Chilling eyewitness accounts reveal full horror of Labour MP Jo Cox’s murder

Horrifying eyewitness accounts have emerged describing the moment Labour MP Jo Cox was brutally murdered by "loner" gunman.

The mum of two was shot and repeatedly stabbed “with a foot long knife” in broad daylight this afternoon as dozens of shocked locals looked on.

Eyewitness, Clarke Rothwell who runs a nearby cafe, told the BBC he believed the MP had been shot and stabbed multiple times.

"Three times she was shot, the initial time which then she dropped to the floor and two more times. The third time he got close proximity he shot her round the head area,” he said.

"In the meantime he was stabbing her as well, he was stabbing her with his knife,” he added.

Mr Rothwell said there was blood everywhere at the scene.

Asked if he thought Ms Cox had intervened in a dispute he said he understood the altercation was "always between the guy carrying the gun and the lady that got shot".

Aamir Tahir, of The Dry Clean Centre, said the gunman was heard shouting "Britain first".

One of the witnesses who initially claim they heard the remark has since denied it.

He said: "The lady I work with heard two loud bangs but I wasn't there, I was stuck in traffic at the time. I wish I was there because I would have tried to stop him. The whole street thinks it was me but it wasn't.

"Apparently the guy who did it shouted 'Britain first' and if I had been there I would have tackled him."

Coffee shop owner Hisham Ben-Abdallah, 56, came outside his coffee shop to see Mrs Cox being shot on the floor.

Hisham, speaking just metres from where the attack took place, said: "I am in total shock right now."

Describing the attack, Hisham said: "I saw him fiddle with his bag and he brought out a gun.

"The gun was like a small pistol, which had a lever on it.

"It was a handmade gun - not what a normal gun looks like.

"It looked like the end of a walking stick."

He added: "Between the first and second shot, there was a three or four second delay.

"He also had a knife the size of a cucumber."

Describing the state he saw the MP, Hisham said: "She [Jo] was ducking away from the knife attack."

He added: "I was just shocked to see the lady on the floor.

"Jo was unconscious - I never thought it was an MP.

"There was a large amount of blood."

Speaking about what he thought he attacker looked like, Hisham said: "The man looked raged - he looked like a mean man.

"He then walked calmly away from the scene.

"When I first saw him he was kicking out at someone."

Another witness has described the aftermath of the shooting to the Mirror.

Amanda Barber, 38, from Birstall, said: "I noticed something different straight away – there were a lot of people running about and cars stopped.

There was a lady laying on the floor beside a car outside the library with people all around her.

"At one point a woman shouted ‘oh my god, she’s stopped breathing’.

"She wasn’t moving – she was laid down and unconscious, no movement or anything.

"There was a female officer trying to do CPR on her as I left."

She added: "I’ve lived here my entire life and I’ve never personally seen or heard anything like this before."

Another eyewitness has described how the gunman shot Ms Cox "once" then "again" and "once more".

"He shot her once, then shot her again...shot her once more," they told the BBC.