David Amess' daughter still can't talk about moment she found out dad had been stabbed to death

Conservative MP David Amess was murdered in a terrorist attack by Islamic State sympathiser Ali Harbi Ali in 2021 - Ali was given a whole-life sentence the following year

David Amess' daughter has revealed she still cannot talk about the moment she found out the MP had been stabbed to death.

Katie, 39, Mr Amess' second of five children, said she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following his killing in 2021. Speaking for the first time about what happened, Katie admitted "none of this seems real to me."

Mr Amess, an Essex MP for 38 years, was murdered by Ali Harbi Ali who declared his loyalty to terrorist organisation Islamic State. Ali was previously reported to the Home Office's Prevent deradicalization scheme in 2014 but only went for one meeting before his case had been closed.

Katie told The Times she believed she had a "perfect life" with her friends and husband living in Los Angeles but admitted she now felt "so naïve." She added her mum Julia, 70, Mr Amess' wife of almost 40 years suffered from a stroke the year after his murder.

Julia has moved out from the family's Southend home of three decades as it was painful for her to stay. Katie told The Times: "It’s just the most unbearable, unspeakable pain. We’ve lost a great, great man who can’t be replaced. Now I just want to make him proud by fighting back against being told no to something that we should be allowed to know. I can’t accept this.”

Katie remembers her dad as a "larger than life" personality. She recalled a note penned on his Commons letter paper that read: "Congratulations on being one of the winners in the Playgroup category of painting. You can be very proud of yourself. Love, Daddy x.”

Conservative MP Mr Amess, a committed Christian, was a strong advocate for Brexit and took stances against same-sex marriage and abortion. But he was also known as a tireless campaigner for Southend and wanted it to be granted city status - something it was following his death.

Following his death, his family believed he would have met his killer with a smile. Ali planned the attack for seven years and expected to be killed by police in a bid to be "martyred." Instead, Ali was apprehended and following a trial he was found guilty of murdering Mr Amess and given a whole-life sentence.

“It breaks our heart to know that our husband and father would have greeted the murderer with a smile of friendship and would have been anxious to help,” the family later said in a statement. Mr Amess is not the only MP to have been killed by a terrorist with Labour's Jo Cox being murdered by white supremacist Thomas Mair in 2016.

Katie watched videos of her dad every day in the months following his death. She added: "I was scared I would forget him but now I know I won’t, because I am part of him."