MPs Michael Gove was a target of a suspected terrorist standing trial accused of stabbing veteran Conservative MP Sir David Amess to death as he held a constituency surgery at a church last year.

       Ali Harbi Ali, 26, denies murdering the MP for Southend West as he met with members of the public in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on Oct 15.

       On the opening day of the trial at the Old Bailey, the jury heard how Ali had bought the knife used to stab Sir David five years earlier in preparation for a different attack.

       The prosecution say Ali is a "committed and fanatical Islamist terrorist" and that the MPs murder was an "assassination".

       From at least May 2019, Ali researched and planned potential attacks on Members of Parliament and the Houses of Parliament, the court heard.

       This included specific reconnaissance trips to a constituency surgery of Mike Freer MP and to the home address of Michael Gove MP.

       Follow live updates of the trial below.

       Additional electronic devices were found at the defendant’s home address in north west London when it was searched on Oct 16 2021.

       A Lenovo laptop was recovered from the defendant’s bedroom, on the bed. It was forensically imaged and keyword searches conducted:

       Mr Little QC told the jury that “in addition were a series internet links which speak for themselves as well as images of high profile terrorists” including Jihadi John.

       Another laptop, a Toshiba laptop, contained Islamic State propaganda images and photographs of Michael Gove.

       Images were also recovered:

       Ali searched the following on his mobile phone:

       Ali also carried out similar reconnaissance in relation to MP Mike Freer, the prosecution said.

       Mr Little QC said: “Indeed he was seen that day by Rachel Shawcross, Mike Freer’s election agent.

       “She saw a person matching the defendant’s description staring into the surgery.

       “The 17th September 2021 was a Friday and as I expect you may know that, for many years, has been a constituency day when MPs go back to their constituencies.”

       This was recovered from the notes section of Ali’s phone, alongside Mr Gove’s address, pictures of him jogging and images of the streets.

       This, from May 2019, was still on his phone.

       It states as follows:

       Morning attack

       Evening attack

       Night Attack

       Scout on Wednesday

       The defendant, on five separate occasions, travelled by train to Michael Gove’s home address.

       On Mar 9, 23 and 30, followed by on Jun 7 and 25.

       The prosecution told the Old Bailey Ali’s bank card showed it was used on TfL services to travel to a station close to Mr Gove’s address,

       Mr Little said he had travelled there five times and thought about attacking him.

       When asked whether he thought the murder of Sir David Amess was a good deed he said:

       The defendant described how he felt about killing a person and then said this:

       The defendant said that he woke at 4am and was nervous.

       He went to a mosque for prayers then “steeled himself” to travel to Leigh-on-Sea by train for his midday appointment.

       He took with him a knife with a 12in blade he had purchased about five years ago from Argos ‘for maybe to carry out a terror attack’ for around ￡20.

       Tom Little said: “Just pausing there. The defendant is therefore saying that for a period of about five years he has had a knife which was purchased in the possible contemplation that it would be used for a terror attack, as it was eventually used for just such an attack.”

       As he was early, the defendant said he went and stared at the sea and read the Koran. He then walked to the Methodist Church and was shown in for his appointment. He said this about the murder:

       Mr Little QC said: “He said that in 2021 he considered carrying out an attack on an MP and tried to identify home addresses and, later, surgeries.

       “He also attended the Houses of Parliament with a view to identifying where MPs left, but he noticed there were extensive security measures - the police were to his words ‘armed to the teeth’.

       “In the previous month or two, the defendant said that he had searched on Twitter for ‘MPs surgeries’ and found a tweet from Sir David Amess about a surgery he had done with a contact number to make an appointment.

       “He admitted that on a number of occasions he went out with a plan to ‘do something’ but then would come back home as he ‘bottled it’.

       “He visited Mike Freer MP’s surgery in Finchley. That of course was a lot closer to home.”

       Ali had also looked up pictures of Michael Gove’s home, but decided against attacking the prominent minister after learning Mr Gove had split up with his wife and the house had been sold.

