Ann Widdecombe suspect to appear at crown court charged over Farage terror plot

The man accused of murdering Ann Widdecombe is set to appear at crown court charged over a terror plot at Nigel Farage’s home.

Joshua Kerry, 28, from Rotherham, will appear at the Old Bailey on Friday charged with one count of preparation of terrorist acts relating to alleged activity between May 31 2024 and July 8 2026.

It follows a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Kerry is accused of carrying out online reconnaissance on prominent people, including identifying the home address of Reform UK leader Mr Farage, the magistrates’ court heard.

Prosecutors alleged that he travelled to Mr Farage’s home on April 20 last year and that the “inference” from damage to the front door was that Kerry tried to break into the house.

Reform UK spokeswoman and former Tory minister Miss Widdecombe, 78, died on July 8 after she was hit over the head with a hammer 21 times at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon, a court previously heard.

Kerry, of Byrley Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, is also accused of her murder.

In August, counter-terror police reopened a year-long probe into an alleged attack at Mr Farage’s home in south London.

The Metropolitan Police and CTP London said they investigated the incident as an “attempted burglary”, but made no arrests before the case was closed pending any new lines of inquiry.

Following its reopening, CTP London identified a line of inquiry which it said “may have been relevant” but had not been “identified and pursued by them at the time”.