By Sylvia Hui — Associated Press, Wednesday 13 April 2022
LONDON (AP) — An Islamic State supporter was given a whole-life sentence Wednesday for stabbing a British lawmaker to death in revenge for his voting in support for airstrikes on Syria. Ali Harbi Ali, 26, was convicted of murdering Conservative lawmaker David Amess and preparing terrorist acts. A jury deliberated for just 18 minutes before finding him guilty. Justice Nigel Sweeney told the court: “The defendant has no remorse or shame for what he has done — quite the reverse. This is a murder that struck at the heart of democracy.”
Ali stabbed Amess with a carving knife multiple times on 15 October 2021 while he was meeting with voters at a church hall in the town of Leigh-on-Sea in eastern England. Ali, a London man with Somali heritage, said he targeted Amess because he backed voting for airstrikes on Syria in 2014 and 2015. The whole-life sentence means Ali will never be eligible for parole and will likely spend the rest of his days in prison. Amess’s family said “there is no elation” following the sentencing and described the crime as “beyond evil.” “We will wake each day and immediately feel our loss. We will struggle through each day for the rest of our lives. It breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted the murderer with a smile of friendship and would have been anxious to help,” the family said. Amess, 69, had been a member of Parliament since 1983. The slaying prompted questions about security protection for lawmakers, coming five years after Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death by a far-right extremist.