       Ali said he became self-radicalised in 2014-15, the prosecution told the court.

       His initial focus was to make hijrah, but he “kept on going with life” and went to university.

       In this second year at university, around 2016, he decided to drop out to focus on whether or not he was going to make hijrah or focus on carrying out an act of domestic terrorism.

       Mr Little told the Old Bailey: “He considered he had an obligation to perform jihad in the United Kingdom.

       “By 2021 the defendant conceded that he had run out of excuses for not carrying out an attack and he began to research targets.

       “He decided his target would be the 523 MPs who carried out a vote to carry out airstrikes in Syria.

       “He identified them using the website theyworkforus.com. His aim therefore was to ‘influence the politicians’.”

       A short urgent interview was conducted on Oct 15, 2021 between 5.45pm and 5.51pm at Southend Police Station.

       When asked “is this a terrorist attack?” the defendant said “I mean, I guess yeah, I killed an MP, and I done it.”

       He said no one else was involved in the planning of the attack and no one-one else was aware of what he was going to do and that he was “by myself completely.”

       In the next interview the following day he was asked about his comment in the previous interview of “I mean, I guess yeah, I killed an MP, and I done it.”

       He said: “Oh God I sound stupid there. Nah… the way I worded it. It sounds like a Little Britain episode. Um, I just… yeah, it sounded like what a terrorist act is. I went into an MP’s surgery and I killed him, so with the idea of vengeance in a way, so I… guess we’ll get into that.”

       Mr Little told the jury: “So again as he did at the scene making clear this was about revenge.”

       A post mortem examination found Sir David had 23 sharp force injuries including 21 stab wounds distributed over the face, trunk, left arm and right thigh. Four of the stab wounds entered the chest cavity causing damage to the right lung, vena cava and left ventricle.

       The stab wounds that entered the chest would have resulted in major bleeding, collapse of the right lung and then cardiac arrest.

       Mr Little said: “There were injuries to both hands that are consistent with defensive injuries. In other words Sir David Amess struggling to defend himself.

       “Instinct takes over which includes holding out a hand to try to grab hold of a knife. Given there was complete penetration of the bony aspects of three ribs, the degree of force involved in the assault was estimated as ‘at or approaching severe’.” The cause of death to be multiple stab wounds to the chest.

       The defendant was then taken to the police station, Tom Little told the Old Bailey.

       He said: “During the booking in procedure the arresting officers were asked by the custody assistant the standard questions as to whether the arrest was ‘domestic or hate related’.

       “Before the police could answer the defendant took the initiative and said ‘Terror’ and ‘Religious’. Let us just think about that for a minute. Terror and religious. In other words it was murder to further religious purposes.

       “That itself is terrorism as the defendant well knew.”

       Police recovered the following items from the scene:

       The rucksack also contained a leaflet, a Koran and a book entitled ‘Fortress of the Muslim’.

       Blood from the knife matched that of Sir David Amess, and blood on Ali also matched the MP’s.

       The jury were shown bodycam footage of the arrest.

       It showed an officer entering the church with a plain-clothed officer.

       As they enter the main hall of the church, they are greeted by a man holding a knife, say the prosecution.

       That man, they say, is Ali Harbi Ali.

       The officer can be heard shouting: “Drop the knife, mate. Drop the f—ing knife.

       “This is only going to go one way, just drop that knife

       “You do not want to do this.”

       At that stage, the man appears to drop the knife.

       One officer rushes to move the knife away from the attacker and then the man is tackled to the ground.

       He is then arrested for murder.

       Ali was watching the body worn footage intently from the glass walled dock.

       The first act of the afternoon session is to hear parts of Ali Harbi Ali’s message.

       In it, he apologies to his family and said the killing was in the name of Allah.

       He said he would have preferred to ‘hijra’, an Arabic word meaning migration or travel which in the context of jihadism means to travel to Syria to fight alongside terror groups, the jury heard.

       But “the obligations on me to take revenge for the blood of Muslims is too great”.

