David Amess killing: Suspect looked 'self-satisfied' after attack

Sir David Amess was fatally stabbed during a constituency surgery in October

A terror suspect had a look of "self-satisfaction" moments after stabbing an MP to death, a parliamentary aide said.

Sir David Amess, the MP for Southend West, died after he was stabbed 21 times during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on 15 October.

Ali Harbi Ali, 26, on trial at the Old Bailey, denies murder and preparing acts of terrorism.

Julie Cushion, a long-term member of Sir David's team, told the jury she heard a "piercing scream".

The court heard Ms Cushion had been the first to call 999 from the scene at 12:07 BST.

Sir David was attacked in a back room of Belfairs Methodist Church during an appointment made by the defendant, the prosecution said.

Giving evidence from behind a screen, Ms Cushion said: "A piercing scream was the first thing I heard. Then a very loud crash which I assumed was furniture going over.

"I got up and walked through, I assumed something structurally had happened."

'Smiling'

She said that another aide, Rebecca Hayton, ran from the room "screaming that Sir David had been stabbed".

"At that moment I picked up my phone to call for help," Ms Cushion added.

Asked how Mr Ali looked, she told the jury: "Self-satisfaction, I would describe it."

The jury also watched a police interview with Ms Hayton four hours after the attack where she described seeing Mr Ali stand up and stab Sir David.

She said: "He [Mr Ali] leans over and stabs him straight in the stomach."

"I saw it [the knife] go in once and as I got up he [Mr Ali] kept going," she added.

• 'He's killed David Amess' - jury played 999 call

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Ms Hayton said Mr Ali had been "smiling" during the five-minute meeting with Sir David, adding: "He seemed relaxed and nice."

However, she went on to tell police he kept playing with his phone and wanted to talk about foreign policy despite father-of-five Sir David's attempts to steer him towards local issues.

She said she then saw Ali stand up, say "sorry", pull a knife from his clothing, and stab Sir David.

Following the attack, she ran outside the church to raise the alarm and returned with Yvonne Eaves and Darren King.

Sir David was lying prone on the floor and Mr Ali was standing in the doorway clutching a knife, she told police.

Sir David was pronounced dead at the scene in Leigh-on-Sea in his Southend West constituency in Essex

Ms Eaves said in police interview that when she arrived at the scene two women were outside looking "really frantic".

She said at one point Mr Ali was pacing and "seemed like he knew what he'd done. He wasn't remorseful".

In another interview played to the jury, Mr King told police he tried to calm down Mr Ali, who was still holding a knife, while he waited for police to arrive.

He said: "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."

He said he then heard a woman on the phone to Mr Ali, who he believed to be the suspect's sister, discussing Iraq and Syria.

Mr King said he kept watching Sir David to check if he was moving while also keeping an eye on the armed man.

He added: "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."

Mr Ali repeatedly said "I want to be shot", said Mr King.

The witness said: "I said 'They [police] do that in America, not so much over here'."

Mr King also said Mr Ali tried to justify his actions, which jurors previously heard was to do with the government's Syrian bombing campaign.

Mr King told police he eventually persuaded Mr Ali to step to one side so he could treat Sir David, but retreated the moment he heard police sirens.

The trial previously heard how Mr Ali had spent years plotting an attack, researching a range of potential victims including high-profile politicians Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Sir Keir Starmer, before choosing the 69-year-old backbencher.

Ms Cushion said Sir David had moved the meeting from his constituency office, where there was security, into the community after coronavirus restrictions were lifted because he "wanted to be accessible to his constituents".

Ali Harbi Ali was seen on CCTV walking between Leigh-on-Sea railway station and Belfair's Methodist Church on the day Sir David Amess was killed

Mr Ali had claimed to be a healthcare worker moving to the area who "wanted to get to know his new MP", aides were told.

On Tuesday, jurors were played a 999 call from the aftermath of the attack where a witness said Mr Ali was threatening to kill four other people.

They were also shown CCTV footage of Mr Ali making the journey from his home in Kentish Town, north London, by train and on foot along busy high streets and residential areas.

The court heard Mr Ali had a "warped" ideology and sought to exact "revenge" over Britain's recent foreign policy, notably bombings in Syria in the mid-2010s, allegedly telling bystanders at the scene: "I want him dead. I want every Parliament minister [sic] who signed up for the bombing of Syria who agreed to the Iraqi war to die."

The trial continues.