Muslim extremist killers of British soldier Lee Rigby sentenced to life in prison
Michael Adebolajo ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole and accomplice Michael Adebowale receives 45-year minimum sentence for brutal murder of off-duty soldier in London street
A Muslim extremist was jailed for life and his accomplice for a 45 years on Wednesday for hacking British soldier Lee Rigby to death on a London street in a “terrorist” killing that shocked Britain.
Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, were dragged from the dock in the Old Bailey court in London after they started screaming “Allahu akbar [God is great]” at the judge during the sentencing.
The pair of Muslim converts were found guilty in December of ploughing into Rigby with a car before attacking him with knives in broad daylight outside his barracks in Woolwich, southeast London, in May last year.
Judge Nigel Sweeney ordered Adebolajo to spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole for killing Rigby, who had previously served in Afghanistan, and said Adebowale had to serve a minimum life sentence of 45 years.
“This was a murder with a terrorist connection,” the judge said, describing the killing as “sickening and pitiless”.
He said a whole-life prison term was a “just penalty” for Adebolajo, who had proclaimed his admiration for the al-Qaeda terror network, but that the younger man’s “lesser role” meant he would get a shorter sentence.
