Two men tried to behead a British soldier in a
"barbarous" killing on a London street, hacking at his body
"like a butcher attacking a joint of meat" after running him over, a
court was told on Friday.
Michael
Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, dragged the lifeless body of Fusilier
Lee Rigby, a veteran of the Afghan War, into the middle of the street so
horrified members of the public could see what they had done, prosecutor
Richard Whittam said at the start of the men's trial.
They
deny what Whittam called a "cowardly and callous murder" by knocking
Rigby down with a car as he crossed a street in Woolwich, southeast London, on
the afternoon of May 22 before setting upon his unconscious body with a meat
cleaver and knives
"He
was repeatedly stabbed and it appears it was Michael Adebolajo who made a
serious and almost successful attempt to decapitate Lee Rigby with multiple
blows to his neck made with the meat cleaver," Whittam said.
"They
had committed a cowardly and callous murder by deliberately attacking an
unarmed man in civilian clothes from behind using a vehicle as a weapon,"
he added.
The
jury of eight women and four men was told Adebolajo, who was carrying a Koran
on the day of the attack, had bought a set of five knives and a sharpener the
day before. Whittam said it appeared he had picked up Adebowale, who had
converted to Islam at 17, on the morning of the killing.
The
court fell silent as the jury were shown closed-circuit television (CCTV)
footage of the moment the Vauxhall Tigra car drove at Rigby.
GASPS
IN COURT
There
were gasps in the courtroom as his body was thrown onto the car's windscreen.
Rigby's family were among those watching, some close to tears.
Earlier,
the court was shown CCTV footage of Rigby, who held a recruiting post and
sometimes worked at the Tower of London, walking through Woolwich where his
barracks was based.
He
was wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with "Help for Heroes", a
military charity, and was carrying a camouflage-patterned rucksack.
Whittam
told the court Amanda Bailey had witnessed the car accelerate into Rigby before
carrying him down the road and crashing into a road sign. The driver then got
out carrying the cleaver.
"He
knelt down by Lee Rigby and took hold of his hair. He then repeatedly hacked at
the right side of his neck just below the jawline," Whittam said. "He
was using considerable force, bringing his hand into the air each time before
he struck."
Bailey
saw him hack nine times at Rigby's neck, Whittam said. Witnesses Gary Perkins
and Gill Hucks called it an "horrific frenzied attack", he added.
"He
(Perkins) saw Michael Adebolajo sawing at the neck of Lee Rigby with a machete
and the other man trying to cut bits of the body by hacking away at it,"
Whittam said. "He described the actions as being like a butcher attacking
a joint of meat."
Whittam
said witness Vikki Cave had heard Adebolajo talking about religion.
"EYE
FOR AN EYE"
He
had told her: "These soldiers go to our land, kill or bomb our people, so
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," Whittam told the court.
"To
seek out and kill political opponents on the grounds that you say they have
oppressed your countrymen or people of your religion is still murder,"
Whittam said.
"There
is no defence of moral justification for killing just as there is no defence of
religious justification," he added.
Whittam
said all witnesses had reported that Rigby appeared to be unconscious before
the knife attack took place.
The
jury were told of the bravery of passers-by including one woman who stroked
Rigby's lifeless body and another who talked to Adebolajo, despite him holding
the cleaver and with his hands covered in blood.
The
attack took place yards (metres) from a junior school.
Whittam
said that after the attack on Rigby the two assailants deliberately waited for
the police, scaring off the public by pointing the gun at them.
The
court was shown dramatic footage of the moment police arrived.
Adebolajo
could be seen running towards the car with the cleaver raised above his head
before being shot just feet away.
Whittam
said the female officer in the driving seat, unable to draw her weapon, had
thought she was about to be killed.
Adebowale
was then shot but raised his gun even after being hit, and at least five shots
could be heard before the three armed officers gave the men first aid.
The
pair, who the court heard used the Muslim names Mujahid Abu Hamza for Adebolajo
and Ismael Ibn Abdullah for Adebowale, They deny attempting to kill a police
officer but have pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm.
They
watched silently from the dock, flanked by eight security officers.
The
trial is expected to last three weeks.
Reuters
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