Man arrested in investigation into spitting incident at statue for murdered MP David Amess

A man has been arrested after a video appeared to show a person spitting on a statue dedicated to murdered MP Sir David Amess.

Essex Police confirmed a man in his thirties is now being questioned on suspicion of a public order offence and criminal damage.

He was arrested just a stone's throw away from the statue in Westcliff-on-Sea on Friday morning.

The suspect remains in custody.

Footage of the alleged spitting incident has since been deleted from TikTok.

However, the video appeared to show a man filming himself spitting multiple times on a statue of Sir David on Southend's seafront.

The incident is believed to have taken place just days after the fifth anniversary of Sir David's death.

An Essex Police spokesman said: “A man has been arrested as part of an investigation which relates to a video posted on social media in Southend.

“A report was made to us on Wednesday, October 21, and our investigation was launched.

“This morning, Friday, October 23, a man aged in his 30s was arrested in Westcliff.

“He's being questioned on suspicion of a public order offence and criminal damage. He remains in custody.”

Sir David was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2021.

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Islamic State fanatic Ali Harbi Ali was sentenced to a whole-life order for the murder the following year.

Sir David represented Southend West in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2021, having served as the MP for Basildon between 1983 and 1997.

A life-sized statue created in the memory of a long-serving Conservative MP was unveiled in April 2024.

"He may not admit it, but I'm sure he would have been flattered there is a statue in his memory," his former constituency assistant Julie Cushion said at the time.

The statue is located near the Chalkwell Lifeguards' base in Southend.

Sir David used to walk his dogs at the site and had built a close relationship with the lifeguard station.

Following this week's incident, a spokesman for Sir David's family said: "To see his memorial treated in this way is deeply upsetting."

The spokesman added: "David believed passionately in freedom of expression and the right to disagree.

"He understood that people would hold different political views, sometimes profoundly so.

"But disagreement should never be an excuse for abandoning basic standards of decency and respect.

"David was murdered because of the extremism of another individual.

"Five years on, his family continues to live with the consequences of that terrible loss."