       Mr Little QC said: “The message could not be clearer – this was a revenge attack done, he was claiming, in the name of Allah.

       “In other words the defendant was taking the law into his own hands. This was the use of serious violence designed to intimidate the public and to influence the Government for the purposes of advancing a religious and ideological cause.

       “A murder, we say, therefore done for terrorist purposes.”

       Mr Justice Sweeney rises - and that's it for the morning session.

       We will resume here at the Old Bailey at 2.05pm.

       Either just before or just after the murder the defendant sent a long message to various friends and family.

       Mr Little QC told the jury: “It is instructive and important. Accompanying the message was a video relating to Raqqa - a town in Syria.

       “The reason that I say just before or just after is that the message which had a video attachment was sent to a large number of people.

       “He did not have time to compose the message after the attack. It was drafted and saved in advance of his attack ready to go.

       “Whether a lack of mobile signal and/or the size of the message delayed its sending is not something you need to worry about too much. Its content speaks for itself and is plainly referrable to the attack.”

       A bit later, Darren King decided to return, the Old Bailey heard.

       The defendant was using a mobile telephone on speaker.

       On the other end of the line a woman was screaming at him, “Why have you done it?”

       The defendant replied: “I’ve done it because of Syria. I’ve done it because of the innocent people. I’ve done it because of the bombing. He deserved to die.”

       Tom Little QC, turned to the jury and said: “No he didn’t. No, he didn’t. Revenge is not a defence to murder, or any other crime.”

       At this point Darren King asked the defendant if he was going to drop the knife.

       The defendant replied “No, because I want to be shot” and “I’m going to die. I want to die, I want to be a hero.”

       Mr Little added: “The defendant plainly assumed and hoped that he would become a martyr to his twisted cause.”

       Tom Little QC said: “Sir David Amess was lying unconscious and, as it transpires, fatally wounded in the corner.

       “The defendant said ‘Don’t come anywhere near me. I will stab you’. Yvonne Eaves asked the defendant ‘How do you know he’s dead ?’.

       “The defendant said ‘He’s not moving’. When Yvonne. Eaves and Darren King offered to go and see Sir David the defendant said ‘No don’t come nearer. I’ll go and finish him off if he’s not dead’.

       “The latter comment telling you everything that you need to know about the defendant’s mindset.

       “The defendant then made clear why he was at the church that day and what his murderous intent was when he said this: ‘I want him dead. I want every Parliament Minister who signed up for the bombing of Syria, who agreed to the Iraqi war to die’.”

       The Old Bailey heard how Yvonne Eaves and Darren King had an appointment for 12:15pm to see Sir David Amess.

       They arrived early.

       As they walked to the church they saw members of Sir David Amess’ team Rebecca Hayton and Julie Cushion shouting “Help me”, “He’s been stabbed. There’s a man with a knife”.

       Yvonne Eaves and Darren King walked into the church. They saw the defendant.

       He was waving a knife around saying “I killed him, I killed him”. The knife was covered in blood.

       Seconds before the MP was stabbed, Ali’s phone chimed with a notification sound or ringtone as if he’d received a message.

       At this point, he said “sorry” to Sir David Amess, then pulled out a knife and stabbed him to death, the court heard.

       Tom Little QC said: “Sir David screamed. The defendant stabbed him again.

       “Indeed he stabbed him multiple times in a vicious and frenzied attack. Rebecca Hayton, who had been sat next to Sir David ran out of the room.

       “She shouted for the police to be called as ‘David’s been stabbed’.”

       Tom Little QC told the Old Bailey: “At just after midday, the defendant was walked over to Sir David Amess by Rebecca Hayton. He appeared relaxed and chatty.

       “Yet he was about to stab Sir David Amess brutally to death. What does that tell you about the man who is on trial?

       “The defendant sat down on a chair on the opposite side of the desk to Sir David Amess. The defendant was on his telephone.

       “Sir David asked the defendant if he was recording on his mobile telephone and the defendant said he was not.

