David Amess murder suspect Ali Harbi Ali, 25, will appear at the Old Bailey ...

The terror suspect accused of stabbing to death Sir David Amess will appear at the Old Bailey today. 

Ali Harbi Ali, 25, is charged with the murder of the veteran Southend West MP after queuing with constituents at his surgery last Friday.   

He was remanded in custody during a 13-minute hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court yesterday. The court heard Ali allegedly settled on a plot to kill an MP two years ago, initially focusing on two politicians other than Sir David.  

The veteran MP was pronounced dead at the scene at 1.10pm and a preliminary post-mortem report gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds to the chest. 

Ali is said to have carried out reconnaissance at one of their homes, the surgery of another and the Houses of Parliament, detectives discovered after investigating his Oyster Card travel within London and CCTV footage. He was located outside the home of one politician in March, June and July this year, however he was not convinced the address was correct.

Ali is said to have watched the Houses of Parliament but had decided that an attack there was 'not practical' because of the high level of security. He was also picked up outside another MP's constituency surgery last month.

Prosecutors allege that Ali was affiliated with Islamic State and targeted Sir David over the MP's voting record in support of air strikes on Syria. 

He is said to have prepared for terrorist acts from May 1, 2019 to September 28 this year. Ali was wearing a grey tracksuit and thick-rimmed black glasses and smiled to his legal team as he entered the court. He then sat silently throughout yesterday's hearing, only speaking to confirm his name, age, and address.     

Sir David suffered multiple stab wounds in last Friday's attack and despite the heroic efforts of paramedics to save his life, the MP died of his injuries.  

The 69-year-old father of five was ambushed at his Friday meeting with the public and stabbed 17 times in a frenzied attack. After a week of questioning by Scotland Yard as well as searches of his home and electronic devices, Ali was charged with murder and another charge of preparation of terrorist acts.  

Nick Price, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: 'The CPS has authorised charges against Ali Harbi Ali for the murder of MP Sir David Amess. We will submit to the court that this murder has a terrorist connection, namely that it had both religious and ideological motivations. He has also been charged with the preparation of terrorist acts. This follows a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation'.   

Matt Jukes, Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, said: 'I want to send my deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Sir David Amess, who died so tragically last Friday. Sir David's dedication to his family, his constituents and his community, and his positive impact on the lives of so many has shone through'. 

Speaking outside New Scotland Yard, Mr Jukes added: 'A large team of detectives have been working around the clock to find out as much as we can about what happened and why.

'That work has included searches at a number of London addresses. Our advanced forensics team analysed digital devices and carried out a painstaking review of CCTV footage.

'If there are members of the public who have further information that might help the investigation, I would urge them to come forward. Every piece of information in investigations like these is important and you will not be wasting our time.'

Sir David's death during his weekly constituency surgery has shocked Britain and is likely to change the way MPs are protected and meet voters forever.

In a heartbreaking statement his family called for people to 'set aside hatred', adding: 'Nobody should die in that way. Nobody. Whatever one's race, religious or political beliefs, be tolerant and try to understand. We are absolutely broken, but we will survive and carry on for the sake of a wonderful and inspiring man.'  

Ali is the son of a former Sudanese diplomat who was born in Britain and raised in Croydon. After falling out with his parents he decided to move in with an aunt and her sons in a council house in the upmarket North London enclave of Kentish Town, in a street of £2million three-storey townhouses. 

His move to north London is understood to have coincided with a deterioration in his relationship with his Somali-born parents. Ali's parents split up when he was young and his father returned to Somalia. One neighbour, who has known the family for twenty years, said that Ali spoke of hopes of becoming a doctor with the NHS, saying: 'He told me he'd been doing exams and he seemed westernised.' 

Police and intelligence officials were initially mystified about why the 69-year-old Tory politician was singled out for attack. Reports had initially suggested that Sir David, a devout Roman Catholic and prominent Brexiteer who was MP for Southend West, had been selected because of his political views or religion.

Investigators now believe that there may have been no specific motive for the targeting of Sir David. One government insider told the paper: 'He was unlucky. He was not targeted because of his political party. David Amess was not specifically targeted.'  

Police are also investigating the alleged close ties between Sir David and Qatar. The Tory MP was chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Gulf state and returned from his latest visit there on Wednesday last week. 

Sir David's family said their hearts had been 'shattered' by his 'cruel and violent death' at a constituency surgery in Essex. They said they could not understand why the 'patriot and a man of peace' was targeted by a knifeman he had never met. 

Officers raided Ali's 'childhood home' in Croydon on Friday. It comes as Met Police officers were yesterday seen guarding a property in a tree-lined street in North London, where Ali is believed to currently live. Police were seen walking into the property and a blue and yellow tent was erected outside the council-owned property on the street, where homes sell for around £2million. 

It comes as intelligence officials are believed to have warned Ministers that Britain could face a wave of terrorist attacks carried out by 'bedroom radicals' - so-called 'lone wolf' terrorists who turned to extremism after spending months at home during the Covid lockdown. 

'Counter-terror police and MI5 have been concerned for some time that once we emerged out of lockdown there would be more people out on the streets and more targets for the terrorists,' one security source told The Telegraph.

As police continued to quiz the London-born suspect, his father spoke of the family's shock. Harbi Ali Kullane, a former media and communications adviser to the Prime Minister of Somalia, said he was 'traumatised' by his son's arrest. 

He added: 'At this particular moment we are going through [an] unprecedented and horrific situation.'

Mr Kullane spoke out as details emerged about the suspected killer's upbringing in south London.

Detectives have been piecing together the suspect's movements in the hours before Friday's attack. 

They have not found any obvious affiliation to a terrorist group and do not believe Ali had ever previously met Sir David. They have found nothing to suggest the MP was

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