Former British minister Ann Widdecombe was killed by a man who struck her 21 times in the head with a hammer while she was having lunch at her home, prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Widdecombe, 78, a prominent figure in Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK party, was found dead at her home in the countryside of southwest England on July 9 after an attack carried out the previous day.

The killing shocked the British political community, once again raising questions about politicians’ safety amid the fact that two sitting members of parliament have been murdered in the country since 2016.

Joshua Kerry, 28, a British citizen from Rotherham in northern England (more than 400 km from Widdecombe’s home), appeared before London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with her murder. Dressed in a gray tracksuit, the defendant did not enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.

At subsequent hearings at the Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, Kerry was remanded in custody until the next hearing scheduled for October.

Police said they believe the attack on Widdecombe was targeted, although the motives for the crime are still under investigation. Prosecutors added that an examination of a possible terrorism link is ongoing.

Prosecutor Kashif Malik had earlier said that a camera installed inside Widdecombe’s home recorded the attack.

Widdecombe was due to appear live on television from her home on July 8, but she never went on air. The following day, her personal assistant asked a gardener to check whether everything was all right, and he found her on the kitchen floor.

Malik told the court that footage seized by investigators showed Kerry entering Widdecombe’s home while she was having lunch and asking, “Do you happen to have any bank cards and identification?”

Kerry, wearing black gloves, held the hammer at his side so that Widdecombe would not see it, then struck her 21 times. The prosecutor added that the attacker knocked Widdecombe from her chair onto the floor, took her wallet and fled, spending about two minutes in the house.

Ann Widdecombe was known for her socially conservative views—first as a junior minister in Conservative John Major’s government (1992–1997), and later as Reform UK’s spokesperson on immigration and justice.

After leaving parliament in 2010, she took part in a number of television reality shows, including Strictly Come Dancing (the British equivalent of Dancing with the Stars).