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A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of the former MP and Reform UK spokesperson Ann Widdecombe.
Joshua Kerry, ۲۸, is accused of killing the ۷۸-year-old former Conservative minister at her home in Haytor, Devon, earlier this month, by hitting her on the head with a hammer ۲۱ times.
During a brief hearing at Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday afternoon, Kerry, who was dressed in a grey sweatshirt and tracksuit bottoms, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.
The court heard that security camera footage from the property indicated Widdecombe had been fatally attacked on ۸ July.
Kerry is alleged to have entered her bungalow through the front door while she was eating her lunch, after driving there from his home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.
The prosecutor, Kashif Malik, claimed Kerry was in the house for about two minutes before driving off, having allegedly taken Widdecombe’s wallet from her handbag.
Malik said the alarm was raised after Widdecombe failed to attend a pre-arranged online interview for Channel ۵’s Matt Allwright show, shortly before ۱pm. Producers from the show are said to have tried to contact Widdecombe and her personal assistant several times.
She was found lying face down on her kitchen floor by her gardener on the morning of ۹ July and declared dead by emergency services shortly afterwards. Malik said a provisional cause of death was given by a pathologist as blunt force trauma to the head.
Kerry was arrested on suspicion of murder on ۱۱ July by officers from Devon and Cornwall police after he was linked to a red Vauxhall Corsa car seen outside Widdecombe’s bungalow shortly before her death.
The case was later taken over by counter-terrorism officers and Kerry was rearrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism. The investigation into whether there was an alleged political or terrorism motivation for Widdecombe’s death is continuing.
Later on Tuesday, Kerry appeared at the Old Bailey before Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, where he was denied bail and remanded in custody. A case management hearing was scheduled for ۹ October, with a provisional trial date set for ۸ June ۲۰۲۷.
On Tuesday morning, an inquest opened in Exeter into Widdecombe’s death. Philip Spinney, the senior coroner for the county of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, confirmed the time and date of the former MP’s death and read a short statement before suspending the inquest until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
He said: “The circumstances of the death are as follows: concerns were raised that Miss Widdecombe was uncontactable. So, an employee who was due at the home address was asked to conduct a welfare check. Miss Widdecombe was located within her property. She was found to be unresponsive, and with visible injuries.
“The emergency services were called, and she was sadly declared deceased at the scene. A postmortem examination has taken place, and at this stage the precise medical cause of death has yet to be established.”
Spinney paid tribute to Widdecombe, who was the Conservative MP for the seat of Maidstone and the Weald, previously Maidstone, between ۱۹۸۷ and ۲۰۱۰. In ۲۰۱۹, she defected to the Brexit party to serve as an MEP; latterly, she was an immigration and justice spokesperson for its successor party, Reform UK.
“It is plain that Miss Widdecombe was much loved and will be greatly missed, and it’s important that we all understand the impact the loss of life has had on those who mourn,” Spinney said.
“A court could appear a harsh and clinical setting for what is an intensely private matter, the death of a loved one. I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the family of Miss Widdecombe.”
