frenzied attack.”
The MP’s assistant ran out of the room while another aide called 999, and two of Sir David’s constituents saw Ali waving a bloodied knife around while saying “I killed him, I killed him”, it is said. “Sir David Amess was lying unconscious and, as it transpires, fatally wounded. The defendant said ‘Don’t come anywhere near me. I will stab you’”, said Mr Little.
Ali allegedly told the couple: “Don’t’ come nearer. I’ll go and finish him off if he’s not dead”.
Attack driven by ‘revenge for Syria’
He is accused of revealing his “murderous intent” by then saying: “I want him dead. I want every Parliament Minister who signed up for the bombing of Syria who agreed to the Iraqi war to die”
“This was no spur of the moment decision”, continued the prosecutor.
“It was not the first time that he had planned an attack or a similar attack. Indeed he bought the knife five years before for just such an attack. I told you that he was and is a committed terrorist.
“He had for a number of years been determined to carry out an act of domestic terrorism. To that end, from at least May 2019 he researched and planned potential attacks on Members of Parliament and the Houses of Parliament.
“This included specific reconnaissance trips to a constituency surgery of Mike Freer MP and to the home address of Michael Gove MP.”
The court heard Sir David had been keen to get out and meet his constituents after the pandemic lockdowns, with details of the surgeries advertised in advance.
Ali, a former trainee radiographer, is accused of pretending to be a Southend resident to secure a meeting with the MP, claiming he wanted to discuss an issue and pretending to be interested in Christianity, the court heard.
After the stabbing, Ali is accused of saying: “I’ve done it because of Syria. I’ve done it because of the innocent people. I’ve done it because of the bombing. He deserved to die.”
Mr Little told jurors: “No he didn’t - what he was saying at the very time of the murder was that he was doing this in revenge for bombings in Syria.
“Revenge is not a defence to murder, or any other crime.”
‘This attack was for the sake of Allah’
Ali sent a message to his friends and family just before carrying out the stabbing, apologising to his own family and claiming he had an “obligation” to avenge the bombing of the town of Raqqa in Syria.
In the message, Ali had allegedly written: “This attack was for the sake of Allah”.
Mr Little told jurors: “The message could not be clearer – this was a revenge attack done, he was claiming, in the name of Allah.
“In other words the defendant was taking the law into his own hands.
“This was the use of serious violence designed to intimidate the public and to influence the Government for the purposes of advancing a religious and ideological cause. A murder, we say, therefore done for terrorist purposes.”
Attempted death by police
The prosecutor said Ali “appears to have assumed that the first police officers to attend would be firearms officers and that he would be shot, killed and as I have just said would be a martyr for the terrorist cause.
“However, this was not Central London but Leigh-on-Sea and the first police attenders were not firearms officers but PC Scott James and PC Ryan Curtis.
“They were on duty in plain clothes when they heard on their radio that a man had been stabbed numerous times.
“They drove towards the scene on blue lights, following an ambulance that was heading in the same direction.
“They were unarmed. No firearms. No taser. Instead they had just an police extendable baton and PAVA spray, an incapacitant spray similar to pepper spray.”
Jurors were shown bodyworn footage of the arrest as the officers bravely entered the church and came across Ali holding a bloody knife.
The two officers, who were not armed with guns or Tasers, repeatedly shouted for Ali to “drop the knife”, and eventually they rushed forward to pin him to the ground in the aisle of the church.
Ali ‘identified MP targets by voting record’
Ali voluntarily told police the attack was “terror” and “religious”, and when questioned he admitted being self-radicalised in 2014 or 2015.
Asked if it was a “terrorist attack”, Ali said: “I mean, I guess yeah, I killed an MP, and I done it.”
The following day, Ali commented on his admission, saying: “Oh God I sound stupid there. Nah… the way I worded it. It sounds like a Little Britain episode.
“Um, I just… yeah, it sounded like what a terrorist act is. I went into an MP’s surgery and I killed him, so with the idea of vengeance in a way, so I… guess we’ll get into that.”
Ali said he dropped out of university in 2016, and decided he had an “obligation” to carry out a terrorist attack in the UK.
“He considered he had an obligation to perform jihad in the United Kingdom”, said Mr Little.
“By 2021 the defendant conceded that he had run out of excuses for not carrying out an attack and he began to research targets.
“He decided his target would be the 523 MPs who carried out a vote to carry out airstrikes in Syria. He identified them using the website theyworkforus.com. His aim therefore was to ‘influence the politicians’.”
Gove attack ditched after divorce news
During his police interview, Ali said he had gone to Parliament to find out where MPs left the estate, but was put off by police “armed to the teeth” around Westminster.
He searched on Twitter for MP surgeries, finding a Tweet by Sir David about an upcoming meeting, and told the police he had gone out several times with the intention to “do something”.
But Ali said he came home again after he “bottled it”, and conceded he had visited Mike Freer MP’s surgery in Finchley, north London.
“He also identified from looking at ‘journalistic pictures’ the home address of Michael Gove MP”, said Mr Little.
“He decided against attacking Mr Gove as he learned Mr Gove had split up from his wife and the house had got sold.”
Ali, from Kentish Town, is wearing a long black shirt and dark-rimmed spectacles in the dock of court two at the Old Bailey.
Ali denies murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
The trial continues.
