Violent outburst as soldier Lee Rigby’s killers are sent down

Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale were sentenced at the Old Bailey by Mr Justice Sweeney, who had waited for a key appeal court ruling on whole life terms before deciding the men’s fate.

Adebolajo, 29, was given a whole life term while Adebowale, 22, was jailed for life with a minimum of 45 years.

The British-born extremists mowed Fusilier Rigby down in a car before hacking him to death in the street in front of horrified onlookers near Woolwich Barracks in south east London in May last year.

They both claimed that they were “soldiers of Allah” and were motivated by the plight of Muslims abroad to carry out the killing, and have shown no remorse.

After sentencing began the two men shouted at Mr Justice Sweeney in protest at his remarks and were pinned to the ground by several security guards and taken back to the cells.

Mr Justice Sweeney was forced to sentence the men in their absence after they were bundled out of the courtroom following their violent outburst.

Fusilier Rigby’s family sobbed as the killers shouted across the historic courtroom, with Adebolajo shouting Allahu Akbhar, and Adebowale calling out “that’s a lie” and “it’s not a betrayal of Islam” as the judge told them they had been radicalised.

The judge said the pair’s behaviour was “sickening and pitiless”, and that Adebolajo had no hope of rehabilitation.

“Your sickening and pitiless conduct was in stark contrast to the compassion and bravery shown by the various women at the scene who tended to Lee Rigby’s body and challenged what you had done and said.”

Earlier, a moving victim impact statement written by Lee Rigby’s widow Rebecca was read to the court.

Prosecutor Richard Whittam QC read excerpts of the statement, in which Mrs Rigby described the effect of suddenly being in the public gaze after the brutal killing.

She said: “I was also living in the public gaze. I couldn’t go out or do anything. I felt like I didn’t want to go on. I saw people nudging and looking at me if I tried to walk down the street, it was surreal.

“Of all the feelings I have, the one thing that overrides everything is that I know my son will grow up and see images of his dad that no son should ever have to endure, and there is nothing I can do to change this.”

Islamist fanatics Adebolajo and Adebowale hit Fusilier Rigby, 25, in a car before hacking him to death near Woolwich barracks in south east London on May 22 last year.

Mrs Rigby said that she had accepted her husband would be at risk when he went to serve in Afghanistan, but not in Britain, where he was based when he died.

She said: “When you wave someone off you accept that there is a chance you will never see them again. You do not expect to see this on the streets of the UK.

“Lee will never be forgotten. We will always love him and miss him every day.”

The court also heard part of a statement from the soldier’s stepfather, Ian Rigby.

He said: “After all he had been through in Afghanistan all Lee was doing was just walking through London. Just seeing on the television and seeing the violence of it you just can’t comprehend. You take it all in and it doesn’t click in your head, it is like being somewhere else.

“You’re watching it without being actually there.”

Mr Whittam said that the family’s lives had been devastated.

He said: “The scale of the impact on them of the nature of the murder of Lee Rigby in the circumstances made so public during the trial and after such a killing causing a son to pre-decease his parents and stepfather and leave those others who loved him without a husband or a soul mate is too obvious to set out in detail.

“He had, as your lordship knows, a young son. All their lives have been irreparably changed for the worse.”

Adebolajo’s defending barrister David Gottlieb argued against his client being handed a whole-life order, with no hope of parole.

Mr Gottlieb said: “He should not in these circumstances be deprived of any hope of release.”

The barrister said Adebolajo was “not someone incapable of change without proper encouragement”.

Adebolajo, who has two children and four stepchildren, did not intend to physically injure anyone other than the victim, he said.

Abbas Lakha QC, for Adebowale, said that the 22-year-old should not be sentenced to die behind bars “unless the court is driven to the conclusion without any doubt at all that it is a just sentence”.

This is a timeline of events concerning the brutal murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in broad daylight in Woolwich, south-east London.

May 22

• 2.20pm - Police respond to a “serious incident” in John Wilson Street following reports of an assault. London Air Ambulance is also called to the scene.

The incident happened 200 yards from the Royal Artillery Barracks, next to Woolwich Common, the historical home of the Royal Artillery.

• London Ambulance Service confirms a man has been found dead at the scene, while two other men have been taken to hospital, one of them in a serious condition.

• Witnesses confirm a man wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt was attacked by two men with machete-style knives.

• Prime Minister David Cameron describes the killing as “truly shocking” and asks the Home Secretary to chair a meeting of Cobra, the Government’s emergency committee. He will cut short an official visit to Paris to return to the UK to co-ordinate the Government’s response.

• 6pm - Shocking footage emerges of a man wielding a bloodied meat cleaver at the scene moments after the attack, saying: “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.”

• Troops in London are advised in the immediate aftermath of the attack not to wear their uniforms outside their bases.

• The two suspects are held in hospital, having been shot by officers at the scene, where they receive treatment for non-life threatening injuries.

May 23

• Scotland Yard confirms the man killed was a serving soldier.

• Speaking outside Downing Street after another Cobra meeting, Mr Cameron says: “The people who did this were trying to divide us. They should know something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger.”

• The Ministry of Defence names the victim as Fusilier Lee Rigby, of 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

• US president Barack Obama condemns the attack “in the strongest terms” and says there can be “absolutely no justification for such acts”.

May 24

• Further footage emerges of the moment the suspects were shot as they charged police officers at the scene.

• Two men are arrested for making alleged offensive comments on Twitter about the murder.

• The tearful family of Fusilier Rigby speak of their pride in him. His wife Rebecca and stepfather Ian fight back tears as they speak on behalf of the 25-year-old’s family at a press conference at the Regimental HQ of his unit in Bury, Greater Manchester.

May 25

• The BNP is accused of exploiting the death of Fusilier Rigby to further its “own poisonous ends” after the far right group announces plans to demonstrate in Woolwich.

• Hundreds of wellwishers flock to pay their respects to the murdered soldier, leaving floral tributes near the scene.

• Downing Street announces Mr Cameron is to launch a new terror taskforce to crack down on extremism.

May 26

• Fusilier Rigby’s family visit the scene of his murder.

May 27

• Two people are arrested following a fire at an Islamic cultural centre in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

• It emerges Woolwich murder suspect Michael Adebolajo was arrested by Kenyan authorities three years before because they feared he was attempting to join an al Qaida-linked militant group.

• Supporters of the English Defence League march through central London chanting “Muslim killers off our streets” and “There’s only one Lee Rigby”.

May 28

• Michael Adebowale, 22, is discharged from hospital and taken into custody at a south London police station.

• The family of Adebolajo express their “profound shame and distress” over the “senseless killing” and send their “heartfelt condolence” to Fusilier Rigby’s relatives.

May 29

• Four men are charged with various offences after Monday’s EDL march on Downing Street.

• A post-mortem examination of the murdered soldier establishes the cause of death was “multiple incised wounds”.

• The Crown Prosecution Service confirms Adebowale is to be charged with the murder of Fusilier Rigby.

May 30

• Adebowale appears flanked by two police officers and two security guards in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. He speaks only to confirm his name, date of birth and address during the short hearing.

May 31

• Adebolajo is discharged from hospital and taken into police custody.

June 1

• Adebolajo is charged with the murder of Fusilier Rigby and possession of a firearm.

June 3

• Adebolajo appears at Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he asks to be referred to as Mujaahid Abu Hamza.

September 27

• Adebolajo and Adebowale plead not guilty to murder.

December 19

• Both defendants are found guilty of murder.

February 26, 2014

• Adebolajo and Adebowale appear at the Old Bailey to be sentenced.