Killer of MP Jo Cox given whole life sentence

The killer of West Yorkshire Labour MP Jo Cox will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of her murder.

The 41-year-old mother-of-two was shot twice in the head and stabbed 15 times as she got out of a car in the town of Birstall.

Her killer, 53-year-old gardener Thomas Mair, was described as a man obsessed by the Nazis and white supremacy.

Richard Whittam QC, for the prosecution, told the court; “The sheer brutality of her murder and the utter cowardice of her murderer bring the two extremities of humanity face to face.”

Mair, who attacked the MP on 16 June, did not give evidence in his defence and did not enter a plea.

He was found guilty of murdering the MP, grievous bodily harm of the man who went to her aid, Bernard Kenny, possessing a firearm and possessing a dagger.

Under a whole-life tariff Mair can only be released on the authority of the then Home Secretary.