🚨 Second Arrest Made as Police Reveal a Mysterious Vehicle Seen Near Ann Widdecombe’s Home Before the Attack

The former MP and MEP was found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ by her gardener at her cottage in Haytor, Devon on Thursday morning.

Officers detained a 28-year-old man in South Yorkshire – some 270 miles from Ms Widdecombe’s home – on Saturday evening. He remains in custody.

But Devon and Cornwall Police say they are now seeking a driver who was reported to be ‘behaving suspiciously’ outside the property.

A manager of a garage in Haytor said he had alerted the force after his colleague noticed ‘something out of the ordinary’ at around 9am on Wednesday, with a dark VW Gold Mk4 reportedly parked in a ‘strange place’.

He said: ‘[The Golf] was at the top of the lane near Ann’s place. If it was a local they would have parked in the car park or one of the lay–bys.

‘He was doing up his walking boots. He was in his late 20s, maybe early 30s. He was wearing shorts and a T–shirt. I remember thinking “Why is he parked there?’” He was halfway out the lay–by.

‘It didn’t look like he fitted in. You don’t see many late 20s, early 30s men around here. He was heading up in that direction [of Ann’s house].’

Police asked the garage to provide CCTV of the vehicle but they did not have any, it is understood.

Detectives believe Ms Widdecombe was attacked at around 12.30pm on Wednesday, just half an hour before she was due to appear on TV.

The body of the 78-year-old Conservative-turned-Reform politician was found in a pool of blood in her kitchen a little less than 24 hours later. An ambulance crew alerted police at 11.40am.

A statement released by Devon and Cornwall Police said: ‘We can confirm that a 28-year-old man was arrested at an address in the South Yorkshire area this evening (July 11) on suspicion of the murder of Ann Widdecombe.

‘The suspect, who is a white British national, is now in police custody.

‘Ms Widdecombe’s family have been informed of this development.

‘We were supported by Counter Terrorism Policing North East and South Yorkshire Police who carried out the arrest on behalf of Devon & Cornwall Police.

‘At this time, there is still no information to suggest that this is a terrorism related incident and as a force we retain primacy of the investigation.’

A 26-year-old white British man who was arrested on Friday was released from custody on Saturday morning and is no longer part of the probe.

Detectives said earlier the case is ‘moving at significant pace’ and ‘our priority remains identifying those responsible’ for Ms Widdecombe’s death.

They are expected to hold a press briefing at 11am this morning.

It comes after new details emerged about Ms Widdecombe’s final hours, as it was revealed the alarm was raised after she failed to appear on Channel 5’s Matt Allwright show at 1pm on Wednesday.

She was last seen in an interview on Talk TV at around 8am the same day.

A researcher on the Channel 5 show had spoken to Ms Widdecombe on the phone earlier in the afternoon to set up the interview.

After the call, the researcher exchanged messages with Ms Widdecombe, with her last message received at 12.19pm.

The researcher then messaged again at 12.48pm requesting that Ms Widdecombe join the Zoom link in preparation for the remote interview, but she did not reply.

Subsequent voice calls and messages asking if everything was alright went unanswered. Concerns were raised by the show’s research team about the uncharacteristic lack of response from Ms Widdecombe, who was a regular on the show.

They contacted her agent later on Wednesday and followed up again on Thursday.

ᴀssistant Chief Constable Matt Longman provided an update on the force’s investigation yesterday, saying: ‘Our priority remains identifying those responsible and ensuring that all available evidence is thoroughly examined.

‘Detectives continue to carry out numerous inquiries as part of the ongoing investigation and we remain committed to establishing the full circumstances surrounding the incident.’

He said the investigation was ‘moving at a significant pace’, adding: ‘We are deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened.

‘I would appeal to anyone who may have information about this incident, however insignificant it may seem, to come forward and speak with us.

‘We will release further information when we are able to do so. In the meantime, I would ask people not to speculate about what might have happened, particularly on social media.

