R v Ali Harbi Ali: Sentencing remarks
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 13 April 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Criminal |
| Court | Crown Court |
IN THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT
THE QUEEN
-v-
ALI HARBI ALI
SENTENCING REMARKS
The Defendant, who is now aged 26, has been found guilty, on overwhelming evidence, of two grave
crimes, namely:
Engaging in the preparation of terrorist acts in the period between 1 May 2019 and 28 September
2021– in that, with the intention of killing one or more Members of Parliament and thereby
influencing the Government and advancing a religious or ideological cause, he engaged in
reconnaissance of locations of targets to attack, including addresses of Members of Parliament and
the Houses of Parliament, and also engaged in internet research in relation to targets to attack
(Count 1); and the murder, at a constituency surgery held in Leigh-On-Sea on 15 October 2021, of
the distinguished, long-serving, and much-loved and admired Member of Parliament Sir David
Amess, who the Defendant stabbed many times with a large knife (Count 2).
I wish to express the sincere sympathy, and the condolences, of the court to the family, friends,
staff, colleagues and constituents of Sir David for the enormity of their loss, and to express the
court’s sincere admiration for the brave and dignified way in which his family have dealt, in the face
of their incalculable loss, with the ordeal of the trial - which was forced upon them by the
Defendant’s cowardly refusal to face up to his guilt.
Sir David was a man of the greatest substance. He had done nothing whatsoever to justify the attack
upon him, let alone his murder. On the contrary, he had devoted 38 years of his life to the lawful
service of the public, and was engaged in doing so when he was murdered. His loss is one of
national significance.
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