Former UK minister Ann Widdecombe killed by 21 hammer blows to the head, court told
Camera footage shows 28-year-old Joshua Kerry entering her southwest England home, demanding bank cards, then striking her 21 times after she failed to appear for a live interview on 8 July.
The 8 July attack
On 8 July 2026 Ann Widdecombe, 78, a former Conservative minister and later a senior figure in Nigel Farage's Reform UK, was due to give a live interview from her southwest England home. She never appeared. Next day her personal assistant asked the gardener to check on her; he found her lying dead on the kitchen floor.
Prosecutor Kasif Malik told Westminster Magistrates' Court that a camera inside the house recorded the entire sequence. The footage shows Joshua Kerry, a 28-year-old white British man from northern England, entering while she was eating lunch and asking:
I don't suppose you have bank cards and identity?
Kerry then struck her 21 times in the head with a hammer, took her wallet and left. The prosecutor described the evidence during the defendant's first court appearance on 21 July.
The court hearing
Kerry was brought before Westminster Magistrates' Court today charged with murder. He has not yet entered a plea. The camera recording forms the centrepiece of the prosecution's case, the court heard. Widdecombe's body was discovered on 9 July; police had earlier noted that she suffered "serious injuries".
An initial arrest was made on 11 July, when police detained a 26-year-old white British man in Rotherham, northwest England. The articles do not clarify whether that man was Kerry or a different suspect later released, but the charge sheet names the 28-year-old Kerry. No motive beyond robbery has been disclosed.
- Widdecombe fails to appear for a scheduled live television interview from her home.
- Camera records Joshua Kerry entering, demanding bank cards and ID, then striking Widdecombe 21 times with a hammer before fleeing with her wallet.
- Widdecombe's body found on the kitchen floor by her gardener after her assistant raises the alarm.
- Police arrest a 26-year-old white British man in Rotherham (later charged as 28-year-old Joshua Kerry).
- Kerry appears at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with murder; no plea entered.
Widdecombe's political journey
Ann Widdecombe sat in the House of Commons from 1987 to 2010, representing the Conservative Party. She served as a junior minister in John Major's government before leaving Parliament. After a break from frontline politics, she joined Nigel Farage's Brexit Party and was elected a Member of the European Parliament for the 2019–2020 term. When the Brexit Party rebranded as Reform UK, she became its spokesperson on immigration and one of its most prominent faces.
Though she had not held a parliamentary seat since 2010, the 78-year-old remained an active media presence. The live interview she was due to give on 8 July was consistent with that public role.
Investigation and next steps
The West Country police have not disclosed how Kerry, who lives in the north of England, came to be at Widdecombe's rural home. The camera footage appears to show an opportunistic robbery that turned lethal. The case will now proceed through the English court system; a plea hearing is expected in the coming weeks. Kerry remains in custody with no application for bail reported.
