LONDON — An Islamic State fanatic has been found guilty of murdering British lawmaker Sir David Amess.

The Southend West MP was stabbed more than 20 times during a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex on 15 October 2021.

A jury at the Old Bailey took just 18 minutes to convict Ali Harbi Ali of murder and preparing acts of terrorism.

The 26-year-old from Kentish Town, north London, had denied the charges and claimed he targeted the MP over his vote for airstrikes on Syria.

The judge, Justice Sweeney, said Ali, who refused to stand up in the dock on "religious grounds" as the guilty verdicts were returned, will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Before being sent out, the judge told the jury that Ali had no legal defence for the killing.

Ali stabbed Sir David, 69, after tricking his way into a meeting by pretending to be an NHS employee moving to the area.

During the trial, jurors heard how, prior to the attack on Sir David, Ali had also scoped out and planned attacks on other MPs, including a plan to kill cabinet minister Michael Gove who he believed was "a harm to Muslims".

In evidence, Ali told the court he wanted to travel to Syria to join Islamic State but it was too "difficult" so he decided to "help Muslims here" instead.

Ali said he had no regrets or shame about killing Sir David telling the court: "If I thought I did anything wrong, I wouldn't have done it".

The court heard Ali had planned to die as a "martyr" assuming he would be shot by police.

Justice Sweeney thanked the jury, saying: "It cannot have been easy to listen to the evidence that you listened to." — BBC