Murdered British MP ‘received barrage of hate mail’ before horror attack

As Britain reels following the horrific murder of MP Jo Cox near her office yesterday, more details have emerged about the circumstances that led to her death.  The mother-of-two, a West Yorkshire MP, was on her way to work in Birstall, Leeds when she was knocked to the ground and stabbed repeatedly before being shot three times, once in the head. She died an hour later at Leeds General Hospital. A 52-year-old man, named locally as gardener and former psychiatric patient Tommy Mair, was arrested at the scene, where a 77-year-old passer-by was also stabbed when he tried to intervene. Witnesses say Mair shouted the words 'Britain First' before beginning the savage attack on Helen Joanne 'Jo' Cox, 41, who had reportedly received hate mail for more than three months before her death. The Times reports that additional security was being considered at  Mrs Cox's office as well as at the houseboat where she lived with her family on the River Thames in London.

Hours after she was murdered, Brendan Cox – with whom the politician shared two young children, aged three and five - tweeted a recent photograph of his wife and asked the public to 'fight against the hatred that killed her.'

pic.twitter.com/mPOaytowxN

— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) June 16, 2016

In a statement, he said:

"[This] is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. More difficult, more painful, less joyful, less full of love. I and Jo's friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo.' "Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people. "She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her. Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous. "Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full."

Prime Minister David Cameron described Cox as "a star for her constituents, a star in parliament, and right across the house". US Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton also paid tribute to the Cambridge graduate and former head of humanitarian campaigning at Oxfam, saying "it is cruel and terrible that her life was cut short". Main image: Facebook