JOSHUA Kerry, 28, has been charged after Ann Widdecombe was found dead in her bungalow with a head wound following a “targeted attack”.

He was arrested in Rotherham, South Yorkshire – nearly 300 miles from the Devon home where the ex-Tory minister, 78, was found a week and a half ago.

Joshua Kerry, 28, was arrested in Rotherham – nearly 300 miles from Ann’s Devon home

Her final interview is understood to have been recorded minutes before her death

Armed cops swooped on the 28-year-old at his home

Kerry was arrested on suspicion of her murder and later re-arrested for the commission, preparation and commission of a terrorist act.

He was charged with one count of murder, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Monday evening.

Frank Ferguson, Chief Crown Prosecutor of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said cops were still probing a potential political or terrorist connection.

“Our prosecutors have worked closely with the police to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court, and we will continue working with them as their investigation progresses.”

Speaking from the steps of New Scotland Yard, assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor said they were not seeking anyone else and the investigation had been “extremely complex”.

The head of national counter terrorism policing offered his “deepest condolences to the family of Ann Widdecombe, and to everyone who knew and loved her”.

Kerry ‘was not known’ to the Prevent programme, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said

Forensics officers combed through Ms Widdecombe’s home in Haytor

He said: “I know there has been significant interest in this case and rightly so, I want to make it very clear that our investigation into this individual, determining his motivations and any wider activity he may have been involved in, is continuing.”

He further said teams had received enough information for 800 lines of inquiry over the last week.

Kerry is set to appear in court Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning for his first hearing.

Forensic searches of his devices led terror cops to take over the probe, as they investigate whether the killing was politically motivated.

The 28-year-old suspect “was not known” to the Prevent programme, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said.

It’s understood Ms Widdecombe’s domestic assistant found the Strictly star at her bungalow in Haytor, Dartmoor, on July 9.

Kerry getting into a red hatchback five hours before Ann was fatally beaten at her home

Police officers search through the undergrowth near the scene

The Reform UK spokeswoman is believed to have been bludgeoned to death in her isolated home at around 12.30pm the day before.

Ms Widdecombe’s final interview was recorded just minutes before she is believed to have been murdered.

CCTV footage obtained by The Sun showed Kerry leaving his home in Rotherham, South Yorks, just before 8am that day.

She had joined a Christian radio station between 11.54am and 12.10pm and defended Nigel Farage over a £5million gift which he says was for security.

Police at Ms Widdecombe’s home in Dartmoor, Devon

WhatsApp messages show how Ann went quiet after the suspected attack

Ms Widdecombe’s home appeared on TV days before her death

Footage shows she recorded the interview in her library, wearing the same outfit as she had worn in an appearance on TalkTV at 8am that morning.

Ms Widdecombe was then due to appear on Channel 5’s Matt Allwight show at 1pm – but failed to respond to show producers.

She did not reply to a Zoom link sent half an hour later at 12.48pm, before a producer messaged at 12.55pm asking: “Hi Ann is everything ok?”

During the show, Mr Allwright confirmed Ms Widdecombe had been due to appear but had stopped responding to messages.

Fears were raised for Ms Widdecombe, who was a regular on the panel show, and would typically respond to interview requests quickly.

However, the ex-MP failed to appear having not picked up the phone or joined a virtual link.

Studio staff reportedly made multiple further attempts to contact Ms Widdecombe over the following hours – but to no avail.

Channel 5 said it passed all of the relevant information to police after news of Ms Widdecombe’s death broke.

Presenter Dan Walker later confirmed her agent was contacted and asked to go check on her.

Her body was not found until 11.40am the next day, meaning there was a 24 hour gap in which the 78-year-old could not be contacted.

Officers at an address in Rotherham on Sunday morning

A man was arrested from a council property on Saturday

Cops were thought to be working on the theory she was murdered in a burglary gone wrong.

But counter terror cops later said they believe the murder was a “targeted attack”.

Ms Widdecombe’s home was shown on national television just five days before she was killed.

TV channel Quest aired an episode of Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House featuring the late 78-year-old politician on July 2, TV listings show.

In the episode, the inside of her £600,000 bungalow was shown in extensive detail as she gave host Angus Ashworth a guided tour.

There is no suggestion that visuals of the home on TV inspired or led to the killing.

Cops had initially arrested another man on Friday on suspicion of murder at an address in Newton Abbot, 11 miles away from her house.

But he was quickly released with no further action.

It is believed that her killer was caught on her home CCTV cameras.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16720572/man-charged-ann-widdecombe-murder/