About 100 Mourn Ann Widdecombe at Funeral as 28-Year-Old Faces Murder Charge
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 12
About 100 Mourn Ann Widdecombe at Funeral as 28-Year-Old Faces Murder Charge
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 12
Summary
About 100 family, friends and colleagues attended Ann Widdecombe’s funeral at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, where the former minister was remembered in a private 90-minute requiem mass.
Police officers and sniffer dogs were deployed around the abbey as the service took place amid the investigation into Widdecombe’s death after she was found with serious head injuries at her Dartmoor home on 8 July.
Buckfast Abbey and Abbot David Charlesworth praised Widdecombe’s faith, fortitude and public service, while tributes were also delivered by her nephew Rev Roger Widdecombe and close friend Sir Christian Sweeting.
Joshua Kerry, 28, from South Yorkshire was charged with her murder in July after a counter-terrorism-led investigation, with a provisional trial date set for June 2027.
Widdecombe, who died aged 78, served 23 years as a Conservative MP and later joined Reform UK; a public memorial is due later this year.