David Amess: Moment knife-wielding terror suspect accused of murdering MP is tackled by police

Video shows two Essex police constables ordering Ali Harbi Ali to drop knife in church hall

Police body-cam footage of the moment two plain-clothes officers arrested a knife-wielding terror suspect accused of murdering MP Sir David Amess has been shown to a jury.

Video showed Essex police constables Scott James and Ryan Curtis ordering Ali Harbi Ali to drop a bloody, foot-long carving knife before charging at him and pinning him to the floor.

Mr Ali, 26, could be heard asking the officers to put his glasses back on his face to which one of the officers replied: “Mate, that’s not our concern.”

The stand-off happened within minutes of Tory backbencher Sir David being knifed more than 20 times as he held a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea on 15 October 2021.

Pcs James and Curtis were in the area trying to find an unrelated wanted suspect when they were called to Belfairs Methodist Church, where Sir David’s meeting was being held, the Old Bailey heard.

The duo arrived to be told the 69-year-old politician had been “stabbed several times”.

The moment a terror suspect accused of murdering MP Sir David Amess was tackled by two plain-clothes police officers (Metropolitan Police Service)

The pair, armed only with batons and incapacitant spray, ran into the building and could be heard shouting “Drop that knife” repeatedly.

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

The pair then charged at Mr Ali, who is said to have been on a 14-minute phone call with his “hysterical” sister at the time.

Screengrab taken from body worn video footage showing Ali Harbi Ali being booked into custody when he says the offence is ‘terror’ related (PA)

Separate footage showed Mr Ali being taken into custody, where he allegedly told the booking-in officer the incident was both “terror” related and had “religious” motivations.

An email showed in court alleged Mr Ali had booked an appointment with Sir David as he was “moving to the area ... and wanted to get to know my future MP”. The email also said he was “interested in Christianity”.

Email contact between Ali Harbi Ali and the office of Sir David Amess that was shown to the jury at the Old Bailey (PA)

Rebecca Hayton, Sir David’s junior aide who was with him at the surgery and appeared in the body-cam footage, previously described seeing Mr Ali stand up, say “sorry”, pull a knife from his clothing, and stab the married father-of-five.

Darren King, who ran to the scene after the alarm was raised and was also heard in the police footage urging police officers to go inside while they waited for a Taser unit to arrive, recalled his own tense stand-off with the armed assailant, telling police Mr Ali claimed he killed Sir David due to the government’s bombing campaign in Syria and wanted to be shot by officers.

Ali Harbi Ali after being arrested on suspicion of the murder of Sir David Amess (PA)

Sir David died from multiple stab wounds to the chest, some 15cm deep, and was pronounced dead at the church.

The trial previously heard how Mr Ali allegedly spent years hatching his plot, researching a number of potential high-profile political targets including Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Sir Keir Starmer, before settling on Sir David.

Mr Ali, from Kentish Town in north London, denies preparing terrorist acts and murder.

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by PA