Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
LONDON: Former British government minister Ann Widdecombe was killed by a man who struck her on the head 21 times with a hammer while she was eating lunch at home earlier this month, prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday.
Widdecombe, 78, a prominent figure in Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party, was found dead at her home in rural southwest England on July 9 after being attacked the day before. The killing shocked British politics, raising further concerns about politicians’ security, with two serving British members of parliament having been killed since 2016.
Joshua Kerry, a white British national from Rotherham in northern England, more than 250 miles (402 km) from Widdecombe’s home, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with her murder.
The bearded 28-year-old, who appeared in the dock at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court wearing a grey tracksuit, was not asked to enter a plea.
