‘This is England mate, you’re not getting shot’
Onlooker to ‘MP’s killer’ who wanted police to fire at him...
A BRAVE bystander who confronted the alleged terrorist accused of murdering Sir David Amess told him: “This is England, mate – you’re not getting shot,” a court heard yesterday.
Ali Harbi Ali, 26, said he wanted to be killed by police after he stabbed the MP to death at a constituency surgery, jurors were told.
But Good Samaritan Darren King assured him: “You’ve come to the wrong country because they do that in America.We’re in England, mate.
“I said, ‘Why do you want to die? “He said: ‘I’m going to die a martyr, I’m going to die a hero’.”
Mr King said he replied: “No, you’re just going to be dead.”
Shortly afterwards Ali was arrested by two plain clothes PCs armed only with batons and incapacitant spray.
Ali stabbed Sir David 21 times with a 12-inch bladed carving knife at the Belfairs Methodist Church, Leigh-onSea, Essex, last October in an alleged
‘He leaned over and stabbed David straight in the stomach’
revenge attack for the bombing of Syria. In a police interview played to the Old Bailey, Mr King said he considered trying to overpower Ali.
He said: “You wanna work out whether you can beat him or not. I weighed up his build, my build; he had a knife, I hadn’t.”
He added: “I could see David in the corner, he was crumpled up on the floor. I could see some blood, a gentleman standing there with a knife in his right hand threatening to stab me, and I could see some blood on the knife.”
Mr King said he then heard a woman on the phone to Ali, who he believed to be the defendant’s sister, discussing Iraq and Syria.
Mr King and partner Yvonne Eaves arrived at the church shortly after the horrific attack. Ms Eaves said Ali “was was not remorseful” and had “a look of, ‘I have achieved something.’”
The MP’s aide Rebecca Hayton told police Ali sent mobile messages during his appointment. When Sir David asked if he was recording the meeting, Ali put the phone down and it rang.
Ms Hayton said: “He stood up, looked at me and said, ‘Sorry, for the phone’. He reached inside his coat and pulled a knife from his jeans. He leaned over the desk and stabbed David straight in the stomach. I saw it go in once, and as I got up, he kept going.”
Sir David’s PA Julie Cushion said she dialled 999 after hearing Sir David let out a “piercing scream”.
Jurors heard Ali, 26, lied in an email to Ms Hayton. He claimed he was a healthcare worker, new to the area, who “wanted to get to know” his MP. It is alleged Ali considered other MPs as targets, including Levelling Up minister Michael Gove, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
Ali, of Kentish Town, North London, denies murder and preparing an act of terrorism.The trial continues.