Jo Cox desperately tried to defend her aides as she was stabbed to death, telling them “let him hurt me, don't let him hurt you”, a court heard today.

Thomas Mair, 53 is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of murdering the MP near her constituency surgery, days before the EU referendum in June.

Sandra Major, Mrs Cox's senior caseworker, who was in a car with the MP before the attack, told the court she saw a man in her peripheral vision walking past.

She said: "He had a gun in his hand. He raised his arm and shot her in the head. It was in the area of her temple.

"She fell backwards into the ground and there was blood pouring down her face."

Asked by prosecutor Richard Whittam QC whether the attacker had said anything, she added: "It was something along the lines of 'keep Britain independent' or 'British independence'.”

Ms Major told jurors that Mrs Cox tried to protect her staff even as the man was stabbing her.

She said: "He was making motions towards us with the knife and Jo was lying in the road and she shouted out 'get away, get away you two. Let him hurt me, don't let him hurt you'.

"He started to walk away a little bit and when Jo shouted out then he came back.

“He shot her twice more and then started stabbing her again. She was on the floor. She didn't get up again. He was still shouting and shouting."

Earlier, the court was told police had rugby-tackled the attacker to the floor, with CCTV shown to the jurors.

Mrs Cox's mother and sister wiped away tears as details of her final moments were heard in court this afternoon.

The MP’s personal assistant Fazila Aswat told jurors how she pulled up in a silver Vauxhall Astra with mother-of-two Mrs Cox and another colleague outside the library in Birtsall, West Yorkshire, where she was due to hold a surgery on June 16.

She said: "So I got out of the car. I was still on the roadside. Jo walked over to the side of the pavement and my colleague walked a few steps closer up.

"In that instant our lives changed forever.

"The next thing I saw was Jo on the floor and there is a man stood over her with a knife and I think that's when I knew it was completely wrong.

"At that time - panic. I started to shout 'somebody help, help'.

"There was a gun, there was a knife and she was on the floor.”

Bernard Carter-Kenny, 77, was waiting for his wife outside the library when he tried to launch himself at the knifeman in an attempt to save Mrs Cox, jurors heard.

In a statement read to the court, he said: "I immediately recognised her as Jo Cox, our local MP. The next thing I heard was a bang. I thought it sounded like a gun and I thought it can't be a gun. I thought it must be a car backfiring.

"When I saw Jo roll into the road, I could see blood. I jumped out of the car. My first feeling was he was kicking her and brandishing a knife. She was on the floor and he had a knife in his hand. People were shouting 'get help, 'get help'.

"I ran across. I was intending to jump on his shoulders. He had his back to me. I thought if I could jump on to the back I could take him down.

"I thought he was thumping her until I saw the blood. I saw he had a knife in his hands. It was what I call a dagger. The blade was about 9 inches.

"Just as I got short of him he turned around and saw me. He shoved the knife in and it hit me in the stomach. The blood started pouring out between my fingers. I saw the blood and I thought 'Oh my God'.

"I staggered right back across the road. I didn't turn my back on him in case he came after me. I just flopped on to the steps of the sandwich shop. I was lying on the floor."

He added: "I could still see what was going on. This man was going berserk with a knife."

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 pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Carter-Kenny.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.