The Prevent scheme made a series of errors in its handling of the man who went on to murder the Conservative MP David Amess, a review has found.
Ali Harbi Ali was convicted of Amess’s murder in 2022 when he was 26. He had been referred to Prevent in 2014 by his school and his case was adopted amid concerns he could have an interest in violent Islamism.
His case was closed in 2016 after he had been referred to the Channel scheme for those deemed most at risk of radicalisation.
The Prevent learning review published on Wednesday found the decision to close Ali’s case had been taken too soon.
Far from being deradicalised, Ali went on to consume Islamic State propaganda and in October 2021 attacked Amess, 69, with a knife 21 times as he held a Southend West constituency surgery in a Leigh-on-Sea church. Ali told an onlooker he was doing it for Syria.
Amess’s family had a copy of the review last year and wanted it to be made public. Prevent learning reviews are usually kept secret.
His widow, Lady Amess, said on Wednesday that a public inquiry was needed. “I am very pleased that the failures of Prevent are now in the public domain – we were aware of them but were essentially gagged,” she said. “We are determined to keep up our fight for a public inquiry which we believe the family, and others, deserve.”
His daughter, Katie Amess, said: “I am very disappointed that the government has refused our request for an inquiry. My father gave his life for this country.
“Given the similarities with the Southport killer and the man who murdered my father and the multiple failing of Prevent in both cases, it is wrong and illogical to have an inquiry into one and not the other. I sincerely hope that the government will change its mind.”
This review into Prevent’s handling of the Ali case followed a critical report last week into its handling of the Southport killer, Axel Rudakubana. Rudakubana was referred to and rejected from Prevent three times.
Ali’s criminal trial heard he had hidden his real views while in the Prevent scheme. The court was told he had wanted to travel to join Islamic State in Syria, and a year after being cleared by Prevent and Channel had decided to carry out a terror attack in the UK.
He was suspected of having an interest in Islamism after being referred by his school in 2014, which was concerned by changes in behaviour, such as suddenly wearing Islamic clothing, and a deterioration in his studies.
In 2016 Ali was cleared by Prevent, with the risk he posed of carrying out a terrorist attack deemed as low. The review found that assessment had been made too soon, after just one meeting with him over coffee.
Announcing the review, the security minister, Dan Jarvis, told the Commons: “The reviewer found that from the material reviewed, the assessment in terms of the perpetrator’s vulnerabilities was problematic, and this ultimately led to questionable decision-making and sub-optimal handling of the case during the time he was engaged with Prevent and Channel.
“It identified that the vulnerability assessment framework was not followed, with the perpetrator’s symptoms being prioritised over addressing the underlying causes of his vulnerabilities.
“The reviewer ultimately found that while Prevent policy and guidance at the time was mostly followed, the case was exited from Prevent too quickly.”
Jarvis added: “Record-keeping was problematic, and the rationale for certain decisions was not explicit. Responsibilities between police and the local authorities were blurred. The tool used for identifying an individual’s vulnerability to radicalisation was outdated.
“The school that made the referral to Prevent should have been involved in discussions to help determine risk and appropriate support. And the tasking of the intervention provider was problematic, with a miscommunication leading to only one session being provided instead of two.”
Prevent is a voluntary scheme intended to deflect people away from being radicalised before they commit terrorist acts.
The head of counter-terrorism, assistant commissioner Matt Jukes, said: “It is clear from the Prevent learning review where the management and handling of Ali Harbi Ali’s case in 2014 should have been better.
“The report also acknowledges that by the time of the attack in 2021, significant changes had been made, and more work has been done since then to act upon the review’s recommendations.
“Difficult decisions in steering people away from radicalisation continue to be made every day, and with almost 60,000 Prevent referrals in the last decade, we owe it to all those affected, including those making the decisions, to take every opportunity possible to improve the system.”
Ali’s criminal trial heard that he had confessed to police after his arrest that in 2014 he was such a devotee of Islamic State that he considered travelling to Syria to join them, but did not do so.
By 2017 he had chosen to carry out an attack in the UK and he became determined to kill an MP, eventually picking Amess as his target.
Jarvis said that the new Prevent commissioner would “ensure the implementation of all relevant recommendations” from the review about the programme’s interactions with Ali.