‘This is not only potentially harmful to our investigation but also deeply distressing for family and friends of Ms Widdecombe. The family have also asked for their privacy to be respected as they come to terms with what has happened.

‘We have set up a major incident public portal for information, images or footage to be submitted to us. This can be found on our website.

‘Information can also be pᴀssed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers.’

Police added there was no evidence at that stage to suggest the killing was politically motivated.

Despite his call not to speculate, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage appeared to do just that when he arrived outside Ms Widdecombe’s home on Saturday and laid a floral tribute.

He claimed the attack on the Reform justice spokesperson was ‘premeditated’ and a car arrived at her house minutes before police believe she was attacked – details not confirmed by detectives.

Mr Farage said on Saturday: ‘One theory doing the rounds is that it was a burglary gone wrong. But a car went onto the drive at approximately 12.25pm on Wednesday.

‘If you were a burglar, would you literally drive your car onto someone’s drive? From what I can see of it, from what I make out, this was premeditated murder.

‘Whether it was politically motivated, whether it was someone with a grudge. I don’t think it pays at this time to speculate.’

A highly placed source told the MoS that Miss Widdecombe’s family ‘don’t want her death hijacked for political purposes’, adding that they ‘are very uneasy’ about Mr Farage being at the scene.

When asked what message he has for her killer, Mr Farage said: ‘There are no words that I can utter that somebody who’s committed this act of barbarity against an innocent 78-year-old lady who wouldn’t harm a fly.

‘I just hope that the killer is caught as quickly as possible and brought to justice, that’s all I can say.

‘Even though we don’t know what the motive is, in a town there is so much ANPR and CCTV that generally these days people are caught pretty quick, but look around you.’

Mr Farage said that he had spoken directly with Keir Starmer about Ms Widdecombe’s death at least twice since her murder. He also said that he has spoken to the chiefs of Devon and Cornwall Police on a number of occasions, and said Reform was ready to help the police in whatever way they can.

He said that they are already going through their emails to see if she or any other Reform politicians received any threats.

The Reform boss, who himself has been attacked in person and online before, warned that life for politicians has become more dangerous.

He said: ‘What it does say is that people now in public life, especially politics, the world is very much more dangerous than it’s ever been.’

He added: ‘We will do anything we can to support the police. For example, I’ve had our security teams going through all of our emails to pick out ones that were sent that were either directly to Ann or were abusive about Ann. We’re doing everything we can to support the police in every way.’

When pushed for details on whether Ms Widdecombe had received any abusive emails, he added: ‘We all get abusive emails in public life. I can tell you that we have not been able to to discern a specific pattern.

‘I think quite often with these cases, you would see an email from an individual that would come again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

‘We can’t identify, from our data, any individual.’

Mr Farage said that he had spoken to the Devon and Cornwall Police chief constable and the police and crime commissioner who were supported by ‘the full resources of the police nationally’, as the investigation continues.

Reform has said it is giving 24-hour security to all of its MPs over fears of possible copycat attacks.

Paying tribute to Miss Widdecombe more personally, Mr Farage said: ‘She was a remarkable individual, redoubtable – I think the word was invented for her. Opponents knew exactly what to expect from her and at times I have to say colleagues felt the wrath of her tongue.

‘She was the fiercest proponent of free speech I think I have ever met. She believed we had the freedom and the right to say things that insulted each other.’

As police continued their investigation, Ms Widdecombe’s driver of ten years, Peter Horrell, 72, laid a floral tribute outside her home yesterday.

Speaking to journalists, he said she had ‘never mentioned any fear’ for her safety and that she loved living in Haytor.

Mr Horrell said: ‘When I saw it, I thought she had had a heart attack or a stroke or something.

‘Of course, then later it turned out it was a suspected murder. [I was] just shocked, absolute shock.’

Mr Horrell said he spoke to Ms Widdecombe’s personal ᴀssistant afterwards, who ‘didn’t know at that time what had happened’.

The driver said it was ‘very sad’, adding: ‘I just couldn’t believe it.’