Post date: Feb 26, 2014 2:49:21 PM
The British Muslim killers of soldier Lee Rigby arrive at court for sentencing as far-right protesters demonstrate outside.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FEBRUARY 26, 2014) (REUTERS) - British Muslim converts, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, arrived at a London court on Wednesday (February 26) under heavy police guard ahead of their sentencing for killing a soldier.
Fusilier Lee Rigby was murdered on the streets of London near his barracks in broad daylight last May.A small group of far right protesters, from the group the English Defence League, demonstrated outside the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court.
Adebolajo and Adebowale were found guilty of hacking Rigby to death on December 19, but sentencing was delayed because the judge wanted to wait for a legal decision clarifying Britain's position on whole-life sentences.
Last week the Court of Appeal ruled that domestic laws on whole-life prison sentences were compatible with European human rights laws, disagreeing with aEuropean court judgement that fed into a fierce debate on Britain's ties with Europe.
That decision paves the way for Adebolajo and Adebowale to be jailed for life with no prospect of release.
Among the footage shown to jurors during the trial was a mobile phone video of Adebolajo with his hands covered in blood attributing the attack to, "an eye for an eye".
The jury also watched footage of Adebolajo being interviewed by police.
He told detectives: "Between us we decided that the soldier is the most fair target because he joins the army with kind of the understanding that your life is at risk when you join the army. So we sat in wait and it just so happened that he was the soldier that we spotted first."
In 2010 Adebolajo was detained by Kenyan police in Mombasa before being deported to the UK. He was accused of seeking training with the al-Qaeda-linked militant group al Shabaab in Somalia.