WHAT A TRAGIC WASTE
Devoted mother of two. Dedicated public servant. MP Jo Cox was a truly remarkable woman. Yesterday she was brutally murdered by a loner with a history of mental illness
THE husband of an MP allegedly murdered by a troubled loner last night called on Britain to unite and ‘ fight against the hatred that killed her’. Jo Cox, 41, was shot three times with a sawn- off shot- gun and stabbed repeatedly with a foot-long hunting knife in a frenzied attack.
The rising Labour star and dedicated MP died from catastrophic injuries after the killer ambushed her as she walked to her constituency surgery at a West Yorkshire library. She was the first woman MP ever to be murdered and the first MP to be killed since the murder of Conservative Ian Gow in a 1990 IRA bomb blast. Witnesses saw the gunman shout ‘put Britain first’ as he kicked, stabbed and then shot the slightly-built 5ft mother- oftwo with the shotgun at almost point blank range.
Detectives were last night
questioning 52-year-old Thomas Mair, amid fears he was motivated by Mrs Cox’s political campaigning.
Dramatic pictures show a man being arrested just minutes after the attack in a nearby street.
There is unconfirmed evidence Mair supported far-Right causes and claims he had mental health problems and had been released recently from psychiatric care.
The MP was an outspoken supporter of the Remain campaign and had called for more refugees to be given a safe haven on our shores. Last night her husband, charity worker Brendan Cox, 37, said he would dedicate ‘every moment’ of the rest of his life to his wife’s memory.
‘I and Jo’s friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo,’ he said. ‘Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people.’
The murder sent shockwaves across the country with MPs across the political spectrum paying warm tribute to Mrs Cox.
Elected to represent Batley and Spen last year, the Cambridge University graduate had already earned great respect for her work ethic and humanitarian campaigning.
David Cameron said the country has ‘lost a great star’ as the Leave and Remain camps suspended campaigning.
The murder took place outside Birstall Library in a busy shopping street just before 1pm. Mrs Cox was walking to a constituency surgery – advertised on posters inside the building – after attending a school assembly about three miles away.
Witnesses said a man in a baseball cap grabbed her, pulling her hair as he punched and kicked her to the ground. As bystanders attempted to intervene, he pulled out a large hunting knife and repeatedly stabbed the MP, also catching a 77-year-old man in the stomach as he tried to intervene.
He then pulled out a sawn-off shotgun which he fired three times from just a few feet away, aiming the final shot at her head.
Clarke Rothwell, 42, said: ‘He was shouting “put Britain first”. He shouted it about two or three times. He said it before he shot her and after he shot her.’ Britain First is the name of a far-Right group opposed to immigration, multiculturalism and the UK’s membership of the EU. Its leader, former BNP councillor Paul Golding yesterday posted a video online saying the attack was ‘disgusting’.
Within minutes, police arrested Mair in a nearby street. Later they recovered the gun and a bloody machete-style knife. A team of officers were searching his council home, less than one mile away, where he has lived virtually all his life.
Neighbours said Mair, a voracious reader, volunteer gardener and special needs helper, was a regular visitor to the library where Mrs Cox held her surgery.
There is evidence he subscribed to a prowhite publication ‘SA Patriot’, an inflammatory tiny circulation magazine based in London. One online message group described him as ‘one of the earliest subscribers and supporters’ of the magazine.
But his brother Scott, 49, said Mair showed no strong political views. ‘He has a history of mental illness, but he has had help,’ he said.
The suspect’s devastated mother, Mary, who also lives in Birstall, was being comforted by friends. One said: ‘She’s really upset about the children. She’s blaming herself.’
Duane St Louis, 41, Mair’s half brother, said he had obsessive compulsive disorder. At his
‘He had a history of mental illness’
home in Dewsbury, he said: ‘He’d clean himself with Brillo pads.’
Mrs Cox, lived with her husband and two young children on a houseboat on the Thames. Before winning her seat last May she worked as an adviser to Gordon Brown’s wife, Sarah, and Lady Kinnock.
MPs warned they were in danger in a committee report last year which highlighted increasing complaints of obsessive stalkers. Several MPs complained they had been confronted by obsessives armed with knives and guns.
Last night, a vigil was held by colleagues outside Parliament and by friends and neighbours at Mrs Cox’s Thames houseboat.
The South West Yorkshire Partnership HS Foundation Trust at which Mair is understood to have been a patient yesterday declined to comment on his care.
Additional reporting: Claire Duffin