A PRIEST who rushed to the scene of Sir David’s murder to perform last rites for his “dear friend” only to be held at the police cordon has reflected on that “dark day”.

Father Jeffrey Woolnough, parish priest for St Peter’s Catholic Church in Eastwood, had grown to know Sir David Amess – a parishioner of St Helens Catholic Church in Westcliff – over the years.

Working just five minutes down the road from the site of the murder, Belfairs Methodist Church, Father Woolnough says he felt a “duty” to try and perform the last rites when he heard of the attack.

In the aftermath of the murder, police bosses and Catholic church leaders agreed on new policing guidelines to allow priests to enter a crime scene in certain circumstances.

Echo: Father Jeffrey Woolnough at a service for Sir David Amess - Image: PAFather Jeffrey Woolnough at a service for Sir David Amess - Image: PA (Image: Image: PA)

“Because he died in my parish, on my watch, I felt I had a responsibility to react and try and administer the last rites,” Father Woolnough explained.

When he arrived on the scene, he was denied entry by officers.

“With a murderer on the site, and police not knowing if there were further threats, plus a crime scene that needed to be preserved, I get why police made the decision they did,” he said.

“David had been a particularly good friend to me, and I just thought if there was anything I could do for him it would be to administer last rites.”

The College of Policing published the guidelines in April following meetings between then Metropolitan Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick and Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster.

Echo: Father Wooulnough says he thinks of Sir David every dayFather Wooulnough says he thinks of Sir David every day (Image: Image: Jeffrey Woolnough)

The updated guidelines state police may permit priests to visit crime victims to administer the sacraments, at the discretion of the senior officer on the scene.

It also set outs situations in which such access might be limited, including, for instance, "the need to secure and preserve the crime scene and the material within it."

Father Woolnough says the trauma of Sir David’s murder lives with him and the community.

“I have missed him so very much indeed since that dark day,” he said.

“For all of us, his murder was numbing and shocking. And it still is to this day, to think something like that could happen, it’s beyond belief.”

“If there is something good come out of it, as heart-breaking as it is to say, it’s that in the future priest may be allowed on the scene.”