Former British lawmaker Ann Widecombe, who was found dead in her home in southwest England in early July, had been hit 21 times with a hammer, a London court heard on Tuesday.
Joshua Kelly, 28, is suspected of entering Widecombe’s home in the village of Heitor Vale on July 8, prosecutor Kashif Malik told Westminster Magistrates’ Court, according to British news agency PA Media.
The man then allegedly entered the kitchen of the 78-year-old politician’s home with a hammer and repeatedly struck her in the head as she ate lunch.
The court heard he was at her home for just two minutes.
Widecombe’s preliminary cause of death was given in court as “blunt force trauma to the head.”
Kelly then appeared at London’s Old Bailey Crown Court, where he was refused bail and remanded in custody. A case management hearing is scheduled for October 9, with a preliminary trial date set for June 8, 2027.
British counterterrorism police took over the investigation into Ms Widecombe’s murder on July 13, after officers initially said there was no information to suggest her death was the result of an act of terrorism.
Her death comes against a backdrop of escalating violence in the UK and growing threats against MPs. She becomes the third MP to be murdered in recent years, following Sir David Amess and Jo Cox.
