'I exited the vehicle and I killed him, yes', Lee Rigby murder suspect Michael Adebolajo tells court

 
10 December 2013

The widow of Fusilier Lee Rigby walked out of the Old Bailey today as one of the men accused of murder admitted killing him.

Michael Adebolajo calmly told the jury that after mowing the defenceless victim down: “I exited the vehicle and I killed him, yes.”

At this point, Rebecca Rigby, who had been sitting with other members of the family at the side of the court, strode red-eyed and distressed for the door.

Adebolajo went on to acknowledge that Mr Rigby had been lying on the floor as he hacked at him to obey “a command from Allah”.

Despite the witness box confession both he and defendant Michael Adebowale plead not guilty to murder.

Said Adebolajo: “This is a war. He [Rigby] was a soldier and I am a soldier, this is not a personal vendetta.

“It is not something enjoyable, something fantastic, it was the duty of a soldier in a military attack. We targeted a soldier and we killed a solider.”

He added: “For example, during World War Two the British army was being bombed and the Government made the order that in self-defence to bomb certain targets in Germany.

“We are forced to obey Allah. Without any internationally recognised Foreign Secretary, we must obey Allah, it’s compulsory.”

Adebolajo, however, denied attempting to murder or conspiring to murder the police officers who arrived at the scene.

Instead, he insisted he and Adebowlae were intent on martyrdom and had rushed at the armed officers in order to be shot.

Both defendants plead not guilty and the case continues.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in