Ann Widdecombe death: UK counterterror police probe suspected murder of ex-minister
Suspect rearrested on terror charges after ‘new information and evidence’ emerges in killing of Ann Widdecombe
British counterterrorism police officers are now leading the investigation into the suspected murder of former British government minister Ann Widdecombe in light of new information, interior minister Shabana Mahmood said on Monday.
Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home in rural southwest England last Thursday with what police described as “serious injuries”.
She was a prominent member of Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK, having left the Conservatives after she stood down from Parliament in 2010.
Police arrested a white British man in Rotherham, northern England, late on Saturday on suspicion of her murder, and initially said there was nothing to suggest a terrorism link.
“On Wednesday Ann Widdecombe was murdered in her home. The circumstances of her death are extremely distressing. Counter Terror Policing have now taken the lead in the investigation,” Mahmood told lawmakers.
Mahmood said that “new information” had come to light which had changed the character of the investigation, but added that the suspect was not known to Britain’s counter-radicalisation scheme Prevent.
