Former UK minister and Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe is accused of being killed in a hammer attack in Devon, with prosecutors telling Westminster Magistrates’ Court that she was struck 21 times on the head. Multiple outlets report that Joshua Kerry, 28, from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, appears in court charged with her murder.
The reporting says Widdecombe, 78, is found dead at her bungalow in Haytor on Dartmoor, with the death occurring in early July. She was arrested on suspicion of murder on July 11, two days after police found her. Sources also describe the killing as shocking to the public and political establishment.
One outlet adds detail that Widdecombe was eating lunch when the alleged attack took place, and that the court is told about how the attack unfolded at her home. Across the reports, the central point is the prosecution’s allegation that the hammer blows numbered 21 and that Kerry is the defendant facing the charge.
