What Is Joshua Kerry Charged With? The Terrorism Act Offence Explained and the Court Dates Ahead
- 🔑 Counter Terrorism Policing and the CPS announced on Friday 2 October 2026 that Joshua Kerry, 28, of Rotherham, has been charged with one count of preparation of terrorist acts, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2006. The charge includes alleged conduct against Nigel Farage MP.
- Police say the charge relates to alleged activity between 31 May 2024 and 8 July 2026. Neither police nor prosecutors have published what the alleged conduct was. A charge is an allegation, not a finding, and the CPS has stressed that Kerry has the right to a fair trial.
- Section 5 of the 2006 Act covers engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism, with the intention of committing them or assisting another to do so. Section 5(3) sets the maximum penalty on conviction on indictment at life imprisonment. That is the legal ceiling, not a forecast of any outcome.
- Kerry is due at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 7 October 2026. In the separate murder case, open-court reports give a case management hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday 9 October 2026, a further hearing on 20 November 2026 and a provisional trial date of 8 June 2027.
- He was charged on 20 July 2026 with the murder of Ann Widdecombe, 78, a former Conservative minister and Reform UK spokeswoman, and was remanded in custody. No plea has been reported. Both sets of proceedings are active, so this page carries no commentary on evidence or motive.
Joshua Kerry, 28, of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, has been charged with one count of preparation of terrorist acts, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2006, an offence with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment on conviction on indictment. Counter Terrorism Policing and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced the charge on Friday 2 October 2026, and he is due at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 7 October 2026. This page, pinned to Saturday 3 October 2026, sticks to what the authorities have announced and what has been said in open court, because the proceedings are active and Kerry has the right to a fair trial.
What is Joshua Kerry charged with?
He is charged with a single count of preparation of terrorist acts, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2006. Counter Terrorism Policing said the charge followed authorisation from the CPS and describes engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism, including alleged conduct against Nigel Farage MP. Police said it relates to activity alleged to have taken place between 31 May 2024 and 8 July 2026. A charge is an allegation: the CPS has said its decision to prosecute is not a finding of guilt, which only a court can make.
What does the Terrorism Act 2006 offence mean in law?
Section 5 makes it an offence to engage in any conduct in preparation for giving effect to an intention to commit acts of terrorism, or to assist another person to commit them. Section 5(1)(a) is the limb that refers to an intention of committing acts of terrorism, and section 5(1)(b) covers assisting another. Under section 5(2), it does not matter whether the intention and preparations relate to one particular act, a particular kind of act, or acts of terrorism generally. Section 5(3) sets the maximum on conviction on indictment at life imprisonment. That is the legal ceiling for the offence and says nothing about any outcome here. Because the offence is triable only on indictment, any trial would take place at the Crown Court.
What have police and prosecutors said about the alleged conduct?
Very little beyond the wording of the charge: neither Counter Terrorism Policing nor the CPS has published any detail of the alleged conduct. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, Senior National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said the charge followed an intensive and complex investigation by teams across the counter terrorism policing network. Frank Ferguson, Chief Crown Prosecutor in the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said prosecutors had carefully reviewed the evidence and concluded there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court. He added that the CPS will keep working with police as their investigation progresses. We have not added anything to those statements.
When are the next court dates?
Kerry is due at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 7 October 2026 on the terrorism charge, and a case management hearing in the murder case is listed at the Old Bailey on Friday 9 October 2026. The 7 October date comes from both official announcements. The later dates come from court reports of the murder case’s July hearing, and could change.
| Date | Hearing |
|---|---|
| Wed 7 Oct 2026 | Westminster Magistrates’: terrorism charge, first hearing |
| Fri 9 Oct 2026 | Old Bailey: murder case management hearing |
| Fri 20 Nov 2026 | Further hearing in the murder case |
| Tue 8 Jun 2027 | Provisional trial date, murder case |
The reports describe the 20 November hearing as a plea and trial preparation hearing. We found no announcement on whether the two charges will be heard together.
What is the status of the murder case?
Kerry was charged on 20 July 2026 with the murder of Ann Widdecombe, 78, a former Conservative minister and Reform UK spokeswoman, and was remanded in custody. Counter Terrorism Policing announced the murder charge on 20 July after CPS authorisation. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and then the Old Bailey on 21 July 2026, and court reports say he spoke only to confirm personal details at his first appearance. No plea has been reported. The CPS release of 2 October notes that he has previously been charged with one offence of murder, and the two are distinct charges.
