Sir David Amess: Priest tried to give last rites to dying MP

Father Jeff Woolnough asked to administer last rites to Sir David Amess

A Catholic priest has told how he tried to administer last rites to his friend Sir David Amess.

Fr Jeffrey Woolnough said he rushed to Belfairs Methodist Church on Friday when he heard the MP - a devout Catholic - had been stabbed.

He said he asked a police officer if he could deliver the sacrament but was unable to enter as it was crime scene.

He added he respected the police's decision and an officer had asked colleagues if he could go inside.

Instead, he prayed the rosary outside the police cordon with a fellow parishioner.

Fr Woolnough is the parish priest at St. Peter's Catholic Church, Eastwood, Southend, close to where Sir David was killed.

"A Catholic when they're dying would want a priest there, and for reasons that only the police know, I was not allowed in," he told the PA news agency.

"I got my clerics on, and got the holy oils, sort of expecting that I might be allowed on the crime scene to administer the oil of the sick," he said.

"I didn't know at that time what kind of condition he was in," Fr Woolnough said. "It was a just-in-case matter."

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He said it was important to respect the police's decision and that the officer he approached had radioed colleagues inside the church to relay his request.

"It would've been a great thing to do if I'd have had the chance, but it wasn't to be," he added.

A constituent who saw Sir David Amess minutes before his murder has also spoken of his disbelief.

Richard Hillgrove said the MP had been "in fine form" during a Zoom meeting before his weekly constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea.

Richard Hillgrove, pictured with his daughter Lola, 11, spoke to Sir David Amess moments before his death

He told the BBC his video call had overrun until 12:02 GMT, three minutes before the attack took place.

"It is just senseless, shocking," he said.

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Mr Hillgrove said Sir David had championed the Children's Parliament, a project that partners youngsters with sitting MPs, and his daughter, Lola, 11, was matched with Sir David.

"It was something that was so important to him, he said when he was the same age at his school they had mock parliaments, and he set up his own political party," he said.

"He had been in such fine form, talking about meeting next week up in Westminster - we were going to get a picture with Sir Lindsay Hoyle. He said 'leave it with me'.

"He's one of the great ones, he made sense of a crazy world."

Mr Hillgrove, who attended a special church service at St Alban the Martyr church in Westcliff-on-Sea on Sunday, said his friend had a strong faith and that prayers would be said at services across the borough.

"This is uniting everyone," he said. "He stood for democracy, he was a libertarian and a Christian."

Cllr John Lamb said the Conservative office at Iveagh hall would remain open to offer support

Councillor John Lamb, chairman of Southend West constituency, said he had offered support to Sir David's family and to two parliamentary assistants who witnessed the attack on Friday.

"They are very distressed," he said, "but they are coping quite well. It will hit home later.

"[Sir David] loved canvassing, and his actual work through the surgery where he could go out, meet people, listen to their problems and try and help them," he said.

"All the different events in Southend, he would be there, supporting young and old, whatever religion.

"He was very much a community politician."

He said the Conservative office will stay open to offer support to any constituent who needs it.