Joshua Kerry appeared by video link from HMP Belmarsh at the Old Bailey this week as prosecutors tied the alleged murder of former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe to a claimed terror plot against Nigel Farage and other political figures.
Kerry, 28, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, faces a murder charge over Widdecombe’s death and separate charges of plotting a terror attack. Prosecutors told the court the cases are inextricably linked and should be tried together.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb agreed to combine the related charges into one case. Kerry is set to contest all of them. A next hearing is listed for January 29, with a five-week trial scheduled to begin June 8 of next year.
Breitbart reported the Old Bailey hearing and the prosecution’s account of the evidence it plans to put before a jury.
Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay KC told the court that analysis of Kerry’s telephone showed a clear political posture. He put the claim in direct terms.
"Analysis of the defendant’s telephone demonstrates an extreme Left-wing and/or anti-establishment mindset."
Polnay also described a notes-app entry on the same phone. He said it held home addresses of politicians and other prominent figures.
"created a note on his phone using the notes app, and it is that, that contained the home addresses of politicians and prominent figures"
Prosecutors further argued the murder of Widdecombe appears to have had a terrorist connection and was likely politically and ideologically motivated. They told the court the murder charge and the alleged terror plot against Farage are inextricably linked.
Widdecombe, 78, was a former Conservative government minister and former Conservative MP who later served as a Reform UK spokeswoman. In July she was found dead at her country home in Devon.
Kerry was charged that same month with her murder. Prosecutors allege she was hit in the head with a hammer some 21 times. They further claim he drove some 265 miles from Rotherham to the Devon property in a van and that a hammer was later found inside the vehicle.
Those details remain prosecution allegations. Kerry is contesting the charges, and no jury has yet heard the full case.
Earlier this month Kerry was also charged with plotting a terror attack on Nigel Farage, the Brexit leader and Reform chief, along with other prominent political figures. Prosecutors say Farage’s home address appeared in the phone note and that there was an alleged attempt to break into Farage’s home.
The court has not publicly released a full list of every other named figure. Investigators and prosecutors will need to set out at trial exactly what the phone material contained and how they say it connects to any planned attack.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed independent forensic results beyond the prosecution summary given at the Old Bailey hearing. No primary charging documents or docket text were reproduced in the reporting of the hearing.
The prosecution asked to join the murder case and the terror-plot case so a single jury could hear both. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb agreed. The practical effect is one combined trial rather than two separate ones.
Kerry appeared only by video link from Belmarsh. He did not enter a detailed public plea beyond the report that he will contest every charge. The next procedural step is the January 29 hearing, followed by the longer trial listing in June.
A jury will have to decide whether the phone note, the alleged 265-mile drive, the hammer, and the claimed attempt on Farage’s home prove both the murder and a terrorist purpose. Prosecutors say the mindset evidence and the address list show political and ideological motive. The defense will test every link.
Exact calendar dates for the July finding of Widdecombe’s body and for the later terror-plot charging decision have not been pinned down beyond the month and the relative phrase “earlier this month.” The precise location of Farage’s home was not specified in open court reporting.
Those gaps leave open questions for the trial record: what digital forensics show on the handset, what CCTV or vehicle evidence places anyone at the Devon property, and whether any break-in attempt can be proved beyond the prosecution’s opening description.
Widdecombe had served in government and later spoke for Reform UK. Farage leads the same party and remains one of the most recognizable faces of the Brexit campaign. Prosecutors cast the alleged crimes as aimed at elected and public voices on the right.
If the Crown proves a terrorist connection, the case moves beyond a single homicide into the category of politically motivated violence against people who hold or have held office. If it fails to prove that link, the murder count and the terror counts may stand or fall separately even though they will now be heard together.
British courts treat allegations of this gravity with long trials and heavy disclosure duties. The five-week estimate signals the volume of phone data, travel evidence, and witness testimony the parties expect to call.
Political violence thrives when ideology is allowed to excuse the targeting of named opponents. The courts exist to test every claim in public, under oath, without fear or favor.
