David Amess: History of violent attacks on MPs

Tory MP David Amess was tragically stabbed to death on Friday at a constituency surgery in Essex.

It is not the first time an MP has been attacked - or even murdered - while carrying out their constituency work.

Here we take a look a some of the other MPs subjected to violence in office.

Jo Cox

Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in her constituency in Batley and Spen by a far-right supporter on June 16, 2016.

The attack, which came just days before the EU referendum, sparked a national outcry and prompted politicians to massively ramp up their security.

Her murderer, Thomas Mair, was jailed for life.

Stephen Timms

In May 2010, East Ham MP Stephen Timms was stabbed twice in the abdomen by Roshonara Choudhry, an Islamic extremist who claimed she had wanted “to get revenge for the people of Iraq”.

Mr Timms suffered serious injuries and according to police was “extremely fortunate not to have been killed”. He remains an MP.

Nigel Jones

Nigel Jones, then MP for Cheltenham, was severely injured in January 2000 when he was attacked in his offices by a man with a sword.

Andrew Pennington, a Gloucestershire county councillor, was killed in the same attack while trying to defend the then-MP.

He was posthumously awarded the George Medal for bravery.

The attacker, Robert Ashman, had been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was deemed unfit to stand trial and was ordered to be detained indefinitely in a secure hospital.

Ian Gow

Ian Gow, a Conservative MP and former army officer, was killed outside his East Sussex home in 1990 when the IRA placed a Semtex car bomb under his Austin Montego.

The IRA claimed responsibility for the murder, stating that the MP for Eastbourne had been targeted because he was a “close personal associate” of the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

Anthony Berry

In 1984 the IRA bombed the Grand Brighton Hotel in the hope of assassinating then prime minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet at the Conservative party conference.

Mrs Thatcher survived but five people, including Conservative MP and chief whip Sir Anthony Berry, died.

Robert Bradford

Ulster Unionist Party MP Robert Bradford was shot dead by the IRA aged 40 while holding a constituency surgery in a Belfast community centre in 1981.

A caretaker was also killed in the attack.

Airey Neave

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Airey Neave died in hospital after his car was blown up as he drove out from the underground car park beneath parliament’s New Palace Yard in 1979.

The Irish National Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the bomb.

A former army officer who had successfully escaped from Colditz during the second world war, Neave had been an outspoken opponent of republican violence during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Spencer Perceval

The only prime minister to have been murdered in office was Spencer Perceval, who was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812.

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