Sir David Amess’ daughter slams murder review as just a “paper exercise”
The man who killed Conservative MP Sir David Amess was released from the Prevent anti-terror programme “too quickly”, a review has found.
Sir David, a devout Catholic, was stabbed to death by Islamic State (ISIS) supporter Ali Harbi Ali during a constituency surgery at a church hall in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2021.
The killer, who was given a whole-life sentence, had become radicalised by ISIS propaganda and had been referred to the anti-terror programme Prevent before the attack.
His case had been closed five years before, after just one meeting for coffee at a McDonald’s to deal with his interpretation of “haram” (forbidden under Islamic law), as well as texts and calls with an “intervention provider”.
Despite Prevent policy and guidance at the time being “mostly followed”, his case was “exited too quickly”, security minister Dan Jarvis told the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Following the publication of a review into Prevent’s handling of Southport child killer Axel Rudakubana earlier this month, Mr Jarvis said a Prevent learning review into Sir David’s killing would be released this week in a commitment to transparency over the anti-terror programme.
However, Sir David’s daughter, Katie, has dismissed it as a “paper exercise” with no proper accountability and is pushing for a “full public open inquiry”.
Matt Juke, head of counter-terrorism policing, said it’s clear the management and handling of Ali’s case by Prevent “should have been better” and it is “critical” the review is acted on “so that other families are spared the pain felt by the loved ones of Sir David”.
Katie Amess also welcomed Wednesday’s announcement of a public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks but said every victim failed by Prevent deserved the same.
She told Sky’s The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee she had been briefed on the findings of the learning review last year.
Ms Amess said she had to sign “a contract to say I wouldn’t tell anybody what was in it otherwise I’d go to prison or be fined”.
She dismissed the review as woefully insufficient and said it was just put together from existing paperwork and email logs.
The 39-year-old, who is taking legal action against Essex Police and the Home Office, told Sky News her father deserved better from his “friends” in parliament after the decades he served as an MP.
Ms Amess also criticised Yvette Cooper’s reticence to approve a public inquiry as she was not in office when her father was murdered. The MP’s daughter said other inquiries had been signed off by home secretaries in similar circumstances.
“I want to know what is being covered up and why they’re not committing to an inquiry for myself and other victims,” she told Sky News.
Ms Amess said the information that’s emerged so far vividly shows the weakness of the Prevent programme, with “no clear form of communication between police and Prevent and other channels”.
