A transgender former Labour candidate has been charged over online posts in which he says he hopes Ann Widdecombe had an “extremely painful death”. The Mail has more.

The former Tory minister and TV star, 78, was found dead at her cottage in Haytor, Devon, last Thursday after sustaining serious injuries.

Only hours after Widdecombe’s death was announced, a post appeared on trans rights activist Heather Herbert’s social media.

Writing on Bluesky, he said: “And some good news for once. I hope it was an extremely painful death.”

In another post, Herbert said: “And I hope she was handcuffed to the bed as she screamed in agony.”

The posts were published before detectives announced they were treating Widdecombe’s death as murder.

Police Scotland initially said the information had been assessed and “no criminality” had been established.

Read more: Trans Ex-Labour Candidate Charged Over Post Hoping Ann Widdecombe Had a “Painful Death”