Prevent scheme missed chances to stop two killers, report finds

The Prevent anti-terrorism scheme missed chances to protect the public from the killer of the MP Sir David Amess, and from the youth who murdered three girls in Southport, an official report said yesterday.

- Vikram Dodd

The report by David Anderson, the independent reviewer of Prevent, found the programme had had "a long string of failings" as it tried to deradicalise the man who went on to stab Amess. It closed his case after a single assessment meeting when he was meant to have had seven.

The revelations have led Amess's family to demand an inquiry, which the government has refused.

The Tory veteran was stabbed to death in October 2021 as he held a constituency surgery meeting with his attacker, Ali Harbi Ali, who was motivated by Islamist terrorism.

Ali was referred to Prevent in 2014, aged 18, and his case was dealt with by the Channel programme, which handles those of greatest concern.

Lord Anderson found six main areas of failings and noted that although Ali was given a mentor, "the programme of mentoring that was planned for him was allowed to peter out when it had hardly begun". The mentor was meant to see Ali seven times but only one meeting took place, over coffee at a McDonald's in Croydon, south London.