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| Lee Rigby murder 'indefensible', court hears | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The men accused of killing soldier Lee Rigby set out to cause "carnage", a court has heard. | |
| Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, are accused of running Fusilier Rigby over in a car and hacking him to death. | |
| In his closing speech, the prosecutor said their actions were "indefensible in the law of this country". | |
| The judge dismissed Mr Adebolajo's defence that he was a "soldier of Allah". Both men deny the charges. | |
| Mr Justice Sweeney told a jury at the Old Bailey that "nothing" said in Mr Adebolajo's evidence "amounts in law to a defence to this count [of murder]". | |
| "Both defence counsel must and will respect that ruling in their speeches," he added. | "Both defence counsel must and will respect that ruling in their speeches," he added. |
| In his closing speech, prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said: "Islam, one of the world's great religions, is not on trial." | In his closing speech, prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said: "Islam, one of the world's great religions, is not on trial." |
| He once again showed the jury photographs of knives with blood on them, and replayed the video in which Fusilier Rigby is seen being knocked down by a Vauxhall Tigra. | He once again showed the jury photographs of knives with blood on them, and replayed the video in which Fusilier Rigby is seen being knocked down by a Vauxhall Tigra. |
| "What was the consequence of driving into Lee Rigby? The consequence was it broke his back," Mr Whittam said. | "What was the consequence of driving into Lee Rigby? The consequence was it broke his back," Mr Whittam said. |
| 'Murder remains murder' | 'Murder remains murder' |
| And he asked jurors what "purpose" the defendants had had in killing Fusilier Rigby, dragging his body into the road and then staying at the scene. | |
| "To borrow a phrase from the first defendant - carnage," he said. | "To borrow a phrase from the first defendant - carnage," he said. |
| On the charge of attempted murder of a police officer, Mr Whittam said Mr Adebolajo raised a meat cleaver "above his head" and "got very close" to the car police arrived in before he was shot. | On the charge of attempted murder of a police officer, Mr Whittam said Mr Adebolajo raised a meat cleaver "above his head" and "got very close" to the car police arrived in before he was shot. |
| Finishing his speech, he said the murder of Fusilier Rigby near Woolwich Barracks in London on 22 May was "indefensible in the law of this country". | |
| "Killing to make a political point, to frighten the public, to put pressure on the government or as an expression of anger is murder and remains murder whether the government in question is a good one, a bad one, or a dreadful one," he said. | "Killing to make a political point, to frighten the public, to put pressure on the government or as an expression of anger is murder and remains murder whether the government in question is a good one, a bad one, or a dreadful one," he said. |
| The men face counts of murdering Fusilier Rigby and of the attempted murder of a police officer. | |
| However the men will no longer face charges of conspiracy to murder a police officer. | |
| The judge told jurors the two men were discharged from any further consideration of one count of conspiracy to murder a police officer for each defendant. The judge did not explain why the charges had been dropped. |