Killer’s family suspected he’d joined Isis... but were afraid to report him
AS CHILDREN, there was nothing that made Ali Harbi Ali and his siblings stand out from their peers. Attending a junior school linked to a church in Croydon, Ali would cheerfully sing along with the hymns and join in assemblies designed to imbue the pupils with Christian values.
‘They were quite happy at a Christian school and took part in our regular worship,’ recalled a teacher, who did not want to be identified.
‘Ali wasn’t a high-flyer, but was a hard-working child, especially good at maths. We had plenty of naughty boys, but he wasn’t one of them. He was a good boy, polite and friendly, and readily joined in with the other children.’
By the time Ali neared his A-levels, he was regarded as a model student with every chance of embarking on a career in medicine – in other words, a young man with the world at his feet.
Which makes the 26-year-old’s transformation into a ‘bloodthirsty Islamic State-supporting murderer’ who stabbed MP Sir David Amess to death all the more shocking.
And, for those tasked with preventing similar tragedies occurring in the future, all the more worrying.
Born in Southwark in February 1996, Ali is the eldest of four children. His father, Harbi Ali Kullane, was a former adviser to the prime minister of Somalia who moved to the UK from Mogadishu, marrying wife Jamila in London.
But the couple split when Ali was young, with his father dividing his time between London and east Africa.
Ali grew up in a three-bedroom 1980s terrace house in Croydon with his mum, brother and two sisters. His family was ‘full of love and care’, Ali would tell police, adding: ‘I had a big wider family that used to come round and help. I don’t recall any bad memories from that time.’
Ali attended Parish Church Junior and Infant School – now Minster Junior – in Croydon, followed by Riddlesdown Collegiate School in Purley, the old school of model Kate Moss.
For his first five years there, he was said to have ‘excelled academically’. ‘He was smart, especially in sciences,’ one former friend recalled. ‘I remember him scoring well on science tests consistently. I can only assume he wanted to do medicine to help people, which is exactly the kind of person he was.’
He added: ‘I don’t recall ever seeing him angry. Frustrated about something trivial like any other kid, yeah, but never angry. The conversations I can remember having with him were about the edgy kinda rock that teens typically love, video games – that kind of stuff.
‘He was very sweet, and just welcoming in general. Whenever I think of him, I just see the happy, dorky kid and teen that everyone liked. It’s unthinkable that he’d so much as instigate a scuffle, yet alone kill someone.’
But as Ali approached his
A-levels, his attendance and school work declined sharply – despite having been offered a place to study medicine at St George’s. As he would later admit to police, he was turning towards extremist views.
‘By that time, I pretty much already radicalised myself,’ he told them, his indoctrination apparently having occurred largely via the internet.
THE radicalisation did not go unnoticed by teachers, who referred Ali to Prevent, the early-intervention scheme designed to turn people away from the risk of supporting violence. Scotland Yard has admitted Ali ‘spent some time’ in the scheme, but said any failings
would be examined at the inquest into the death of Sir David.
Ali passed his A-levels with two Ds and an E, much worse than expected. He stayed on until 2015 so he could re-sit biology. He then got a place to study radiotherapy at City University but attended for only six months before officially dropping out at the beginning of his second year.
On September 22, 2016, he emailed a lecturer claiming a ‘mixture of recurrent illness, Eid and family problems’ had kept him out of university for two weeks. I have had the opportunity to think on the reasons of why I took on the course and if it is something I want to continue with,’ he added. ‘I came to the conclusion that I no longer want to continue with it. I want to pursue a different direction in life.’
By then, Ali had moved out of the family home in Croydon, to live with his aunt and cousins in Kentish Town, north London, in order to be closer to university. But sources close to the investigation told how Ali’s family said they did not realise he had dropped out of university and were not aware of what he was doing for the next five years.
A source in Kenya said: ‘He never shared the right information with his family. So after leaving his mum’s it seems he never wanted people to know about him.’
It appears that it was only following the murder that his relatives become fully aware of the extent of his radicalisation.
One of Ali’s aunts in Nairobi said: ‘Ali was motivated by Islamic extremism. I’ve spoken to my sister in London several times about her son Ali’s character and conduct. She told me that he was under the influence of his friends who are connected to Islamic extremism…
‘She suspected her son had joined the Islamic State group through one of his friends early [last] year but she was scared to report it to police.
‘Instead, she informed Ali’s father, Harbi Ali Kullane, who never took the issue seriously until his son committed murder.
‘Ali’s family are well-off financially and they are well-educated people. Ali is an intelligent and quiet boy but he has been inspired by Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.’
Ali’s aunt described him as a ‘loner who didn’t socialise very much’, adding: ‘Ali would always be seen with Muslim scholars and used to spend most of his time in mosques and places where they preach about Islam.’
A close relative in Kenya added: ‘We believe Ali wanted to join the Islamic State group in 2016. Some of his friends in London were members of the terrorist organisation and had travelled to Syria via Turkey.’ Family and friends say Ali started to watch extremist videos online, including those posted by hate preacher Anjem Choudary.
After his arrest, searches of his mobile phone and laptop devices found images of terrorist attackers and ‘inspirational’ IS propaganda.
One phone had been used since 2016 to receive messages that appeared to be official IS propaganda and communications via a channel on the encrypted Telegram app. A video on the device showed a man in a black turban and holding an assault rifle, giving a sermon to a circle of masked men in a field, that ended with them chanting: ‘Islamic State!’
With his hopes of travelling abroad having come to nothing, by 2019 Ali had settled on an attack in Britain. But his plans were disrupted by the pandemic in 2020.
HAvINg bought a £20 knife from Argos, he carried it in his bag throughout the summer of 2021 as he ‘scoped out’ possible targets, jurors heard. He carried out reconnaissance on the Houses of Parliament but found police there were ‘armed to the teeth’.
Ali researched MPs online, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Levelling Up Secretary Michael gove.
By September last year, Ali had settled on Sir David as an easy target after seeing his upcoming surgery in Leigh-on-Sea on Twitter. He made an appointment through the MP’s office, falsely claiming he was moving to the area and was interested in churches.
On the morning of the murder, Ali went to pray at Al-Risaalah mosque in Holloway, north London. Mosque manager Abdi Warsame said: ‘He used to pray at the mosque sometimes. His aunt was at the mosque on the day of the murder and she ran away when she heard about what happened. She was on the phone and then she just ran out.
‘We were all shocked we couldn’t understand why he would do that.’
As for Ali, he showed no remorse. In court, Tom Little QC, prosecuting, asked him: ‘If you could turn the clock back to the morning of October 15, you would leave your property in London and head to Leigh-on-Sea intending to kill Sir David Amess? You are utterly shameless about that?’ Ali replied: ‘I wouldn’t use the word shameless, but I don’t feel any shame.’
‘You regret nothing?’ Mr Little asked. ‘Nothing,’ Ali said. ‘If I thought there was something wrong, I wouldn’t have done it.’