The tragic last words of MP Jo Cox

The last words of murdered MP Jo Cox have been revealed by the assistant who held her dying boss in her arms after she was shot and stabbed in a horrific daytime attack yesterday.

The shooting of the popular politician - the first time a female parliamentarian has ever been murdered in the UK - has shocked the entire country and led to an outpouring of emotion among the people of her Yorkshire constituency.

Police have now confirmed the MP was the victim of a 'targeted' killing, and said detectives are probing the suspect's links to mental health services.

The father of Mrs Cox's assistant - who was with the Labour MP when she was fatally attacked yesterday afternoon - has now revealed the tragic details of her final moments.

Gulham Maniyar, father of Fazila Aswat, told ITV News: 'She was with my daughter. They'd left Batley office, they were in the marketplace, she was in my daughter's car sitting in the back seat. The car stopped and Jo decided to come out.

'My daughter didn't know she'd been shot. Because this person must be waiting outside where the surgery happens.

'She said [Jo's] injury was so bad and she was in her arms. There was lots of blood. She said 'Jo, get up' but [Jo] said 'no, my pain is too much, Fazila'. I think those were the last words Jo spoke.'

Mr Maniyar added: 'She could not do anything else. She tried to comfort her. Then the police came, the air ambulance came, they took her to hospital. She was a witness and her clothes were full of blood.'

Mrs Cox, MP for Batley and Spen, was walking to a 'surgery' meeting with constituents in Birstall near Leeds when she was attacked by a gunman yesterday afternoon.

Witnesses said she was shot three times, once in the head, and repeatedly stabbed and kicked as she lay on the ground in a pool of blood.

The suspect's links to far-Right extremism are now being pursued as a 'priority line of enquiry', police said this evening. Police are working with the North East Counter Terrorism Unit to investigate the murder.

Mr Maniyar said his daughter tried to help her injured boss, adding: 'She tried to hit [the attacker] with her handbag but he tried to go at her. People came so he followed them and he came back again and shot her [Jo] again twice.

Speaking of the aftermath, Mr Maniyar said: 'My daughter...she is in shock because she's been with her [Jo] for one year and working very closely with her. It will take time to fully recover from the shock.

'She knew that she's [Jo] was very badly injured. That's why she's not speaking about everything she's seen. She lost one of her best people.'

Gardener Thomas Mair is being questioned over the murder of the Westminster rising star. He has been described as a loner who was 'socially isolated and disconnected from society' as a result of long-term mental illness.

Mair volunteered at Oakwell Hall country park in Birstall in 2010 after being a patient of the Mirfield-based Pathways Day Centre for adults with mental illness, according to a Huddersfield Examiner report at the time.

He told the paper: 'I can honestly say it has done me more good than all the psychotherapy and medication in the world.

'Many people who suffer from mental illness are socially isolated and disconnected from society, feelings of worthlessness are also common, mainly caused by long-term unemployment.'

Police have now revealed Mrs Cox had received threats of a sexual nature at her Westminster office, which had been investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

Chief Constable Dee Collins of West Yorkshire Police said: 'We are aware of two previous unrelated incidents which culminated in Jo receiving a malicious communication of a sexual nature at her parliamentary office in Westminster.

'Both incidents were investigated by the Metropolitan Police Service which resulted in an individual receiving an adult caution for one offence which I can confirm is not the same person who we have in custody.'

He added: 'Based on information available at this time, this appears to be an isolated, but targeted attack upon Jo - there is also no indication at this stage that anyone else was involved in the attack. However we will be investigating how the suspect came to be in possession of an unlawfully held firearm.

'The suspect in custody has been medically examined by two specialist medical practitioners who have determined that he is both fit for detention and fit for interview and detectives will continue to question the suspect during the day.'

Mr Maniyar said Mrs Cox 'was like a daughter' to him and called him 'uncle'. He added: 'I think she's a caring person, not just an MP but she liked to help every human being, every single person.

'She worried about Syrian people, she worried about ordinary people. Whenever you approached her, she'd come forward with a smile and try to help you.

