TRAGEDY : Married father-of-five, 69, is stabbed to death by knifeman who stormed into his constituency surgery in Southend Methodist church in front of horrified onlookers as armed police arrest suspect, 25, at scene

Conservative MP Sir David Amess has been murdered today after being stabbed 'multiple times' by a 25-year-old killer who sprinted into a church and knifed him to death during his weekly constituency surgery.

The Tory MP for Southend West, 69, was meeting locals at the Belfairs Methodist Church, in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, when his attacker ran into the building wielding a knife before attacking the veteran politician at just after midday.

Paramedics worked to save the politician on the floor of a Essex church for more than an hour but he could not be saved after the appalling attack with chilling similarities to the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed multiple times outside her constituency surgery at a local library in Birstall, West Yorkshire, in June 2016 by a right-wing terrorist.

Sir David, a married father-of-five whose wife Julia is also his part-time caseworker, is the seventh MP to be murdered, and the ninth in history to be attacked. It is not know if Mrs Amess was at the church when her husband was murdered.

Horrified constituents waiting to see the veteran MP, an ardent Brexiteer and royalist, watched in horror as the knifeman stabbed him, calling the police at 12.05pm. Police confirmed Sir David's death at around 3pm. Counter-terrorism officers and armed units are at the scene.

One woman ran out of the church in the chaos yelling down the phone after dialling 999, telling the call handler: 'Someone's been stabbed, please get here soon, he's not breathing'. Essex Police held the attacker at the scene and seized a weapon. He is now in custody and arrested on suspicion of murder.

Sir David, a Brexiteer veteran MP who has voted against gay marriage and abortion, was seen laughing and speaking to people on the steps of the church just 15 minutes before he was knifed.

'We could see a police cordon set up... (someone outside) told me a woman had come out screaming on the phone, saying 'someone's been stabbed, please get here soon, he's not breathing',' the 40-year-old told PA.

'There was a lot of talk at the church that it was (Sir David) and plenty of people had seen him outside saying hello to people outside the church 20 minutes before. It's very shocking'.

Poignantly, Sir David wrote last year about the importance of meeting constituents despite what had happened to Jo Cox. He wrote: 'She was a young woman with a family going about her duties, as we all do, completely unaware of the threat that she faced. While it is often said that good can come out of someone's death, it is difficult to see what good can come from this senseless murder'. He also admitted he had been threatened at his home in the past and had to add additional security to his property.

Lalasticlala

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10096107/Police-swoop-road-outside-building-MP-David-Amess-holding-constituency-surgery-today.html

Killings everywhere, and the way and manner in which he was killed is very sad and very bad.