Before he murdered Jo Cox, Thomas Mair was a 53-year-old loner who never spoke about politics in public.

But the jobbing gardener's dedication to far-right extremism became apparent as he launched his attack on the Labour MP in the street, shouting phrases such as “put Britain first”.

On his arrest, he told police officers he was a “political activist” and when he first appeared before magistrates in London, he responded “death to traitors, freedom for Britain” when he was asked his name.

When police raided unmarried Mair's housing association home, they found extreme memorabilia and books.

But people living on the Fieldhead Estate, which is less than a mile from where Mrs Cox was attacked, described him as the epitome of the quiet loner who never spoke about politics and spent much of his time helping with neighbours' gardens.

Mair had lived in the unremarkable semi for more than 40 years - he had been on his own for the past 20 years following the death of his grandmother.

He was born near Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, but is thought to have moved to Birstall as a boy with his grandparents and his brother, Scott.

One neighbour, Diana Peters, said teetotal Mair, who had teaching qualifications and a 2011 student card for Kirklees College, told her he was teaching English as a second language to the Asian community in Dewsbury and that she had seen no signs of racism.

Mrs Peters said: “He did gardening for neighbours. You couldn't ask for a more pleasant neighbour.

“I never ever saw him lose his temper. He never had a visitor that I'm aware of, doesn't have friends; nobody ever comes to the house.”

She said he suffered from epilepsy as a child and had never had a standard job.

Katie Green, who had been Mair's neighbour for 13 years, described him as “very quiet, very shy”.

She told his trial that Mair, who she always saw carrying shopping bags, spent a lot of time in his garden, which he always kept very tidy.

But a different side to Mair emerged on 16 June.

Witnesses to the murder painted a picture of a man who ate a chocolate bar in the moments before the attack and walked away afterwards “with not a care in the world”.

Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes and candles are placed by a picture of slain Labour MP Jo Cox at a vigil in Parliament square in London AFP Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Tributes to Labour Party MP Jo Cox are placed on her houseboat in Wapping in London REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures The Union flag at half-mast on top of Portcullis House in London after Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (2R) and deputy leader Tom Watson (L) light candles as they attend a vigil to slain Labour MP Jo Cox in Parliament square in London AFP/Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and deputy leader Tom Watson (rear) arrive to leave tributes at Parliament Square PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People leave St Peter's Church after a vigil in memory of Jo Cox REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Flowers left at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminste, following the death of Labour MP Jo Cox PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People react as they look at tributes left for Labour Member of Parliament Jo Cox in Parliament Square, London REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A man writes a message at Parliament Square PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People stop to look at tributes left at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminster PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A woman arrives to lay flowers at a statue to Joseph Priestly in Birstall near to the scene where Labour MP Jo Cox was shot AFP/Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Tributes at Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminster PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A woman places candles in tribute to Labour Party MP Jo Cox REUTERS Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A member of the public signs a memorial for British MP Jo Cox in Parliament Square, London EPA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People sign messages of condolence for MP Jo Cox during a vigil in Parliament Square in London Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Flags at half mast outside Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, after Labour MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death in the street outside her constituency advice surgery in Birstall PA Jo Cox tributes - in pictures People arrive in Market Square with floral tributes after the death of Jo Co Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes are placed in Market Square next to the statue of Joseph Priestley following the death of Jo Cox Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures Floral tributes are brought to the scene after the death of Jo Cox Getty Images Jo Cox tributes - in pictures A police officer carries bunches of flowers at the scene of the shooting of Labour MP Jo Cox in Birstall REUTERS

Police who later raided his house uncovered evidence of his far-right extremism.

A gold Third Reich eagle ornament with a Swastika emblazoned on it, a large collection of far-right books and magazines, a press cutting on Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik, information about far right groups, Nazi badges and a “Deutschland” cap were all found in his home.

There was also a dossier on Mrs Cox and her political history.

Searches on computers seized from libraries in Birstall and Batley showed Mair had used them to look for more far-right material, information on Mrs Cox and .22 rifles.

A US civil rights group, the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), based in Alabama, claimed it had obtained records showing a Thomas Mair had links with the neo-Nazi organisation National Alliance (NA) dating back to 1999.

It posted images showing what it claimed were orders by Mair for just over 620 US dollars for publications including the Improvised Munitions Handbook, which had detailed instructions for constructing a “Pipe Pistol For .38 Caliber Ammunition”.

Mair was also named in 2006 by the hard-right Springbok Club, an organisation which has called for a return to apartheid-style government in South Africa, as “one of the earliest subscribers and supporters of 'SA Patriot”'.

Mair's half-brother, Duane St Louis, whose father is from Grenada, told reporters that his own mixed race had never been a problem.

But the trial heard that Mair made an internet search for matricide, searching for “son kills mother for miscegenation” - the mix of different racial groups through marriage, cohabiting, sexual relations and procreation.

Reports of Mair's mental health problems emerged in the days following the murder.

His brother, Scott, told reporters Mair had a “history of mental illness, but he has had help” and said he had never been political.

Mair himself spoke to the Huddersfield Examiner in 2010 about volunteering at the Oakwell Hall country park in Birstall, after being a patient at a day centre for adults with mental illness.

But he did not use mental health as a defence and gave no evidence at all during the murder trial.