Lee Rigby. Photograph courtesy of the Ministry of Defence
The jury at the trial of Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale have been told that the killing of soldier Lee Rigby was a “cowardly and callous murder”.
The two suspects are accused to driving at Rigby near Woolwich Barracks on 22nd May and attempting to decapitate him by hacking at him with knives. The pair also stand accused of conspiring and attempting to murder a police officer at the scene.
The jury at the Old Bailey were shown CCTV video of Rigby being rammed by a car at high speed and thrown onto its bonnet. The two men are then shown dragging Rigby’s unconscious body into the street, with prosecutor Richard Whittam QC telling jurors:
“They wanted members of the public to see the consequence of what can only be described as their barbarous acts.
They had committed, you may think, a cowardly and callous murder by deliberately attacking an unarmed man in plain clothes from behind, using a vehicle as a weapon, and then they murdered him and mutilated his body with that meat cleaver and knives.”
Both defendants deny all charges.
