Former UK minister Ann Widdecombe ‘hit over head with a hammer 21 times’, court hears
London: The man accused of murder was hit in the head 21 times with a hammer while having lunch at the home of former British politician Ann Widdecombe, the prosecutor said at the hearing on Tuesday.
Joshua Kerry, 28, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London in connection with the murder, which shocked the public and the political establishment.
Prosecutor Kashif Malik said Widdecombe, 78, had dinner with Kerry at his home in an isolated village in south-west England at around noon on July 8.
Kerry burst in through the front door and beat him with a hammer, took his wallet and disappeared two minutes after the attack began.
Blunt force injury to the head was listed as the provisional cause of death.
Kerry was charged while in custody on Monday (London time) after being arrested on suspicion of murder and acts of terrorism. Prosecutors said police were investigating the suspect’s motive, including a possible political or terrorist affiliation.
Kerry, wearing a gray tracksuit, spoke only to confirm his identity and did not enter a plea. He was ordered to remain in custody and is scheduled to appear at the Central Criminal Court on October 9.
Widdecombe, a former member of Parliament and government minister, was a prominent political voice known for his outspoken, socially conservative views opposing abortion and expanding LGBTQ+ rights.
When he did not show up for a scheduled interview on July 8, television producers called his assistant, who in turn contacted his gardener, prosecutors said. The next day he found Widdecombe lying face down on the kitchen floor.
Kerry was arrested on July 11, more than 400 kilometers from his home in Haytor, a village of Widdecombe on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, in the northern English county of South Yorkshire.
Widdecombe was an MP in the House of Commons from 1987 to 2010 and served as prisons minister in Prime Minister John Major’s Conservative government in the 1990s.
After leaving parliament he gained fame as a contestant on reality television shows Definitely Come Dance And Celebrity Big Brother.
He later joined the Brexit Party and briefly served as a member of the European Parliament before the UK left the European Union in 2020. Most recently, he joined the anti-immigration Reform UK and is often featured in the media as the party’s immigration and justice spokesperson.
Widdecombe’s murder has reignited concerns about the safety of politicians, which have become tighter following the murders of two prominent MPs in the last decade. Labor MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed by a far-right extremist in 2016, and Conservative David Amess was stabbed by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group in 2021.
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