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| Jo Cox killer walked away calmly after brutal attack, court told | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The man who murdered the Labour MP Jo Cox walked away from the crime as though he “didn’t have a care in the world” after shooting and repeatedly stabbing and kicking her, the Old Bailey has heard. | The man who murdered the Labour MP Jo Cox walked away from the crime as though he “didn’t have a care in the world” after shooting and repeatedly stabbing and kicking her, the Old Bailey has heard. |
| Witnesses told the court that he held passersby at bay with a long-bladed dagger before cocking his firearm, shooting the politician as she lay on the ground, and then stabbing her several times more. | |
| Tracy Bywood, who was at work in a care home overlooking the scene of the murder, said the attacker calmly left the scene. “He was just so peaceful. He was just so calm as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.” | Tracy Bywood, who was at work in a care home overlooking the scene of the murder, said the attacker calmly left the scene. “He was just so peaceful. He was just so calm as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.” |
| The attacker looked “cold”, and “just walked away” said another witness, Stephen Connolly. A third, David Honeybell, said: “He just walked away as if he didn’t have a care in the world.” | The attacker looked “cold”, and “just walked away” said another witness, Stephen Connolly. A third, David Honeybell, said: “He just walked away as if he didn’t have a care in the world.” |
| Many of the witnesses said they initially had difficulty comprehending what they were seeing and hearing. Clarke Rothwell, a publican, said that when he heard the first gunshot while driving through the market town of Birstall in West Yorkshire, he thought it was a car’s engine backfiring. | |
| Adam Howard, working across the road at his family’s accountancy firm, said he thought he must have heard a car crash. | |
| Bywood initially thought she was overhearing a domestic dispute. | |
| Connolly, who was inside the town library, said: “It sounded like a gun, but the rational side of me said: ‘No, this is Birstall.’ You expect that to happen in other cities, you don’t expect something to happen like that in a little market town in West Yorkshire.” | Connolly, who was inside the town library, said: “It sounded like a gun, but the rational side of me said: ‘No, this is Birstall.’ You expect that to happen in other cities, you don’t expect something to happen like that in a little market town in West Yorkshire.” |
| He stepped out of the library and saw the attack in progress. “He cocked what looked like a lump of wood, and although I couldn’t see Jo’s face – I didn’t want to see more than I had to – he shot her in the head.” | He stepped out of the library and saw the attack in progress. “He cocked what looked like a lump of wood, and although I couldn’t see Jo’s face – I didn’t want to see more than I had to – he shot her in the head.” |
| Rashid Hussain, a taxi driver, walked up to the assailant when he saw him stabbing his local MP, thrusting the knife from different angles. | Rashid Hussain, a taxi driver, walked up to the assailant when he saw him stabbing his local MP, thrusting the knife from different angles. |
| “I said: ‘What are you doing, what has she done to you? What’s wrong with you?’ He said: ‘Move back or I’m going to stab you.’” | “I said: ‘What are you doing, what has she done to you? What’s wrong with you?’ He said: ‘Move back or I’m going to stab you.’” |
| The attacker fired two shots and then said “Britain first”, said Hussain. “I was trying to call the police and ambulance, but I was so nervous I couldn’t even dial the number. When I did I said: ‘Our MP Jo Cox has been stabbed’. They said: ‘Are you sure?’ I said: ‘Yes, I know her.’” | The attacker fired two shots and then said “Britain first”, said Hussain. “I was trying to call the police and ambulance, but I was so nervous I couldn’t even dial the number. When I did I said: ‘Our MP Jo Cox has been stabbed’. They said: ‘Are you sure?’ I said: ‘Yes, I know her.’” |
| Some of the witnesses also described how what they saw has affected their lives. Bywood said she saw the attacker wrap his victim’s hair around his hand as he tried to drag her off the pavement to a place between two parked cars. | |
| “She went down on the floor like a sack of potatoes. It was awful to see a lady get such animosity towards her. It was horrible, what I saw. This man destroyed my life.” | “She went down on the floor like a sack of potatoes. It was awful to see a lady get such animosity towards her. It was horrible, what I saw. This man destroyed my life.” |
| Thomas Mair, 53, an unemployed gardener from Birstall, is alleged to have been the attacker. The court has heard that the attack was captured on CCTV. | Thomas Mair, 53, an unemployed gardener from Birstall, is alleged to have been the attacker. The court has heard that the attack was captured on CCTV. |
| He is charged with the murder of Cox, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an offence and possession of a dagger, and the grievous bodily harm of a passerby, Bernard Carter-Kenny, 77, who was stabbed in the stomach, but survived. | He is charged with the murder of Cox, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an offence and possession of a dagger, and the grievous bodily harm of a passerby, Bernard Carter-Kenny, 77, who was stabbed in the stomach, but survived. |
| Mair declined to plead during a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey last month. As a result, not guilty pleas to all four charges were entered on his behalf. The court has heard that Cox was shot twice in the head, once in the abdomen and suffered 15 stab wounds. She died at the scene. | Mair declined to plead during a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey last month. As a result, not guilty pleas to all four charges were entered on his behalf. The court has heard that Cox was shot twice in the head, once in the abdomen and suffered 15 stab wounds. She died at the scene. |
| She was 41, married with two children, aged three and five at the time, and had represented the local constituency, Batley and Spen, since 2015. | She was 41, married with two children, aged three and five at the time, and had represented the local constituency, Batley and Spen, since 2015. |
| Several witnesses say they heard the attacker say “Britain first” and “this for Britain”. Subsequent examination of computers that he used at the town’s library showed that in the days before Cox was killed he had accessed a number of websites about Nazis, far-right politicians, Israel, the Ku Klux Klan, and shooting people in the head with .22 ammunition. | Several witnesses say they heard the attacker say “Britain first” and “this for Britain”. Subsequent examination of computers that he used at the town’s library showed that in the days before Cox was killed he had accessed a number of websites about Nazis, far-right politicians, Israel, the Ku Klux Klan, and shooting people in the head with .22 ammunition. |
| The case continues. | The case continues. |