A terrorist found guilty of murdering Sir David Amess at his constituency surgery last year smirked as he was jailed for life - and will never be released from prison.
Ali Harbi Ali, 26, travelled to Leigh-on-Sea in Essex on October 15 last year and stabbed the veteran Conservative backbencher 21 times with a 12-inch carving knife in front of his aide, before being tackled to the floor by plain-clothes police officers.
Unrepentant Ali smiled and winked at members of the press as he was taken to the cells after Mr Justice Sweeney gave him a whole life tariff on Wednesday.
The family of Sir David have said in a statement they felt "no elation" after the homegrown terrorist was jailed, adding: "Nothing will ever compensate for that."
Sir David Amess's family said in a statement: "We will wake each day and immediately feel our loss. We will struggle through each day for the rest of our lives. Our last thought before sleep will be of David. We will forever shed tears for the man we have lost. We shall never 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."
At sentencing, Mr Justice Sweeney branded Islamic State fanatic Ali “cowardly” for his refusal to accept his guilt and put Sir David’s family through the ordeal of a trial.
The judge said: “Sir David had done nothing whatsoever to justify the attack on him. On the contrary, he had devoted 38 years of his life to the service of the public.
"He engaged in doing it when he was murdered. The loss is one of national significance.”
Mr Justice Sweeney said during the attack by Ali, Sir David “fought bravely and hard against the attack”, adding: “But he was overwhelmed by the defendant, who was younger and larger.”
He said: “I wish to express the sincere sympathy and condolences of the court to the family, friends, staff, colleagues and constituents of Sir David.
“I express the court’s sincere admiration of the brave and dignified way the family have handled their loss and the ordeal of the trial, that was brought upon them by the defendant’s cowardly refusal to accept his guilt."
The judge said he had “no doubt at all” that the starting point for Ali’s sentence is a whole life order, meaning he will never be released from prison.
He added that the murder “struck at the heart of our democracy”, and that “the defendant must be kept in prison for the rest of his life”.
Ali was convicted of murder and preparing terrorist acts on Monday by jurors after just 18 minutes.
Prosecutors described the case as "overwhelming", and the 26-year-old Londoner himself did not dispute much of the evidence.
Today Ali pursed his lips briefly as the judge sentenced him to the whole life order, plus a concurrent life sentence with a minimum of 30 years for the terrorism offences.
Ali could be seen smiling as he was lead down in the cells from the dock.
Julie Cushion, Sir David Amess’ aide who was present at the time of the killing, has had her victim impact statement read to the court by Mr Little.
She said: “Since the 15th of October 2021 I have had to drive by the church of Sir David’s death nearly every day as it’s close to where I live. It’s a constant reminder of what happened. I have a huge sense of guilt as I booked the venue. I can never get that scream out of my mind when Sir David was attacked.
“I remember that awful feeling of distress while we waited for help, feeling helpless and hopeless. The expression on the perpetrator’s face has stayed with me all the time. A look of smug, self satisfaction.
“I now work for a new MP, but I also have the fear that she could be attacked.”
At sentencing, Prosecutor Tom Little QC said of Ali: "The planning here was long-standing, it was significant in terms of its extent and its duration.
"The defendant was to say in evidence his intention for some significant period of time was to kill Michael Gove."
Ali acted alone, Mr Little said.
In a brief victim impact statement read to the court, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said: "On October 19 2021 I was visited by officers from the Counter Terrorism Command of the Metropolitan Police.
"I was advised the man being investigated for the murder of Sir David Amess is believed to have conducted recon on two addresses connected to me. "It was clear from... that I had in fact been a potential target."
He described his experience as "incomparable" with the loss suffered by Sir David Amess' family. He added: "It has, however, had a very disruptive effect on my family.
"Our security and that of our home was threatened and that has put a profound pressure on our lives.
"Like everyone who knew and worked with David, I have found the impact of losing David has been enormous."
Ali told the trial he had no regrets about the murder, defending his actions by saying Sir David deserved to die because he had voted in Parliament for air strikes on Syria in 2014 and 2015.
Ali previously told the court: "I decided to do it because I felt that if I could kill someone who made decisions to kill Muslims, it could prevent further harm to those Muslims.
"He voted previously in Parliament, not just him ... I decided if I couldn't make hijrah, if I couldn't help the Muslims (in Syria), I would do something here."
Asked what difference killing Sir David would make, Ali said: "For one, he can't vote again.
"If he had previous for doing votes like that he won't do it in the future, and perhaps send a message to his colleagues."
The court heard that Ali became known to authorities around this time as his school performance plunged and he was referred to the Government's Prevent strategy, but continued plotting in secret.
The so-called "lone wolf" sent a manifesto on WhatsApp to family and friends seeking to justify his actions around the time of the attack, and told father-of-five Sir David he was "sorry" before plunging the 12in carving knife into him, causing the 69-year-old politician to scream.
Sir David received more than 20 stab injuries and died at the scene.
Knife-wielding Ali was later apprehended by two police officers armed only with batons and spray. They have since been handed bravery awards.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle told PA MPs and political staff remain "traumatised" by the atrocity, and continue to struggle amid fears for their security.
In a police interview, Ali spoke calmly about his terror plot and admitted allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.
He told police of the moment Sir David was killed: "I felt like one minute I was sat down at the table talking to him and the next he was, sort of, dead.
"But, yeah, it's probably one of the strangest days... of my life now, y'know?"
Sir David's assistant Julie Cushion told jurors Ali appeared "self-satisfied" in the wake of the brutal killing.
