Alleged extremist accused of murdering MP Jo Cox will not give evidence at trial

An alleged far right extremist accused of murdering Labour MP Jo Cox has opted not to give evidence in his defence.

Thomas Mair, 53, allegedly shot and stabbed the mother-of-two as she arrived at Birstall library for a surgery on the afternoon of June 16 - a week before the EU referendum.

The court has heard Mair shouted "Britain first" during the brutal attack, had a stash of neo-Nazi material at his home in the West Yorkshire town and had collected a dossier on his 41-year-old Remain campaigning MP.

At the conclusion of the prosecution case, his lawyer Simon Russell Flint, QC, told the Old Bailey trial that the defendant would not be going into the witness box.

He said he called no evidence on behalf of Mair.

Mair denies Mrs Cox's murder, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon - a dagger.

He also pleads not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to pensioner Bernard Kenny when he tried to stop the attack on Mrs Cox.

Trial judge Mr Justice Wilkie told the jury that they could draw inferences from Mair's silence.