Sir David Amess murder trial: First week round-up

Ali Harbi Ali, 26, is standing trial at the Old Bailey for murder and preparing acts of terrorism following the death of the Southend West MP in October last year.

Ali, of Kentish Town, north London, denies both charges.

Prosecutors have been outlining their case throughout the first week of a trial expected to run into April.

Read more >> How Ali 'tricked' his way into meeting with Sir David

Here is everything heard in court this week:

'Attack was a terroist assassination'

Opening the case on Monday, prosecutor Tom Little QC, labelled Sir David’s death a ‘terrorist assassination’ and claimed the defendant has ‘no defence’ to either charges.

Mr Little said the attack was “no spur-of-the-moment decision”, and said Ali had bought the knife used to attack Sir David five years earlier.

The court heard Ali had lied when he emailed to request an appointment with Sir David, claiming he was moving into the area.

Ali caught on CCTV leaving Leigh train station on October 15

Mr Little told jurors that Ali appeared “relaxed and chatty” as he walked to Sir David just before “brutally” stabbing him shortly after midday.

During the meeting, the defendant’s mobile made a sound, Ali said “sorry”, then pulled out a knife and repeatedly stabbed Sir David in a “vicious and frenzied attack”, Mr Little said.

The accused was said to have waved around a bloody carving knife with a 12-inch blade and said: “I killed him, I killed him.”

‘Defendant wanted to be shot dead’

Eyewitness Darren King was among those in the church when the alleged murder happened.

He recalled his tense stand-off with Ali as Sir David lay mortally wounded on the ground.

In one exchange, recalled to police hours after the stabbing and captured on police video, Mr King said: “He (Ali) said: I want to be shot.

“I said: They (police) do that in America, not so much over here.”

Ali Harbi Ali outside Southend Police Station after being arrested

Giving evidence in court, Mr King Ali also tried to justify his actions, which jurors previously heard was to do with the Government’s Syrian bombing campaign.

He said: “It was all on Syria, the Iraq war, the innocent people who died over there, he wants to kill David, all the MPs that voted for the bombing.

“And he wanted to die. (He said): I want to be shot.

“The rest of it was probably crap.

“I said: Why do you want to die? You’re talking to your sister – how’s she gonna feel if you die?

“He said: I’m gonna be a martyr, I’m gonna die a hero.

“And I said: No, you’re just gonna be dead, mate.”

Brave officers tackled defendant

Jurors have been shown footage of the moment Ali was tackled by two plain-clothes police officers.

The video showed Essex Police constables Scott James and Ryan Curtis ordering Ali Harbi Ali to drop a bloody, foot-long carving knife before charging at him and pinning him to the floor.

The stand-off happened within minutes of Sir David being knifed more than 20 times.

PCs James and Curtis were in the area on trying to find an unrelated wanted suspect when they were called to Belfairs Methodist Church.

Body-cam footage from police arriving at the church

The duo arrived to be told the 69-year-old politician had been “stabbed several times”.

The pair, armed only with batons and incapacitant spray, ran into the building and came face to face with the suspect.

The officers shouted: “Drop that knife.”

One added: “It’s only going to go one way. Please drop that knife.”

The pair then charged at Ali, who is said to have been on a 14-minute phone call with his “hysterical” sister at the time.

Ali was taken into custody, where he allegedly told the booking-in officer the incident was both “terror” related and had “religious” motivations.

Ali accused of long-term planning

Prosecutors claim Ali had been plotting revenge for air strikes in Syria for several years.

Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer were among those identified as Ali’s potential targets, the Old Bailey was told.

Following his arrest, Ali, 26, explained how he had been self-radicalised between 2014 and 2015.

Read more >> Chilling moment MP's alleged killer traveled to Leigh caught on CCTV

By 2021, he had allegedly decided to carry out an attack on home turf and focused on some of the 523 MPs who voted on air strikes in Syria.

He went to the Houses of Parliament for reconnaissance seven times but found police there were “armed to the teeth”, jurors were told.

Prosecutor Tom Little QC said London-born Ali tried to find out the home addresses and surgeries of MPs.

He visited Tory MP Mike Freer’s surgery in Finchley, north London, and looked at photographs of Mr Gove’s home in west London, the court heard.

Ali Harbi Ali caught on CCTV near Parliament in September

Mr Little said: “He decided against attacking Mr Gove as he learned Mr Gove had split up from his wife and the house had got sold.”

The prosecutor said Ali considered “bumping into” the minister “while he was out jogging”.

He also carried out internet research on Sir Keir, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, the court was told.

After searching multiple MP’s websites and Wikipedia pages, Ali is said to have focused on Sir David and his constituency.