‘It was a normal, sunny day – then this’
MP’s constituents struggle to come to terms with tragedy that unfolded on Friday before their eyes
‘I was praying the rosary – it’s a half-hour prayer going through all those intentions, asking that whatever was going on in there, for God’s will to be done’
SIR DAVID AMESS’S final act as a public servant was to discuss plans for a children’s parliament with his friend and local collaborator Richard Hillgrove.
Despite being less than a mile apart, the pair had agreed to talk on Zoom, starting the call at 11.45am on Friday and concluding – slightly over the allocated time for a constituency surgery session – at 12.02.
Sir David was attacked seconds later, stabbed repeatedly in front of his horrified staff.
“He was on absolutely fine form, so upbeat and full of jokes,” said Mr Hillgrove. “He was looking to the future, sensing this was a significant opportunity for young people.
“We ran over our allotted time,” he added. “The attacker may have been in the room waiting as we spoke, he would have been next in line.
Sir David’s wounds were so multiple and severe that paramedics were unable to stabilise him sufficiently for a transfer to hospital. After two hours of them struggling with his injuries, the air ambulance took off empty.
Last night a vigil was held at the nearby Belfairs Sports Ground where the helicopter had waited in vain. “What a person to do it to, a symbol of British democracy,” said Mr Hillgrove, whose daughter Lola, 11, was to be “matched” with Sir David in the upcoming children’s parliament. “When I saw the news on Sky I couldn’t believe it.”
Mr Hillgrove recalled how during their conversation Sir David had periodically glanced to his right. He assumes this was towards his trusted assistant, Rebecca Hayton, on whom, not being the most technologically savvy parliamentarian, Sir David relied for reassurance when making video calls.
It was she who witnessed at close quarters the full ferocity of the knife attack, running from the Belfairs Methodist Church hall screaming. The commotion alerted Sir David’s other assistant, Julie Cushion, in the church hall lobby.
Shortly after the attack, Stephen Aylen, a former Southend Conservative councillor, spoke to Ms Cushion.
“She is in absolute bits,” he said. “What she saw is going to stick with her for the rest of her life.
“It was a normal surgery and they were assisting Sir David in helping his constituents. Julie and Rebecca thought this man was just another constituent who needed help from their MP, when suddenly he launched his attack on Sir David.
“For anyone to witness that sort of unprovoked assault is awful. It was a lovely, normal sunny day – then this.”
After attacking Sir David and stabbing him several times, his assailant sat down next to his body, making no effort to evade police, it has emerged.
A Southend Conservative Party source said: “One of Sir David’s office staff was in the hall with him, and it now appears that after attacking Sir David this man sat down and waited for police to arrive. It’s absolutely chilling.”
The first 999 calls are understood to have been made at 12.05, with officers from Essex Police arriving within five minutes. They were followed moments later by an armed response unit.
The 25-year-old suspect was detained inside the church hall and led out to a police van. A knife was recovered.
By now the street was heavy with the sound of helicopters, one belonging to police and another the air ambulance. As word spread, Father Jeffrey Woolnough, a local Roman Catholic priest who went on to lead a church vigil yesterday, arrived to offer Sir David, himself a devout Catholic, the last rites.
The priest was denied entry, however, and so stood on the street with another man reciting the rosary.
He described it as a “great disappointment” for a Roman Catholic not to be able to receive the last rites.
“It was remarkably calm by the time I arrived,” he said. “I prayed from outside and I just hope David received those.
“I know he would have done, because any prayer said that is sincere is received by the recipient,” Father Woolnough said.
“I was praying the rosary – it’s a half hour prayer going through all of those intentions, asking that whatever was going on in there, for God’s will to be done. That’s all I could pray at that point in time.”
As news of the stabbing spread, police began house-to-house inquiries around the church hall while local friends and colleagues rushed to support Sir David’s loved ones.
Councillor John Lamb, chairman of the Southend Conservative Association, said the family had recently celebrated the wedding of one of Sir David’s daughters, Alexandra, and were preparing for the wedding of another.
“I’ve spoken to his wife Julia to see how she is and as you can imagine she is very upset,” he said. “He was a family man – it’s just tremendously sad.
“They can’t believe that Sir David’s gone, the wife can’t believe that her husband has gone and that it happened at a place he loved being – he will never go home again. That’s the disbelief.”
Yesterday Boris Johnson united with Sir Keir Starmer as they each laid flowers of tribute to the veteran MP in Leigh-on-Sea.
The attached card from the Prime Minister read: “To the memory of Sir David Amess MP, a fine parliamentarian and a much-loved colleague and friend.”
Priti Patel and the Commons Speaker Sir Lyndsay Hoyle also paid tribute. Later the Home Secretary wrote on twitter: “Rest in peace, dear David. We will all cherish our memories of your kindness, love and affection.”
Representatives from Southend’s Muslim community described the killing as an “indefensible atrocity”.
In a statement published on the Essex Jamme Masjid website, on behalf of “all Southend mosques”, they said their thoughts and prayers were with Sir David’s family.
“Sir David’s murder was an indefensible atrocity, committed on the grounds of a place of worship and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” the statement read.
“This act was committed in the name of blind hatred, and we look forward to the perpetrator being brought to justice.”
The Muslim faith leaders described Sir David, a father of five, as an “upstanding friend to our Muslim community”. The MP had attended events such as weddings, mosque openings and the launch of the town’s first Muslim Scout group.
Last night mourners gathered to launch blue balloons and light candles in memory of the MP, who had served Essex communities in Parliament since 1983.
Alex Kaye, a trustee for the local Harp homeless charity and a former councillor who worked with Sir David for decades, found out about his death in the middle of her son’s wedding on Friday.
“It’s such a sad and great loss,” she said.
“We’ve lost somebody who was so valuable and we’ll miss the smile. My thoughts are really with the family, I can’t imagine how heartbroken they must be.”
A laundrette worker said she had seen someone appearing to be the same age as the alleged attacker sitting on a bench behind the church with a rucksack from between 10.30 and 11.30.
“I don’t know if it was [the attacker] or not,” she said. “He looked between 20 and 25 and didn’t look like he was from here – dark hair, jacket, just sitting there.
“I then left and when I came back about 12.15pm everyone was around and armed police outside and he was gone.”
Meanwhile, the Reverend Clifford Newman, of Belfairs Methodist Church where Sir David was murdered, said the MP held his surgery there because he wanted to be where his constituents were.
“He was a person who was for the community and wanted to be in the community, and so a church is obviously a community place.”
He added: “There’s a lot of raw feeling obviously with the family and obviously with our church members, but also within the community itself.”