Why does this page say so little about the case?
Because criminal proceedings against Kerry are active, and the CPS has asked that nothing be reported or shared that could prejudice them. Under the Contempt of Court Act 1981, criminal proceedings are active from the point of arrest or charge, and publishing material that creates a substantial risk of serious prejudice to them can be contempt. The CPS release of 2 October reminded everyone that the proceedings remain active. We have therefore kept to the official announcements and open-court reporting. We have left out commentary, political reaction, speculation about evidence or motive, and personal details about Kerry.
Where will official updates appear?
Official updates come from Counter Terrorism Policing, the CPS and the courts themselves, and we will revise this page after the hearings on Wednesday 7 October and Friday 9 October 2026. Until then, everything above is as of Saturday 3 October 2026. If you are reading this after those dates, check those official sources first, because the position may have changed, including any reporting restrictions the court imposes.
How we verified this
Charge wording and dates. We read the Counter Terrorism Policing release and the CPS release of Friday 2 October 2026 in full, from the pages themselves rather than from summaries. Both give the charge as one count of preparation of terrorist acts, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Terrorism Act 2006. Both use the same wording about alleged conduct against Nigel Farage MP, and both give Wednesday 7 October 2026 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The 31 May 2024 to 8 July 2026 period appears in the police release only, and the CPS release does not state it, so we attribute it to police. A wire-agency report carried by two news sites and a Reuters report on a US broadcaster’s site agree with the releases.
The statute. We read section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 on legislation.gov.uk (latest revised version, with no outstanding effects shown at write time). Subsection (1)(a) covers an intention of committing acts of terrorism, (1)(b) covers assisting another, subsection (2) says the particular act or description is irrelevant, and subsection (3) sets the penalty on conviction on indictment at life imprisonment. That is the only penalty the section gives, which is why we say the offence is triable only on indictment.
Figures that conflict. One automated summary of a wire report gave the first hearing as 8 October. Both official releases say Wednesday 7 October, and 8 October is a Thursday, so we followed the releases. One wire summary said Kerry was formally charged with murder at the 21 July hearing, but Counter Terrorism Policing’s own release dates the murder charge to Monday 20 July 2026 and says he was due in court the next day, so we followed the release. We do not give a date for Ann Widdecombe’s death or its discovery, because it is not needed in a charge explainer.
Hearing calendar. The Old Bailey case management hearing on Friday 9 October 2026, the further hearing on Friday 20 November 2026 (reported as a plea and trial preparation hearing) and the provisional trial date of Tuesday 8 June 2027 come from two open-court reports dated 21 July 2026, a wire-agency report and a weekly magazine’s court report, which agree. We found no court listing to confirm them, so we present them as dates given in court that may change. No source we read says whether the terrorism and murder charges will be heard together.
The murder charge. The 20 July 2026 charge date comes from a Counter Terrorism Policing release, and the remand in custody and the 21 July appearances come from the open-court reports. The CPS release of 2 October confirms he was previously charged with one offence of murder. No plea has been reported in any source we read. Ann Widdecombe’s age and roles (former Conservative minister, Reform UK spokeswoman) are as given in wire-agency copy, and we add nothing further about her.
What we left out on purpose. Because the proceedings are active and the CPS release carries a reminder against prejudicial reporting, we left out any account of the alleged conduct beyond the official wording, motive, evidence, profile and personal details about Kerry (including the date of birth and address that appear in the CPS release), neighbour and social-media material, graphic detail from the 21 July hearing, political reaction and commentary, the prosecutor’s name (sources give it inconsistently), and media reports about other incidents that police and the CPS have not said form part of either charge.
Reactions and restrictions. In the reports we could read as of the evening of Saturday 3 October 2026 (UK time), no direct statement from Nigel Farage appeared, and we have not paraphrased any reaction. We found no notice from the Attorney General’s Office published on GOV.UK about this case at write time. Any reporting restriction imposed by a court would override this page.
Still moving. The first hearing on the terrorism charge (7 October) and the Old Bailey case management hearing (9 October) had not happened at write time, and no plea had been reported on either charge. No odds, predictions or forecasts of any kind appear anywhere on this page.