Essex MP Sir David Amess' killer had anti-terror case closed 'too quickly' government report finds
The MP for Southend West was killed during a constituency surgery in 2021
Last updated 12th Feb 2025
A report into the murder of Sir David Amess has found Ali Harbi Ali, who killed the veteran MP in 2021, was referred to the Prevent programme for two years.
The Conservative MP for Southend West, 69, was stabbed to death during a constituency surgery by Ali Harbi Ali, then aged 26, at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex in October 2021.
Ali was sentenced in 2022 to a whole-life prison term for the murder.
Security minister Dan Jarvis has told the Commons today "the perpetrator had previously been referred to the Prevent programme and subsequently to the specialist Channel programme between 2014 and 2016, between five and seven years before the attack took place.
The minister said publishing the Prevent learning review into the case, completed in February 2022, would "enable public scrutiny of Prevent".
Mr Jarvis said: "The perpetrator of the attack on Sir David became known to Prevent in October 2014, when he was referred by his school after teachers identified a change in his behaviour.
The case was adopted by the Channel Mutli-Agency Early Intervention Programme in November of 2014.
An intervention provider who specialised in tackling Islamist extremism was assigned to work with him.
The perpetrator was exited from Channel in April 2015 after his terrorism risk was assessed as low.
A 12-month post-exit police review in 2016 also found no terrorism concerns.
The case was closed to Prevent at that point.
There were no further Prevent referrals in the five years between the case being closed and the attack."
Recommendations:
The report has made multiple recommendations to prevent 'future failures,' including the way someone is referred to the Prevent Program:
The report says "there is no single referral process across the country.
Whilst a National Prevent Referral Form exists the take up is not consistent.
The inconsistency in relation to this is problematic.
Where processes are different in different areas there are more chances of failure.
It is recommended that consistency be applied across the country and that all referrals are made to the police in the first instance.
This will allow de-confliction to take place."
The report also suggests a review into the current Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF).
It is recommending the Home Office "commit to a full review of the VAF process with the aim of providing a process for practitioners which ensures that vulnerability is understood, risks are identified, and that this then leads to the practical aspects of the support plan, and subsequent actions.
It outlines that "at the moment there is a disconnect between the work of the panels, the support plans, and the VAF.
Whilst this review is undertaken an interim consideration could be to look at pooling best practice in terms of CTP training in relation to the DIF, and Home Office training relating to the VAF.
This may allow the opportunity to identify practical steps which can be used for the wider root and branch review of the VAF process."
Who is Ali Harbi Ali?
The report details how Ali Harbi Ali's outward appearance had changed in that he no longer wore Western clothing but was now wearing what has been described as “Islamic dress”.
He had made it clear that he was concerned about the compatibility of listening to music and the interest charged on student loans being ‘haram’, in other words against the tenets of his religion.
In line with this he had expressed concerns about mixing with the opposite sex in educational settings.
Sir David Amess' daughter calls for full inquest into his death:
His daughter, Katie Amess, previously said he was "catastrophically" failed by the Government's Prevent programme, and has since been calling for a full inquest into his death.
Miss Amess said she was told Ali had been reported to Prevent in 2014, but after one meeting his case was not followed up by the anti-radicalisation programme "due to an admin error".
She told the Sunday Times "What happened to my dad should not have been an admin error."
In an interview with the newspaper, Ms Amess, an actress who lives in West Hollywood in the United States, said the pain of his death was "unbearable" and "unspeakable".
She added: "It's pretty obvious that Prevent isn't fit for purpose, it has consistently failed people.
It failed me. It failed my family catastrophically, it failed the public and also it failed other Members of Parliament."
Today, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called for a 'more formal inquiry.'
Concerns have been raised by the Amess family about the way Essex Police handled the case, and a complaint has been made and referred to The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).