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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Abbie Llewelyn

Police investigating Widdecombe murder suspect over Farage arson

Nigel Farage (Jonathan Brady/PA) - (PA Wire)

Police are investigating whether the man charged with the murder of Ann Widdecombe could be linked to an alleged firebomb attack at Nigel Farage’s home, according to reports.

Joshua Kerry, 28, has been charged with the murder of former Tory minister and Reform UK spokeswoman Miss Widdecombe at her home in Devon last month.

First reported by The Times, counter-terrorism police are now also investigating Kerry in relation to an incident at Mr Farage’s south London home last year.

The Reform UK leader told the Telegraph in April that a lit incendiary device was shoved through his letterbox in early 2025 in an “outright arson attempt” when he was not in.

The Metropolitan Police and Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London said they investigated an “attempted burglary” but no arrests were made and the case was closed pending any new lines of inquiry.

After counter-terrorism police reopened the inquiry into the incident on Friday, CTP London has identified a line of inquiry “which may have been relevant” but was “not identified and pursued by them at the time”.

The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), is investigating the “conduct” of a CTP London staff member after an allegation that the employee “failed to identify and pursue a line of inquiry”.

At a press conference earlier on Monday, Mr Farage said: “Clearly counter-terrorism made some mistakes, which is why they referred themselves to the Independent Office of Police (Conduct) (IOPC).

“I understand this is a completely unprecedented move, and yes, this is directly linked to the murder of Ann Widdecombe, and I’m afraid I just can’t tell you any more than that at this stage.”

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