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Lee Rigby trial hears of shooting in aftermath of killing (4 December 2013)

Date: 04/12/2013
Duncan Lewis, Crime Solicitors, Lee Rigby trial hears of shooting in aftermath of killing

A female police officer has told the jury at the Lee Rigby trial that she feared for her life when one of the attackers ran towards her car holding a weapon which looked like a machete or a meat cleaver.

The officer said the black male running towards her car – later identified as 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo – was muttering and his eyes were wide open. He was also making “chopping” gestures with the weapon.

The officer – identified in court at London’s Old Bailey as D49 – told the courtroom:

"I went to draw my Glock. Due to my position in the car ... I could not immediately draw my [gun]. It was a split second decision to draw my Taser."

The officer said it was then that she saw a second male holding a gun – this was later identified as 22-year-old Michael Adebowale. The officer said she thought the man she saw was going to shoot her. “I feared for my life”, she said in court.

A second officer who took the witness stand was identified as E48.

The court saw a video of the moment Michael Adebolajo ran towards the police car and was shot, sending him flying into the air. Officer E48 is seen running to the car to fetch a first aid kit, while officer D49 fixes Adebolajo with her gun as he lies on the ground.

E48 told the courtroom that events unfolded quickly when Adebolajo ran towards the police car, which was being driven by D49. The glass in the police car was not ballistic, he told the court, meaning D49 was at risk of injury if attacked.

E48 – a police marksman – opened fire as Adebolajo approached the car at speed, as he was “in the frame of mind that the suspect posed a threat”.

"The second he started sprinting at us still in possession of that knife, I made the decision to fire – and until he fell away from the vehicle, I was still in the frame of mind and I needed to take that decisive action to stop him,” said officer E48.

After Adebolajo he had been shot, the court heard that Adebowale also fell to the ground, shot, and raised one arm in the air. The officer said that he remembered seeing a black revolver in Adebowale’s hand and thought this odd as he had just been shot.

Officer E48 then added:

“The next two shots shot his thumb off. The hand holding the weapon. Once the threat is neutralised, we have a duty of care to all persons to save life – no matter who they are," he told the court.

When paramedeic Nicholas Goh arrived at the scene in Woolwich, southeast London, he discovered Fusilier Lee Rigby lay dead.

“I knew the man was dead and there was nothing I could do for him," he told the court. Paramedics then treated Adebolajo and Adebowale at the scene.

Adebolajo is then reported to have said:

“I don't want anyone to die, I just want the soldiers out of my country. Your government is all wrong. I did it for my God.”

He then allegedly went on to criticise soldiers for raping and killing women in his “lands” and told a police officer it was never his intention to harm civilians. He also said he believed in Sharia law.

“There were women and children around, my intention was to hurt military only. He was in his kit, in his uniform, coming in and out of the barracks.”

Other witnesses at the Old Bailey trial told the court the two men seemed “proud at what they had in their hands” at the scene of the attack on Fusilier Lee Rigby – referring to the meat cleaver and revolver gun.

Both Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale deny murdering Lee Rigby, as well as conspiracy to murder and attempting to murder a police officer.

The trial continues.

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