Sir David Amess’s daughter says Prevent programme ‘catastrophically’ failed him
The veteran MP, 69, was knifed to death by Ali Harbi Ali in October 2021.
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Your support makes all the difference.The daughter of murdered MP Sir David Amess said he was “catastrophically” failed by the Government’s Prevent programme, as she called for a full inquest into his death.
The veteran MP, 69, was stabbed to death by Ali Harbi Ali at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex in October 2021.
Katie Amess, 39, said she was told Ali, 28, 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”.
It’s pretty obvious that Prevent isn’t fit for purpose, it has consistently failed people
She told the Sunday Times: “He was reported. People were trying to help us, and so why was he allowed to just go on and do whatever he wanted for seven years?
“What happened to my dad should not have been an admin error.”
Sir David, a father of five, had been holding a surgery in his Southend West constituency when he was attacked by Ali, who was sentenced in 2022 to a whole-life prison term for the murder.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, 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.”
Essex senior coroner Lincoln Brookes decided in July not to resume Sir David’s inquest, which had been adjourned once Ali was charged with murder.
In his decision, seen by the PA news agency, Mr Brookes said he was provided with a report into Ali’s involvement in the Prevent programme which found a six-month case review was “missed” and a 12-month review revealed “nothing of concern”.
All Prevent involvement then ceased after the 12-month review in December 2016, nearly five years before Sir David’s death.
Mr Brookes said the evidence he had received did not enable him “to say that there was arguably a point in time when the authorities should have appreciated a real and immediate risk of the perpetrator committing an attack on Sir David”.
In his decision, he wrote: “The information made available to me is that the perpetrator had intentionally ‘gone dark’ using secure internet communication so as to present as being of no threat in the coming years.
“Therefore even acknowledging the imperfections in the handling of his mid-teens Prevent intervention, I have no evidential basis to consider this attack was possibly preventable so many years and imponderables later.
“It would be speculative to assume that national security services do, should or could, detect and track every Islamic State sympathiser.”
Mr Brookes added: “I extend again my deepest sympathies to his family and all of those who knew Sir David for their loss in such dreadful circumstances.
“Nothing I have said above should be taken as suggesting that the threats posed to, and risks faced by, all of our MPs in their role as public servants is not a genuine matter of significant public concern, although I do not agree that a coroner’s inquest is mandated to examine those issues.”
Ms Amess said there had never been a “full public examination into the events leading up to his death”.
She added: “The people that actually could have helped me are nowhere to be seen, it feels like we have been completely disregarded.
“My father would be so shocked if he knew what we were going through — he would be ashamed.”
It was reported earlier this year that Ms Amess had taken legal action against Essex Police and the Home Office by filing a personal injury claim at the High Court, as lawyers said she wanted to “ensure proper accountability and learning” from her father’s murder.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Our thoughts continue to be with Sir David Amess’ family and friends.
“The attack on Sir David Amess was an awful tragedy, the safety of members of Parliament is paramount, and significant work has been taken forward in response to his tragic killing.
“Prevent is a vital tool to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism and tackles all ideological causes of terrorism.”
An Essex Police spokesperson said: “Sir David Amess was a thoroughly committed public servant who worked tirelessly for his community.
“In the immediate aftermath of his murder, two of our heroic unarmed officers ran into the face of danger, trying desperately to save him and of course detaining his killer.”
The force added: “We are aware that what is in effect a protective claim form has been filed at court, however as these papers have not been served on our force, we are unable to comment any further upon them.
“We remain committed to supporting our elected members across the county in the execution of their public duty and to this end we regularly review and advise around security arrangements for our Members of Parliament.”
Essex Police said that “as with all forces up and down the country”, it does not provide officers to police constituency surgeries.
Essex Coroner’s Service was approached for comment.