Sir David Amess killer left Prevent too quickly, review says

Sir David Amess’s killer was exited from the government’s Prevent anti-terror programme too quickly and its handling of him was “sub-optimal”, a review has said.

Ali Harbi Ali murdered the Conservative MP for Southend West at a constituency surgery in October 2021.

He first became known to the Prevent programme in October 2014 but his case was closed in 2016.

The Prevent Learning Review into the case was published earlier and said the “hope” of addressing Ali’s vulnerabilities was missed because of a “breakdown in communication”.

The review was commissioned by the Home Office and Counter Terrorism Police.

Sir David’s wife and daughter both welcomed the report’s publication and urged the government to open a public inquiry into his death.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the report found “the rationale for certain decisions” in the monitoring of Ali was “not explicit”.

“The assessment in terms of the perpetrator’s vulnerabilities was problematic, and this ultimately led to questionable decision making and sub-optimal handling of the case,” he said.

“Responsibilities between police and local authorities were blurred.

“The tool used for identifying an individual’s vulnerability to radicalism was outdated.”

Ali was first referred to Prevent by his school, Riddlesdown college in south Croydon, London, after teachers noticed a change in his behaviour in 2014.

A month later he was moved on to the next stage of the anti-radicalisation scheme, Channel, working with experts in Islamist extremism.

He was assigned to an “intervention provider”, but he was exited from Channel in April 2015 after his terrorism risk was deemed to be low.

He was assessed as part of a police review a year later, the case was closed and no further Prevent referrals were made.

Sir David was stabbed multiple times at the constituency surgery at a church in Leigh-on-Sea on 15 October 2021.

His trial was told how he had wanted to join the Islamic State group in Syria and wanted to take revenge against MPs who voted for airstrikes in the country.

He was given a whole-life prison sentence in April 2022 following a trial at the Old Bailey.

Jarvis listed other issues identified in the report:

• The support given did not tackle all the vulnerabilities identified
• The school that made the referral should have been involved to help determine risk and support
• The tasking of an intervention provider was problematic with only one session being provided, rather than two

Lady Julia Amess said the family had been aware of the findings but were “gagged” from talking about them.

“We are determined to keep up our fight for a public inquiry which we believe the family and others deserve,” she said.

His daughter Katie said she “sincerely” hoped the government would change its mind on the matter.

Following the report, head of Counter Terrorism Policing Matt Jukes said the review was clear where the management of Ali’s case “should have been better”, and he said work had since been done to act on the recommendations.

“Difficult decisions in steering people away from radicalisation continue to be made every day, and with almost 60,000 Prevent referrals in the last decade, we owe it to all those affected, including those making the decisions, to take every opportunity possible to improve the system,” he said.

Separately, Sir David’s family have complained about the protection provided to Sir David by Essex Police at the constituency surgery on the day he died.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has referred the complaint to the force.