Thomas Mair given whole life sentence for killing MP Jo Cox
He has been found guilty of all charges against him.
Thomas Mair who has been found guilty of the murder of Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox has today been jailed for the rest of his life.
An Old Bailey jury took just over 90 minutes to convict the 53-year-old loner of murdering the 41-year-old mother-of-two and Remain campaigner as she arrived for a constituency surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire, a week before the EU referendum.
The white supremacist, who gave no evidence in his defence, shouted Britain first'' as he fired three shots at his MP and stabbed her 15 times.
He gave no reaction and looked straight ahead as he was convicted on all counts and then given a whole life term.
After the conviction, Mrs Cox's widower, Brendan, told the court:
"We are not here to plead for retribution." "We feel nothing but pity for him that his life was so devoid of love and filled with hatred, his only way of finding meaning was to attack a woman who represented all that was good about the country in an act of supreme cowardice.''
Her murder was a political act, and an act of terrorism, driven by hatred that has instead led to an "outpouring of love", he said.
The MP's family sat in silence in the packed courtroom as the verdicts were delivered.
The trial judge refused Mair's request to make a statement in court
Mr Justice Wilkie told Mair that Mrs Cox was the "true patriot'' and not him. Mair's murderous attack on the MP was "brutal and ruthless'', the judge said.
As Thomas Mair shot and stabbed Jo Cox in the street, brave witnesses tried to fend off his attack. Have-a-go-hero Bernard Kenny was stabbed as he tried to stop Mair from murdering the MP, while Mrs Cox's personal assistant, Fazila Aswat, used her handbag to hit him.
Others were threatened with violence as they attempted to intervene.
Calls have been made for pensioner Mr Kenny to be honoured after his courageous bid to save Mrs Cox. In a statement taken by police as the 78-year-old recovered from his single stab wound in hospital, Mr Kenny said he was waiting for his wife outside the library when he saw Mair going berserk''.
He said:
"I ran across. I was intending to jump on his shoulders. He had his back to me. I thought if I could jump on to the back I could take him down."
"I thought he was thumping her until I saw the blood. I saw he had a knife in his hands. It was what I call a dagger. The blade was about nine inches."
"Just as I got short of him, he turned around and saw me. He shoved the knife in and it hit me in the stomach. The blood started pouring out between my fingers. I saw the blood and I thought 'Oh my God'.'"
He said in a statement that he would do the same thing again as it was "the right thing to do'', even though his actions were not enough to save Mrs Cox.
Jo Cox's family hugged and shook hands with prosecutor Richard Whittam QC and appeared tearful as they left court.