The suspect in the killing of the MP David Amess received extensive support under the Government's Channel counter-terrorism program before his case was closed, Guardian has learned.
As a teenager in 2014, Ali Harbi Ali was first referred to Prevent, the early intervention scheme designed to turn people away from the risk of supporting violence.
Chaque year a small proportion of the thousands referred to Prevent are then directed to the Channel programme for more intensive support, led by a panel with expertise in deradicalisation and helping those deemed vulnerable to be drawn into terrorism. Both programs involve criminal sanctions and are voluntary.
Ali's referral to Channel could raise questions for ministers, police and security services. Officials point out that seven years elapsed between him being arrested on CBS and being on the Channel on Friday on suspicion of murder. They believe his engagement with the channel was properly handled.
After completing an educational course in London in 2014, Ali was referred to the scheme over concerns that he was drawn towards an Islamist ideology. A source with knowledge of the case said: He went through the process and was discharged. He was among the higher cohort of people referred to Prevent. He voluntarily took referral to the scheme and accepted its processes. This involved accepting vulnerability assessment and accepting support, the source said, adding that he was not considered to pose a threat of terror violence and the case was closed. Official guidance says individuals with a terrorism vulnerability should be helped by Channel while those who are thought to pose a terrorism threat require action to be taken by police. The source said: If we can stop people becoming criminals at a young age, it is good for society and for them. In the year to March 2020 there were 6,287 referrals to Prevent and 1,424 referrals to a Channel Panel, 697 of which were adopted because of concerns an individual was at risk of radicalisation.
Ali s father is said by friends and former colleagues to have been a outspoken critic of terrorism during his time as a senior official in the Somali government. That compounded the family s shock after Ali's arrest at the scene where Amess was repeatedly stabbed while holding a constituency surgery in a church.
Long time ago, Amess was a Conservative MP in Essex. His killing was declared a suspected terrorist incident by police.