From radiotherapy student to ‘cold and calculated’ killer: Ali Harbi Ali revealed ‘warped’ motive behind MP murder

Ali Harbi Ali had spent years hatching his plot to target an MP before his “cold and calculated” murder of Sir David Amess.

The 26-year-old “fanatical terrorist” had researched a number of potential high-profile targets including Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Sir Keir Starmer, before settling on the MP for Southend West.

Prosecutors described the knife attack on the veteran Conservative politician as “an assassination for terrorist purposes”.

Here, Sky News gives a detailed account of how Ali carried out his deadly plan and explains the “warped” motive behind the killing.

MP killer was son of ex-Somali government official

Ali was born in London after his family fled the war-ravaged African nation of Somalia in the 1990s, it is thought.

His father, Harbi Ali Kullane, previously worked as director of communications at the office of the prime minister in Somalia.

Ali went to secondary school in Croydon, south London, and “excelled” in his first five years, his trial heard.

However his attendance and school work began to decline during sixth form and his A-level results were not as expected.

Ali claimed that coverage of the Syrian war prompted him to start viewing terror-related material online in 2014.

He later enrolled at City University for a degree in radiotherapy but withdrew from the course in 2016 for “personal reasons”.

A Telegram message from November 2016 calling for people to “wage jihad” with “knives, guns, explosives to kill the crusaders” was found on Ali’s phone, as well as content related to terror group Islamic State.

Why did Ali target Sir David Amess?

By 2021, Ali had decided to carry out an attack and focused on some of the MPs who voted for air strikes in Syria.

He went to the Houses of Parliament for reconnaissance seven times and tried to find out the home addresses and surgeries of MPs.

He visited Tory MP Mike Freer’s surgery in Finchley, north London, and travelled to west London to “scope out” cabinet minister Michael Gove’s home six times between March and July last year.

He had drawn up a plan to attack Mr Gove when he was out jogging, and had also carried out internet research on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, before turning his sole attention to Sir David.

Ali had searched for Sir David’s political views and visited an article the MP wrote with the headline: “In the fight against Islamic extremism, moderate Muslims are our best allies.”

He emailed Sir David’s office on 27 September 2021 asking for a meeting with the politician after falsely claiming he was moving to the MP’s constituency.

Ali claimed he worked in healthcare, that he was someone interested in Christianity and that he wanted to get to know his “future MP”.

In a series of email exchanges with Sir David’s aide Rebecca Hayton, the killer told her the meeting would not “take too long” and an appointment was arranged for 15 October 2021.

Journey to kill MP

Ali, who lived in Kentish Town, north London, said he was “nervous” on the morning of the attack and woke up at about 4am before going to pray at a nearby mosque.

The killer said he was “steeling” himself having “bottled” previous planned attacks on MPs.

Wearing a long khaki coat and with a black backpack slung over his right shoulder, Ali left his home carrying a 12-inch knife he had bought from Argos five years earlier.

He was captured on CCTV as he walked alongside unsuspecting members of the public from his home in Kentish Town to Gospel Oak station, where he arrived at about 8.50am.

Wearing a face mask, he travelled on a busy overground train to Barking station where he appeared to assist a fellow passenger with directions as he waited for his connection.

He then boarded a train to Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, where he arrived about an hour-and-a-half before his appointment with Sir David.

CCTV images showed Ali walking through the seaside town to Belfairs Methodist Church where Sir David’s constituency surgery was held.

There was a 25-minute gap where Ali appeared to be waiting near the church after arriving too early for his midday appointment.

He later told police he had looked at the sea for half an hour and also stepped on dog poo during his journey.

‘Relaxed’ killer arrives to meet MP

After walking into the church, Ali went to the toilet before returning to take a seat in the waiting area.

Sir David’s aide Julie Cushion said she had some “chit chat” with Ali about him settling into the area before he was led into a back room to meet the MP.

Ms Hayton, who had arranged the meeting, said Ali appeared “relaxed” as she asked him about his move to the area.

Ali replied that it was “much nicer than London”.

Killer said ‘sorry’ then stabbed MP

Ali was playing “quite a lot” with his phone when he sat opposite Sir David and placed the device on the table in front of the MP, Ms Hayton said.

The killer later claimed that Sir David “knew straight away something was up” and suspected a Brass Eye-style “sting” because the politician asked if he was being recorded.

“Because… Brass Eye, they did a thing on him, like, 14 years ago,” Ali added.

According to Ms Hayton, Sir David asked Ali if they had spoken on the phone and what made him move to Southend.

Ali claimed he trained as a radiographer and told the MP he had moved by himself and was “waiting to get settled” before starting a family.

The killer then started talking about politics which “got David’s back up a bit”, Ms Hayton said.

Ali told the MP: “I’ve come here today just to get a feel for what you can do for the town.”

Read more: Follow updates from the MP murder trial as they had happened

Sir David responded by saying: “I’ve been doing this for a long time,” and that the purpose of his surgery “is not to talk about politics”, according to Ms Hayton.

