SAD NEW: Ann Widdecombe’s family issue major update after politici@n ‘k!lled in hammer att@ck’

The family shared details about a public memorial for the late politici@n.

Reform UK Holds Regional Conference In Cornwall

A public memorial will be held later this year. (Image: Getty)

Ann Widdecombe’s family have made an announcement as they “understand that there is significant public interest in the funeral”.

The family of Miss Widdecombe said a public memorial will be held later this year. The 78-year-old Reform UK spokeswoman and former Tory minister was found dead at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor, Devon, on July 9 with serious head injuries.

In a statement, Miss 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.”

Murdered ex-UK minister Widdecombe was struck on head with hammer 21 times,  court told | Reuters

Joshua Kerry, 28, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with her murd3r.

Prosecutors say that on July 8, Miss Widdecombe had been eating lunch when Kerry allegedly pulled up outside the front of her bungalow in a red Vauxhall Corsa and entered through the front door. Kerry then allegedly used a hammer to hit Miss Widdecombe on her head 21 times, prosecutors told the Old Bailey on Tuesday.

A provisional cause of death was given as a blunt force injury to the head, the court heard. Detectives are still investigating any possible political or terrorist motivation.

Miss Widdecombe was first elected as a Conservative MP in Kent in 1987, was a prisons minister in the 1990s and later became an MEP for the Brexit Party. At the time of her death, she was a spokeswoman on immigration and justice for Reform UK.