Sir David Amess’s daughter says Prevent has failed him ‘disastrously’

The daughter of murdered MP Sir David Ames has said the Government’s prevention program has “catastrophically” failed as she called for a full investigation into his death.

The 69-year-old MP veteran was stabbed to death by Ali Harbi Ali, then 26, at Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex in October 2021.

Katie Amess, 39, said she was told Ali was reported to Prevent in 2014 but after one meeting his case was not taken up by the counter-radicalization program “due to an admin error”.

She told the Sunday Times: “He was reported. People tried to help us, so why was he allowed to just go on and do whatever he wanted for seven years?

“What happened to my father should not have been the administrator’s fault.”

Sir David, a father of five, was carrying out an operation in his Southend West constituency when he was attacked by Ali, who was jailed for life in 2022 for murder.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Ms Ames, an actress who lives in West Hollywood in the US, said the pain of his death was “unbearable” and “inexpressible”.

She added: “It is clear that Prevent is not fit for purpose and is continually failing people.

“It let me down. It has failed my family catastrophically, it has failed the public and it has failed other members of Parliament.”

The Sunday Times reported that a six-month review of Ali’s Prevent case was “missed” and a 12-month review found “nothing of concern”, according to a coroner’s report published in July.

Ms Ames said there had never been a “full public inquiry into the events leading up to his death” after a coroner concluded a criminal trial was sufficient.

She added: “The people who could actually help me are nowhere to be seen, it feels like we’ve been completely ignored.

“My father would be so shocked if he knew what we went through, he would be ashamed.”

Earlier this year it was reported that Ms Ames had launched a personal injury claim against Essex Police and the Home Office in the High Court as lawyers said she wanted to “ensure proper accountability and lessons are learned” from her father’s murder.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Our thoughts continue to be with the family and friends of Sir David Ames.

“The attack on Sir David Ames was a terrible tragedy, the safety of MPs is paramount and significant work has been done in response to his tragic murder.

“Prevention is a vital tool in preventing people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism, and in addressing all ideological causes of terrorism.”

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Sir David Ames was a dedicated public servant who worked tirelessly for the benefit of his community.

“Immediately after his murder, two of our heroic unarmed officers faced danger, desperately trying to save him and, of course, apprehending his killer.”

The force added: “We are aware that a protection claim form has been lodged with the court, however as these documents have not been served on our force we are unable to make any further comment on them.

“We remain committed to supporting our elected members across the constituency in fulfilling their public duty and to this end we regularly review and advise on safeguarding arrangements for our MPs.”

Essex Police said that “like all forces across the country” it does not provide officers for constituency operations.

The Essex Coroner’s Office has been contacted for comment.