Nazi-obsessed Briton found guilty of murdering MP Jo Cox
The Associated Press | Posted: November 23, 2016 12:54 PM | Last Updated: November 23, 2016
Thomas Mair, 53, sentenced to life in prison after brief trial, deliberations
A jury has found a man guilty of murdering Labour lawmaker Jo Cox a week before Britain's EU membership referendum earlier this year, following a trial that included evidence highlighting his obsession with Nazi Germany and far-right politics.
Jurors at London's Central Criminal Court deliberated less than two hours before finding Thomas Mair guilty on Wednesday.
You are no patriot. — Judge Alan Wilkie
The judge then sentenced Mair to life in prison, stipulating that the unemployed gardener must serve a whole-life sentence because of the "exceptional seriousness" of the crime, according to reports in British media.
Judge Alan Wilkie denied a request by Mair to speak after the verdict and told him: "You are no patriot. By your actions you have betrayed the quintessence of our country: its adherence to parliamentary democracy."
Cox was shot and stabbed to death in June in the area of northern England that she represented. Witnesses said Mair shouted "Britain First" as he attacked her.
At his first court hearing, he gave his name as "death to traitors, freedom for Britain."
Prosecutors said his home was full of Nazi literature and memorabilia.
Jurors were told 53-year-old Mair had pleaded not guilty, but his lawyers presented no evidence in his defence.
Mair showed no emotion as the verdict was announced.