Sir David Amess’ killer and the Reading terror attacker were also known to the government scheme. With the country still reeling from the details that emerged in the sentencing of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, troubling questions continue to emerge over the many opportunities missed to stop him.
![[Ali Harbi Ali was given a whole life sentence at the Old Bailey for the murder of Sir David (Metropolitan Police/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/10/27/11/5b8f836aa9ebedee7a55698d45b43d7dY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzMwMTE1NTA0-2.66370107.jpg)
The 18-year-old travelled to a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop at The Hart Space on 29 July last year, before unleashing 15 minutes of horror with a kitchen knife upon defenceless children. Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, all lost their lives, while 10 others were seriously injured.
![[Jake Davison’s mother contacted Prevent over concerns for her son]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/02/21/14/p%20jw.png)
The killer, who had a twisted obsession with violence, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years. It has emerged there were multiple warning signs that the teenager was plotting an act of evil, with his concerned teachers making referrals to the government’s flagship anti-terror programme Prevent in the years before the attack.
![[Reading terror attacker Khairi Saadallah was known to Prevent and MI5 (Thames Valley Police/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/04/26/18/18180aa1e701173b0ead14d6befc7afdY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzEzOTkxODUx-2.75062251.jpg)
He was referred three times between 2019 and 2021 specifically over concerns about his interest in violence. They included:. Despite the three referrals over Rudakubana, concerns about him were never escalated up the chain, meaning he was not put under enhanced monitoring.
Following his arrest in July, an urgent Prevent review was carried out over the summer which found that while there was evidence he had an obsession with violence, his case was not escalated as he did not appear to fit the mould of a potential extremist.