       “The defendant started by lying and saying that he had moved to the area from Kentish Town.

       “He did then tell the truth stating that he had grown up in Croydon and had trained as a radiographer.

       “When asked why he had come to the surgery the defendant said that he had come to find out what Sir David could do for the town. This understandably irritated Sir David.

       “The surgery was meant for people with particular issues, not general conversation. However, the defendant then said he wanted to talk about foreign affairs.

       “He said that he knew Sir David had initially supported the Iraq war but had changed his mind. Sir David looked confused at this.”

       He travelled from Gospel Oak Station to Barking and then from Barking to Leigh-On-Sea.

       Various images were subsequently recovered from one of the defendant’s mobile telephones of maps and the App that he used whilst walking from Leigh-On-Sea train station on 15th October 2021.

       He can be seen at just before 8.40am close to his home. He can then be tracked nearly every step of the way on his long journey east across London both on trains and when walking.

       The jurors were told how Ali got a midday appointment on Oct 15, 2021.

       He sent Sir David Amess an email claiming to be a worker in the health sector.

       Ali said he was soon to be moving to Southend and wanted to know if the problems he was facing were similar in Essex.

       He had tried to book for Oct 8, but was told it was fully booked.

       Ali was slotted in for the following week

       In one exchange with a member of Sir David’s staff, he asked for the midday appointment, saying: “I’m not sure how long appointments take, but I don’t think it’ll take too long.”

       From at least May 2019, Ali researched and planned potential attacks on Members of Parliament and the Houses of Parliament, the court heard.

       This included specific reconnaissance trips to a constituency surgery of Mike Freer MP and to the home address of Michael Gove MP.

       Mr Little QC said: “That researching and planning is the other offence he faces namely preparing for acts of terrorism.

       “To that offence he also has, we say, no defence.”

       Mr Little QC said: “This was no spur of the moment decision.

       “It was not the first time that he had planned an attack or a similar attack.

       “Indeed he bought the knife five years before for just such an attack.

       “I told you that he was and is a committed terrorist.

       “He had for a number of years been determined to carry out an act of domestic terrorism.”

       The Crown allege Ali tricked his way to meeting Sir David Amess “by fraud” after arranging to meet him at a constituency surgery.

       Mr Little QC told the Old Bailey: “Having arranged to meet him by fraud, this was nothing less than an assassination for terrorist purposes.”

       Mr Little QC added: “The man who was murdered was just doing his job.

       “That job was being a member of parliament

       “The man who was brutally murdered by this defendant.”

       Tom Little QC opened the prosecution’s case just after midday on Monday.

       He said: “This is a case involving a cold, and calculated murder.

       “A murder carried out in a place of worship.

       “A murder carried out because of a warped and twisted and violent ideology.”

       Pointing at Ali in the dock, he continued: “It was a murder carried out by that young man, who for many years has been planning just such an attack

       “He is a committed, fanatical Islamist terrorist.”

       Mr Justice Sweeney is guiding the jury through their responsibilities in the case.

       He warns them against reading anything about the case, saying its accuracy “cannot begin to be guaranteed”.

       He asks them to remain “cool, calm, careful and dispassionate” and to “guard at all times against any emotion”.

       Each juror was asked, one-by-one, two questions by judge Mr Justice Sweeney.

       They were:

       Twelve answered no to both, and the jury was sworn in.

       The jury for this trial consists of eight men and four women.

       One juror was stood down because she had an interview to attend during the next three weeks and another was dismissed due to work commitments.

       After some IT glitches on Monday morning, the court got its first glimpse of the defendant Ali Harbi Ali, who spoke only to confirm his name from the dock in court two of the Old Bailey.

       He is being represented by Tracy Ayling QC.

       Ali was then sent down to the cells as the jury went through the selection process with judge Mr Justice Sweeney.

       The jury is expected to be sworn in later on Monday morning, allowing the prosecution’s Tom Little QC to make his opening statement on behalf of the Crown.

       It was confirmed by all parties that the trial is expected to last a maximum of three weeks.

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