A man has been jailed for the murder of British Member of Parliament Sir David Amess MP and of plotting to commit a terrorist attack in the U.K.
Ali Harbi Ali, 26 of Kentish Town, London, attacked Sir David with a kitchen knife shortly after midday, on October 15 2021, during a constituency surgery event in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. He was sentenced on April 13, at the Old Bailey court to life imprisonment with a whole life order.
Following his arrest and during interview, Ali explained to officers that he had long held a desire to attack a Member of Parliament who had previously voted to support airstrikes in Syria. He also told detectives that he had researched other political figures as possible targets, with his planning stretching over a period of more than two years.
An investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command uncovered evidence of Ali carrying out hostile reconnaissance around the Houses of Parliament weeks before the murder.
Detectives found evidence and CCTV footage showing that in 2019, he also visited the home address and the constituency surgery of two other MPs. Officers also found attack planning notes on his phone, as well as extremist content he had accessed.
Ali was found guilty of murder, and of preparation of terrorist acts at the same court on April 11.