One of the men who murdered soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London, has been ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison. Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, drove into Fusilier Rigby with a car before hacking him to death in May last year.

Adebolajo was given a whole-life term; Adebowale was ordered to serve at least 45 years. The pair were absent during sentencing after a scuffle in the dock. As the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, they started shouting and scuffling with court security guards. They had to be forced to the ground and were removed from court.

One of the men who murdered soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London, has been ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison. Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, drove into Fusilier Rigby with a car before hacking him to death in May last year.

Adebolajo was given a whole-life term; Adebowale was ordered to serve at least 45 years. The pair were absent during sentencing after a scuffle in the dock. As the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, they started shouting and scuffling with court security guards. They had to be forced to the ground and were removed from court.

Sentencing the killers in their absence, the judge said they had been convicted on “overwhelming” evidence of the “barbaric” murder of Fusilier Rigby. Adebolajo was the leader of the “joint enterprise”, the judge said, but Adebowale played his part “enthusiastically”.

Mr Justice Sweeney said the pair carried out the murder “in a way that would generate maximum media coverage. He had done absolutely nothing to deserve what you did to him”, the judge said. The pair created “a bloodbath”, the judge said, before the body of Fusilier Rigby’s was into the road and dumped. “You both gloried in what you had done”, he said.

“Your sickening and pitiful conduct was in stark contrast to the women at the scene who tended to Lee Rigby’s body and challenged what you had done.” He said “this was a murder with a terrorist connection”.

Earlier, Fusilier Rigby’s wife Rebecca said her young child would grow up and see images “no son should have to endure”. Her statement was one of those from Fusilier Rigby’s family, extracts of which were read out by prosecutor Richard Whittam QC.

Mrs Rigby said she had accepted her husband’s life would be at risk when he was deployed to Afghanistan, but not when he was in the UK. 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.”

The court also heard part of a statement from the soldier’s stepfather, Ian Rigby. He said: “After all he’d been through in Afghanistan, all Lee was doing was walking through London. After seeing the television, you just can’t comprehend it.”

Adebolajo and Adebowale faced whole-life jail terms after a Court of Appeal ruling last week upheld judges’ right to jail the most serious offenders in England and Wales for the rest of their lives. However, counsel for Adebolajo, David Gottlieb, warned an indeterminate sentence would “create a martyr”.

Culled from BBC

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Adebolajo and Adebowale sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a soldier in London