Zee Media Bureau/Himanshu Kapoor
London: The trial in the barbarous killing of UK soldier Lee Rigby on a London street opened on Friday at the Old Bailey court in Britain capital. The court has heard that the soldier was killed in a “cowardly and callous” attack.
Two men, Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, are also accused of conspiracy to murder a police officer and attempted murder of a police officer but they denied all the charges against them.
During the trial, a surveillance video was shown of Rigby being rammed by a car and thrown into the air while he was walking along the street wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt and a backpack. The court was then shown the two accused dragging Rigby’s body onto the road.
The prosecutor told the court that both accused deliberately attacked the unarmed soldier from behind using the vehicle as a weapon "and then they murdered him and mutilated his body with a meat cleaver and knives."
Further describing the attack, the procesutor said that one of the accused Michael Adebolajo nearly made a successful attempt at decapitating the motionless body of the soldier by repeated blows on the neck with a meat cleaver.
Rigby, who was married with a young son, was killed on May 22 outside the Woolwich Barracks in southeast London.
Members of soldier Lee Rigby`s family were also present in the court for the trial`s opening.
On charges of conspiring to kill police officer, the prosecutor told the court that when the police arrived at the crime scene the two men approached their vehicle while holding weapons.
Adebolajo carried the cleaver, while Adebowale held the firearm; although the weapon was not loaded, the prosecutor told the jury. At this moment both the men were shot and detained, the police officers at the scene gave the accused first aid to keep them alive.
An eyewitness decribed to the court the defendant`s actions as "like a butcher attacking a joint of meat."
The jury was told both men have pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
