The devastated family of Lee Rigby have said they will “never forget” the young soldier as two Moslem extremists were convicted of his barbaric murder.
Michael Adebolajo, 29, showed no remorse as he kissed his Koran after he and fellow killer Michael Adebowale, 22, were told they face life behind bars for the atrocity.
Fusilier Rigby’s relatives, including mother Lyn, widow Rebecca and fiancee Aimee West, wept as the verdicts were given at the Old Bailey yesterday.
Mr Justice Sweeney praised their “great dignity” in sitting through harrowing evidence.
British Moslem converts Adebolajo and Adebowale mowed the young father down in a car before hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives in a frenzied attack, and dumping his body in the middle of the road near Woolwich Barracks in London on May 22.
The verdicts, which took the jury just 90 minutes to reach, provoked widespread condemnation of the attack from high-profile figures including the prime minister and Home Secretary Theresa May.
Questions remain over why police and intelligence agencies did not monitor the Moslem fanatics more closely, and an inquiry is being carried out by MPs on the intelligence and security committee into how much they knew and whether the killers could have been stopped.
In a statement read by Detective Inspector Pete Sparks outside court, Fusilier Rigby’s tearful relatives said: “No one should have to go through what we have been through as a family.
“We are satisfied that justice has been done, but unfortunately no amount of justice will bring Lee back.
“These people have taken him away from us forever but his memory lives on in all of us and we will never forget him.
“We are very proud of Lee, who served his country, and we will focus on building a future for his son Jack, making him as proud of Lee as we all are.”
In stark contrast to the family’s grief, Adebolajo’s brother Jeremiah told reporters the attack on the soldier was “inevitable” and the justification for his death was “obvious”.
Adebolajo, a married father of six, and Adebowale lay in wait near Woolwich Barracks and picked 25-year-old Fusilier Rigby to kill after assuming he was a soldier because he was wearing a Help for Heroes hooded top and carrying a camouflage rucksack.
After driving into the soldier, the killers – who had armed themselves with eight knives, including a meat cleaver and a five-piece set bought by Adebolajo the previous day – butchered him in front of horrified onlookers.