Ali Harbi Ali stabbed the veteran Conservative politician more than 20 times in his constituency surgery in Essex’s Leigh-on-Sea last October, according to a jury. The 26-year-old is on trial in Old Bailey on charges of murder and plotting terrorist acts – charges he denies. How it happened: Live updates from the trial for the murder of Sir David Amess Image: Sir David Amess was stabbed to death in October last year On Friday, jurors watched videos of police interviews with Ali following Sir David’s death, in which the accused calmly described in detail how he had carried out the attack. He told officers he was “nervous” the morning of the attack and woke up at about 4 a.m. before going to pray at a nearby mosque. Ali said it was “easy” to arrange a meeting with Sir David and decided to target a lawmaker who had voted to carry out airstrikes in Syria in 2015, according to the court. Image: Ali Harbi Ali is pictured after his arrest He told police: “It made me think that, okay, you could stab the normal Joe in the corner, you know, Sally Soccer Mum, Joe Sixpack, people like that, but you know, the real people who made the decisions, they go back to their second homes, they return to their wives, to their children “. Ali told police that Sir David suspected a Brass Eye sting during their meeting because he was holding his phone and the MP asked if he was being recorded. “Because … Brass Eye, they did something to him, like 14 years ago,” he added. Ali laughed at “Cake”, apparently referring to a satirical episode about a fake drug. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:59 ‘The man is holding a knife’ – call 999 Ali continued: “I felt like one minute I was sitting at the table talking to him and the next he was dead. “But, yes, it’s probably one of the strangest days … of my life right now, you know?” Ali told police he had “bottled” previously planned attacks on lawmakers and that the killing “almost felt like an out-of-body experience”. “I just remember stabbing him a few times where I stabbed him,” he said, adding that the “finisher” was “probably in his throat.” Ali said Sir David kept saying “no, no, no”, the court heard. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 1:08 “You are arrested … for murder” After his arrest, Ali confirmed that it was a “terrorist attack”, saying: “I mean, I guess yes, I killed an MP. I did it, so yes. “ In another interview, Ali recalled his remarks and replied: “My God, I sound stupid there. “Nah, just … as I put it. (Laughs) It sounds like an episode of Little Britain. Um, just … yes, it sounded like a terrorist act. “I went to a deputy’s operating room and killed him, so with the idea of revenge in some way, I will do it, I guess we will get into that a little later.” Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:35 Murder suspect Amess calls attack “terror” Asked to describe how he felt after the murder, as he prayed with blood on his fingernails, he said: “It seems a little, I do not know, almost satanic, it is strange. “I obviously killed someone. There is no doubt about it, but I still do not like it. “Maybe it’s because I feel justified in what I have done.” Asked if he thought he had done a “good deed”, he said: “If I did not think it was a good deed, I would not do it.” The trial continues.
