The Old Bailey hears the man accused of killing Sir David Amess told police it was a terrorist attack.
Image source, Metropolitan Police
The man accused of murdering Sir David Amess MP told police only hours afterwards that it was a terrorist attack, a court heard.
Sir David, the MP for Southend West, died after he was stabbed more than 20 times during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on 15 October.
Ali Harbi Ali, 26, denies charges of murder and preparing acts of terrorism.
The trial at the Old Bailey heard how Mr Ali told police officers he “killed an MP”.
Jurors were told that in his first police interview at Southend Police Station, he was asked by PC Jody Grogan: “Mr Ali, is this a terrorist attack?”
To which he replied: “I mean, I guess yeah I killed an MP and I done it yeah.”
Image source, PA Media
Asked if anyone else was involved Mr Ali said: “I was by myself completely.”
Mr Ali was being interviewed at 17:45 GMT on 15 October, about five-and-a-half hours after Sir David was stabbed to death.
The police interviews, seven in all, were videotaped and are being played to the jury.
The suspect told police: “I thought one of the most just targets from my perspective…. would probably be maybe the MPs who carried out… a vote to carry out airstrikes in Syria.”
Image source, Getty Images
Asked how he chose Sir David, he said: “I typed in on Twitter ‘MP’s surgeries’… he tweeted about a recent surgery he’d done and there was a contact number.
“He was the easiest. I settled on him.”
The trial continues.
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