Michael
Adebolajo has been given a whole-life term and Michael Adebowale has been
jailed for a minimum of 45 years for murdering Fusilier Lee Rigby.
Adebolajo,
29, and Adebowale, 22, drove into Fusilier Rigby with a car before hacking him
to death in Woolwich, south-east London, in May last year.
The
judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, said Adebolajo's was one of those "rare
cases" warranting a whole-life term.
The pair
were absent during sentencing after a scuffle in the dock.
As Mr
Justice Sweeney began to sentence the men they started shouting and scuffling
with court security guards. They had to be forced to the ground and were
removed from court.
Fusilier Rigby's family sobbed as
Adebolajo shouted "allahu akbar", and Adebowale called o One relative
needed medical treatment after the outbursts. The judge later apologised the
family "had to witness what happened in the dock".
Sentencing the killers in their
absence, the judge said they had been convicted on "overwhelming"
evidence of the "barbaric" murder of Fusilier Rigby.
The British Muslim converts had
"butchered" the 25-year-old soldier, he said.
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", he went on.
"You both gloried in what you
had done", said the judge.
"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."
But "that's a lie" as the judge told
them their extremist views were "a betrayal of Islam".
Speaking outside court, Det Insp
Pete Sparks, police liaison officer for Fusilier Rigby's family, read a short
statement on behalf of the family saying "no other sentence would have
been acceptable".
Callum May and Jane Peel at the Old Bailey
Mr Justice Sweeney was not far into
his sentencing remarks in Court 2 of the Old Bailey when trouble erupted in the
high-security glass dock.
"You were radicalised and each
became an extremist - espousing a cause and views which, as has been said
elsewhere, are a betrayal of Islam and of the peaceful Muslim communities who
give so much to our country," the judge was telling the defendants.
"It's a lie!" shouted
Adebowale from the dock. "It's not a betrayal of Islam! You and America
will never be safe"
Nine security guards did their best
to stifle the outburst, piling onto the men, and lifting Adebolajo into the
air.
From the bench, the judge indicated
with a downturned finger that the murderers should be removed form court. It
was the last time Adebolajo will ever be seen in public.
His case was a rare one, where not
only was the seriousness exceptionally high but the requirements of just
punishment and retribution made a whole life term the just penalty, he said.
But the judge said Adebowale had
played a lesser role in the murder of Lee Rigby. His age and his mental health
were also given as reasons for his 45-year minimum term.
"We
feel satisfied that justice has been served for Lee", the statement said.
Sue Hemming, head of special crime
and counter terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service, said Adebolajo and
Adebowale had "revelled in one of the most appalling terrorist murders I
have seen".
"Not only was the attack
brutal and calculated, it was also designed to advance extremist views",
she said.
Assistant Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police Cressida Dick said the sentences reflected the "true
horror" of Fusilier Rigby's murder.
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, 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, had warned an indeterminate sentence would "create a
martyr".
Mr Gottlieb said Adebolajo was
"not so depraved or wicked that he is incapable of redemption",
saying the murder "shares the characteristics of a religiously aggravated
crime".
He said that Adebolajo intended to
die and still believed he should be put to death.
Adebolajo had claimed he was a
"soldier of Allah" and the killing was an act of war.
Counsel for Michael Adebowale,
Abbas Lakha QC, told the court the case was "horrific" but was not a
case "where the offending is so exceptionally high that Mr Adebowale must
be kept in prison for his life".
He said: "The right and proper
sentence is one which does leave open the possibility of release in the future.
Any other sentence would be inhuman."
At the
beginning of the hearing the defendants, both dressed in black, were asked to
stand, although Adebolajo did not.
Fusilier
Rigby, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, was murdered as he returned to his
barracks in Woolwich, south-east London on 22 May 2013. He died of multiple cut
and stab wounds.
Arrests
Adebolajo
and Adebowale drove into Fusilier Rigby at 30 to 40mph, before dragging him
into the road and attacking him with knives and attempting to decapitate him
with a meat cleaver.
Three
people were arrested outside the court as far-right protesters gathered while
the pair were sentenced.
Supporters
of the British National Party and the English Defence League gathered around
makeshift gallows constructed in the street and held placards calling for the
capital punishment to be restored.
A City of
London Police spokesman confirmed two men were arrested, one on suspicion of
actual bodily harm and one for affray.