Ali then told Sir David: “I want to talk to you about foreign affairs,” before saying he knew the MP had supported the Iraq war but changed his mind.

Sir David looked “confused” before Ali said “sorry”, pulled out a knife and stabbed the MP in the stomach, the politician’s aide said.

‘Vicious and frenzied’ attack on MP

“David screamed, and sort of panicked,” Ms Hayton said.

“I think he stabbed him again.

“I could see David screaming.

“I saw (the knife) go in once and as I got up (Ali) kept going.”

Prosecutors said Ali carried out a “vicious and frenzied” attack on the MP, stabbing him 21 times.

Sir David suffered wounds to his cheek, neck, shoulder, armpit, stomach, back and chest, including a stab wound that pierced one of his lungs, a pathologist said.

Ali said he remembered stabbing Sir David “a few times” and that the “finisher” was “probably on his neck”.

He claimed the MP had kept saying “no, no, no” during the attack.

Killer’s message to family and friends

Around the time of the attack, Ali sent a message to family and friends which appeared to have been drafted days before.

In it, he said the attack was “for the sake of Allah”.

He wrote: “I apologise to my family for deceiving them for so long. I would have preferred Hijrah (travel) so as not to harm you but I could not.

“The obligations upon me to take revenge for the blood of Muslims were too great.

“The shame of abiding in the very lands that carry out these horrendous acts against my brothers and sisters was too much.”

MP’s aide ‘froze in the moment’

Ms Cushion, who was not in the same room as Sir David, said she heard a “piercing scream” and there was a “very loud crash” which she assumed was “furniture going over”.

“Rebecca came running towards me screaming that David had been stabbed,” she said.

She picked up her phone but “froze in the moment” and her colleague had to shout 999 before she responded and made the call.

Asked how Ali looked, Ms Cushion said: “Self-satisfaction is how I would describe it.”

Members of public confront MP killer

Ms Hayton said she ran outside to raise the alarm and returned to the church with two members of the public, Yvonne Eaves and her partner Darren King, who were due to meet Sir David.

The couple entered the church and Ms Eaves said she saw Ali waving a knife around while saying: “I killed him, I killed him.”

Her harrowing 999 call was played at the trial as she warned that Ali was threatening to kill others and stab police officers when they arrive.

After the operator urged Ms Eaves to “keep calm”, she said of Sir David: “He’s dead. He’s dead. He’s stabbed him, multiple times.”

Ms Eaves warned that Ali said he was going “finish him off if he’s not dead” and that he wanted to be shot dead by police.

“He wants to be a hero,” she said. “He wants the police to come and shoot him.”

Ms Eaves later told police that Ali gave the impression that “he had achieved something”.

“He wasn’t remorseful,” she added.

MP ‘crumpled’ on the floor

Unarmed Mr King recalled coming face-to-face with Ali – who was holding blood-stained knife – as he saw Sir David “crumpled” on the floor.

Mr King said he tried to “calm” the knifeman who was shouting on the phone to his “hysterical” sister.

The witness told police that Ali said he wanted “every parliament minister (sic) who signed up for the bombing of Syria, and agreed to the Iraq war, to die”.

After Ali said he wanted to be shot dead, Mr King told him: “We’re not in America, we’re in England mate.”

“I said: ‘Why do you want to die? You’re talking to your sister – how’s she going to feel if you die?’,” Mr King told police.

“He said: ‘I’m going to be a martyr, I’m going to die a hero’.

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

The court heard Ali was on the phone to his sister for 14 minutes after stabbing Sir David.

‘Drop that f****** knife now’

Two plain-clothed officers, armed only with batons and incapacitant spray, were the first to arrive at the scene.

Dramatic bodycam footage showed PCs Ryan Curtis and Scott James enter the church building and shout “drop that f****** knife now” as they approached Ali.

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

The pair then charged at Ali and tackled him to the ground, holding him down and yelling “on the floor now!”

Ali was eventually moved into a seated position and the officers told him: “Don’t try anything.”

In the footage, Ali was heard saying: “My phone’s rung, it’s the family.”

Shouting, as if to ensure the caller could hear, he added: “Don’t worry. The police got me. They’re not going to shoot.”

A police officer was already administering CPR to Sir David when paramedics arrived on the scene but there was no detectable heartbeat.

The MP was pronounced dead at the scene at 1.10pm.

The knife used to murder Sir David was later recovered by police from the church.

Asked whether the incident was domestic-related after being taken to police station, Ali quickly replied “terror”.

‘One of the strangest days of my life’

Following his arrest, Ali was interviewed by police as he calmly described in detail how he had carried out the attack.

Ali said: “It felt like one minute I was sat down at the table talking to him and the next he was dead.

“But, yeah, it’s probably one of the strangest days… of my life.”

Ali confirmed it was a “terror attack”, saying: “I mean, I guess yeah, I killed an MP. I done it, so yeah.”

Despite his admissions to police, Ali denied charges of murder and preparing acts of terrorism but was convicted following a trial at the Old Bailey.