'It's shocking. Not just for my daughter but the whole community. We were living in harmony in the community, English community, Asian community. This news is shocking for the whole community. My daughter, it will take time for her to recover.'

He added: 'I met her many, many times. She's a wonderful lady and we all sadly miss her. I saw Jo three days ago.

'She was campaigning in town and she rang me and I went there. She took a picture with me and some colleagues. She was there smiling.'

As campaigning for the EU referendum remained suspended in the wake of Mrs Cox's death, the Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Commons Speaker John Bercow set aside political debate to remember the much-loved campaigning MP.

They visited the town's market square, close to he scene of her killing, which is still cordoned off by police tape.

Joined by Commons chaplain Rose Hudson-Wilkin and Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, they bowed their heads as they laid bouquets at the foot of the Joseph Priestley memorial, adding to the impromptu shrine of flowers and messages which has grown up over the past day.

The Prime Minister said the whole nation was 'rightly shocked' at Mrs Cox's death, and called for people to 'value, and see as precious, the democracy we have on these islands'. Politics was about public service and MPs wanted to 'make the world a better place', he said.

And Mr Cameron added: 'Where we see hatred, where we find division, where we see intolerance, we must drive it out of our politics and out of our public life and out of our communities.

'If we truly want to honour Jo, then what we should do is recognise that her values - service, community, tolerance - the values she lived by and worked by, those are the values that we need to redouble in our national life in the months and years to come.'

Their visit came after Conservatives announced that they will not contest the by-election resulting from her death.

The Prime Minister said the nation was 'rightly shocked' at her death, adding: 'Two children have lost their mother, a husband has lost a loving wife and Parliament has lost one of its most passionate and brilliant campaigners.'

On the card attached to his bouquet, Mr Cameron wrote: 'Jo, a loving mother and wife, a passionate MP and campaigner. You died serving your constituents and country. We hold your family in our prayers. You will never be forgotten.'

Mr Corbyn wrote: 'In loving memory of a wonderful, passionate and committed woman. Her life was dedicated to justice and human rights and proud to represent Batley and Spen.'

Parliament is to be recalled on Monday to allow MPs to pay tribute to Mrs Cox, Mr Corbyn said.

Documents obtained from a US far-right group and published this morning show a 1999 receipt for a manual on how to build a homemade gun with Mr Mair's name and address on the top.

Police on Friday evening confirmed they were investigating his links to the far-right 'as a priority'.

According to US-based civil rights group, the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), Mair was sent an invoice for £430 ($620) worth of books by the National Alliance, which was a white separatist movement until it ceased operations as a membership organisation in 2013.

Among these was a book called 'Incendiaries' and one called 'Improvised Munitions Handbook', a manual on how to build a pistol, according to an invoice obtained by the SPLC.

Mrs Cox's friend and fellow Labour MP Rachel Reeves broke down in tears today as she and others visited the centre of Birstall this morning, where hundreds of flowers and cards have been laid by grieving locals.

Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff, Manchester Withington MP Jeff Smith and Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell also left bouquets of red roses among the floral tributes to their colleague.

The group, with Labour Party member Karen Rowling, could not contain their emotions as they stood looking at the flowers and reading the messages at the Priestley Memorial in Birstall.

Also today, in an apparent reference to the referendum campaign, German chancellor Angela Merkel urged British politicians to 'draw limits' around the language used in political debate, warning that otherwise 'radicalisation will become unstoppable'.

The vicar of Birstall said the community is 'stunned' after the death of Jo Cox as he opened a book of condolence.

More than 400 people packed into St Peter's Church in the West Yorkshire village on Thursday night to pay their respects to the young Labour MP in a vigil.

On Friday, the Rev Paul Knight opened a book of condolence as church members provided tea and a place for contemplation.

The vicar said: 'We wanted to give people the opportunity to pass on their sympathies for Jo, who was obviously so much liked in this area.At this point people don't know what to do.

'So we're giving them the space and the opportunity to voice or express their concerns, and their disappointments and their hurt.'

He added: 'I think for the most part people are just stunned. Shocked but stunned.'