University Employee Arrested for Online Posts Celebrating Ann Widdecombe's Death
A University of Aberdeen employee has been arrested and charged after Police Scotland said he posted comments online celebrating the death of former Conservative MP and longtime pro-life advocate Ann Widdecombe.
Widdecombe, 78, was found dead at her home on July 9, and police are investigating her death as a murder. A 28-year-old man has since been arrested in Yorkshire in connection with the case. Police said they received a report on July 11 about a post made on the social media platform Bluesky, and following an investigation a 50-year-old was arrested and charged, with a report to be submitted to the procurator fiscal.
UK outlets identified the employee as web developer Heather Herbert, whose posts celebrated Widdecombe's death and expressed hope that she had suffered before dying. The University of Aberdeen said in a statement that the remarks "were the individual's own" and did not reflect the institution's views, adding that it does not condone "violence or hateful behavior in any form."
Widdecombe spent more than two decades in Parliament after her first election in 1987 and served as a Home Office minister before later representing the Brexit Party and Reform UK in the European Parliament. Throughout her career she was one of Westminster's most consistent defenders of unborn life, opposing efforts to expand abortion access and warning as early as 1990 that loosening rules on where abortions could be performed would eventually open the door to abortion by mail. As of 2023, pills-by-post abortions account for the large majority of abortions carried out in England and Wales.
Right To Life UK, where Widdecombe served as a patron, called her a model for the pro-life politicians who followed her, pointing to her decades-long voting record protecting both the unborn and the elderly from assisted suicide. Former Right To Life UK trustee Chris Whitehouse remembered her as "unflinching in her politics" and steadfast in defending the right to life "for the unborn and for those approaching the end of their lives."
Final Thoughts
The celebration of Widdecombe's death, posted online before her accused killer had even been identified, is a stark reminder of how polarizing her decades of pro-life advocacy remained even in death. Her example continues to inspire a new generation of lawmakers willing to take an unpopular stand for the unborn.