With 21 hammer blows: this is how they murdered British MP Ann Widdecombe

Kerry, 28 years old and with no history of radicalization, has been accused of the murder of the former Conservative MP. Although the police presume that it was a deliberate and terrorist attack, they have not yet been able to find the links.

Ann Widdecombe died after receiving 21 hammer blows to the head at his home in Devon, as explained before the court.

Joshua Kerry, 28, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with the murder of the 78-year-old former MP.

The accused was arrested at his home in Rotherham (South Yorkshire), shortly after 9pm on Saturday 11 July.

Kerry is alleged to have driven 260 miles to the right-wing Reform party spokesperson’s home in Haytor, Dartmoor, where he allegedly attacked Widdecombe, shortly after midday on Wednesday, July 8.

The court heard Widdecombe failed to attend a scheduled interview on Channel 5 that day. Her personal assistant asked the deputy’s gardener to come check on her the next day because she was not answering the phone.

The gardener found the front door open and Widdecombe lying on the kitchen floor.with a serious head injury.

Kashif Malik, representing the prosecution, testified in court that Kerry allegedly hit Widdecombe with the hammer 21 times, then knocked her out of her chair and took her purse. He is accused of having remained in the house for two minutes.

A pathologist determined that the provisional cause of death was ““a blunt force head injury”as reported to the court. Kerry was arrested after officers located his vehicle at the home. He was initially arrested on suspicion of murder and subsequently for alleged preparation of terrorist acts.

The defendant intervened only to confirm his name, address and date of birth at the hearing in London. Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring remanded him in custody and remanded the case to the Old Bailey court, where Kerry appeared on Tuesday afternoon.

Detectives had stated that they were continuing to investigate whether there was any political or terrorist link to the attack, as well as any other broader activities in which Kerry may have participated.

Widdecombe was first elected Conservative MP for Kent in 1987. She served as prisons minister in the 1990s and later She was an MEP for the Brexit Party. At the time of his death, he was serving as immigration and justice spokesperson for the Reform UK party.

Deputy Commissioner Laurence Taylor, national head of the police counter-terrorism unit, said after Kerry’s indictment that officers were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

“I want to be very clear that our investigation into this individual – to determine his motivations and any other activities he may have engaged in – remains ongoing,” Taylor said.

“Given the public profile of Ann Widdecombe and the targeted nature of the attack, determining the motive – including any possible political motivation – remains an active line of investigation for our detectives,” he added.

Taylor said his officers had gathered an “enormous amount of information”, resulting in more than 800 lines of inquiry, and that the team would liaise with the Crown Prosecution Service if additional crimes were identified.

At the opening of the inquest into Widdecombe’s death in Exeter on Tuesday, Philip Spinney – chief coroner for Devon, Torbay and Plymouth – said she was “much loved and deeply missed”. He asked that his family be treated with sensitivity and respect, and expressed his “sincere condolences.”

Spinney told Devon Coroner’s Court that Widdecombe, who was single, was found dead in the home at 12.20pm on July 9, the day after the alleged assault.

Spinney confirmed that an autopsy had been performed. But he noted that “at this stage the exact cause of death has not yet been determined.”

The forensic investigation has been suspended until the criminal court proceedings are concluded.

Kerry was refused bail at the Old Bailey court and his preventive detention was ordered. Judge Cheema-Grubb indicated that an administrative hearing will be held on October 9, followed by another hearing on November 20, for the presentation of arguments and preparation for trial. A provisional trial date has been set: June 8, 2027.

The murder of the former minister made it clear that there are threatened deputies in the Chamber of Deputies. The Reform party has arranged 24 hours of private security for them and especially for their leader, Nigel Farage, who resigned from the House of Commons and it must be RAVEC who decides whether he is protected or not. There have been two deputies, one Labor and one Conservative, murdered in Great Britain when they were legislators.