ISIS terrorist given whole life sentence for murder of UK MP

April 13, 2022 19:00

Sir David Amess/Reuters

An Islamic State supporting terrorist who stabbed a veteran British parliamentarian to death at a constituency meeting was on Wednesday handed a whole life sentence by a UK court.

Ali Harbi Ali, a 26-year-old man of Somali heritage, was arrested by police in Essex, south-east England, in October last year after he had stabbed Sir David Amess more than 20 times.

He appeared at the Old Bailey court in London for a sentencing hearing after a jury found him guilty of the murder of the Conservative Party member of Parliament for Southend West.

"His (David Amess) loss is one of national significance," Justice Nigel Sweeney said, handing Ali a whole life sentence '" which means that his time behind bars is unlimited.

The judge said the terror attack had "struck at the heart of our democracy" and that Sir David was "a man of the greatest substance" who had "done nothing whatsoever" to justify the attack on him.

"The defendant has no remorse or shame for what he has done, quite the reverse," he added.

Earlier, Ali told the court during his trial that he has no regrets about the killing, saying the MP deserved to die because he had voted in Parliament for airstrikes on Syria in 2014 and 2015.

"If I thought I did anything wrong, I wouldn't have done it," he told the jury.

The defiant attacker also refused to stand in court "on religious grounds", when jurors delivered their verdicts on Monday after just 18 minutes deliberating.

"Our amazing husband and father has been taken from us in an appalling and violent manner," David Amess' family said in a statement.

"We shall get over this tragedy. It breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted the murderer with a smile of friendship and would have been anxious to help. How sickening to think what happened next. It is beyond evil," they said. -- PTI

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