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Ann Widdecombe public memorial announced after man charged with her murder

Ann Widdecombe family announces public memorial for former Tory MP after private funeral

Ann Widdecombe public memorial announced after man charged with her murder
Ann Widdecombe public memorial announced after man charged with her murder

A public memorial for Ann Widdecombe will be held later this year following a private funeral in the coming weeks.

According to Sky News, her family announced that the service will be reserved for "family and close friends" with invitations already being distributed.

Details for the public memorial will be released at a later date, they added.

The Reform UK spokeswoman and former Conservative minister was found dead in her home in Haytor in Dartmoor, Devon, on 9 July with serious head injuries.

28-year-old Joshua Kerry from South Yorkshire, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with her murder.


Ann Widdecombe's family breaks silence on funeral plan

Widdecombe's family said, "We understand that there is significant public interest in the funeral of Ann Widdecombe. A private service for family and close friends will be held in the coming weeks, and invitations for this ceremony have been distributed.”

“A more public memorial will follow later in the year, the details of which will be released in due course. While we are very grateful for the wide expression of condolences, the family would ask that this initial service is limited to those closest to Ann," it added.

Prosecutors said Widdecombe had been eating lunch when Kerry pulled up in a car outside her home and entered through the front door. Kerry is alleged to have hit the 78-year-old on the head with a hammer 21 times, the Old Bailey heard on Tuesday.

Widdecombe's provisional cause of death has been given as "blunt force injury to the head", prosecutors told the court.

Detectives are still investigating any possible political motives for the killing, but have not yet brought any terrorism charges.

Widdecombe was first elected as a Conservative MP in Kent in 1987 and went on to be prisons minister in the 1990s. She later became a Member of the European Parliament for the Brexit Party.