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A POST-MORTEM has found that the British soldier killed on a London street by suspected Islamists died of “multiple incised wounds”.
Lee Rigby, 25, was hacked to death in broad daylight a week ago by two men, one of whom later delivered an Islamist tirade to passers-by.
“A post-mortem established that the cause of death was from multiple incised wounds,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement, adding that Rigby had been hit by a car before being attacked by the two men.
A formal hearing into Rigby’s death will open at Southwark Coroner’s Court in London on Friday, police added.
The announcements came as counter-terror detectives prepared to question one of the two prime suspects, both of whom were shot by police at the murder scene, and urged witnesses to come forward.
The first suspect, 22-year-old Michael Adebowale, was discharged from hospital on Tuesday and was being held at a south London police station ahead of questioning.
His suspected accomplice Michael Adebolajo, 28, remains in hospital.
Adebolajo was filmed holding a bloody knife and a meat cleaver shortly after the attack, telling a passer-by he killed Rigby because British soldiers were killing Muslims every day.
Eight other people have been arrested over the case, including two women released without charge.
Both Adebowale and Adebolajo are converts to Islam who grew up in Christian Nigerian families.
Police on Wednesday appealed for witnesses to come forward, particularly those with information about the blue Vauxhall Tigra car that struck Rigby.
“A fast-paced and complex investigation is now under way led by detectives from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command,” senior police officer Simon Letchford said at the murder scene, near Rigby’s barracks in Woolwich, southeast London.
“We need to hear from anyone who may have seen Lee being attacked or who may have any other information that may help.”
Rigby had a two-year-old son with his wife but the couple were separated, and he was engaged to another woman, Aimee West.
West, thought to be a member of the Royal Military Police serving in Afghanistan, issued a statement on Wednesday saying she was “devastated by the loss of Lee, who was a loving fiance”.
“I am extremely proud of him and I am moved by all the flowers and tributes, and that he has been remembered by the nation as the great man that he was,” she said.
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I was hoping this poor man died from the initial impact if the car and was deceased before the horrific brutality that occurred after. I am really sorry that was not the case
Ben I as hoping the same that the impact killed him . So bloody sad
Huh… A couple of dogs having a conversation on a news site. I’ve seen it all.
My god what a horrible death that poor guy injured it must be unimaginably awful for his poor family and for what ??? There are some really sick sadistic Fcukers living amongst us !! The world is gone mad glad I am getting old I have happy to have lived through the past few decades when when violence like this was unheard of and human life was valued
Acts like this happened even then, your level of access to information is the only thing that has changed. Statistically violence like this is declining per capita.
Oh wake up Debbie. The world we love in is far less violent now than it ever was. Ever heard of the Vikings, Cromwell, United Irishmen or the world wars? Get some perspective please
Any examples from the last 30 or 40 years ?
Troubles in NI, ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and that nutter in Norway. Anders brevic or whatever. And that’s just Europe. All sorts of horrible shite going on all the time in Africa
There’s evil people among us now and like there was years ago and like there always will be, what happened to that man is tragic and so wrong but what scared me most is that it’s not shocking because things like this happen every day some even worse , they might not happen in our country but Iraq and Nigeria etc horrific things happen every day. Something like this will happen again because there will always be bad people in the world. Hope he rip. His poor family.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing” Edmund Burke.
Cowardly attack
I guess if you aren’t over 25 or 35 years you don’t know what it was like in the 1960s, 1970s or even early 1980s. Yes, there has always been crime and ugly examples of cruelty, but unless you have lived a longer life you can’t say there has always been the same level of such violence. Believe me, my memories aren’t full of such things.
There was mass communication years ago, just not as immediate as today. The speed of today’s communication, sadly, has been used by the perpetrators in this case. In days gone by there would have been no opportunity for these people to have sent their twisted message so dramatically and graphically.
It always makes me smile when ‘computer age folk’ think that the world was in darkness prior their existence and the advent of modern technologies.
I totally agree with you iL well said as a child I had such peace and freedom not like today and I also remember as a child when any of my peers heard on the news of a murder it was talked about for weeks not like now it’s a daily Occurrence wars are wars I know that its the violence i hear about every weekend when someone dies after a night out in Dublin this never happened in my day
Read some history books.
I’m sorry, but personal experienced do not trump statistics. The world is a safer place now than it was 30 years ago and that is a fact. You seriously underestimate the impact modern communications have on bringing news from say Bangladesh to Ireland.
I dont think the world is safer now than at any point, its a different breed of enemy that developed countries now face, its not country vs country anymore with two armies on a battlefield, as we seen in this attack the perpetrators were born in Britain just like the victim, thats a lot harder to detect and for me its a more dangerous situation as they can spring from anywhere.
Could you please site the authoritative source of your statistics, and the type of crime/violence you have in mind?
Some of us may be thinking of violence in our own environment. We were safe to move more freely and safely around our own neighbourhoods years ago. I wasn’t worried I’d be blown up on an airplane, bombed on a bus, have my car stolen, wallet lifted or some junkie breaking into my home. My memories are valid in relation to my personal experience.
I think of the inhumane treatment of women and children worldwide, as an example of the level of today’s violence. It has always happened I know, but cruelly still is with us.
Again well said iL I also commented on my own childhood experience you could leave your back door open day and night and never a break in !!! Dublin city wasn’t full of junkies !!! People fought with there fists not guns or knives !!! The list goes on
Passers by?? Onlookers, jaysus why didn’t anyone help him?
There’s a lot of things that don’t make sense in this incident.
Apparently three women tried to help him, without any thought for their own safety. It goes to show that there are still good people out there.
Russell brand wrote a great article about this a google search should bring it up.
“Suspect” heading is a bit ridiculous here. The whole world saw him standing there bragging after he’d committed that horrendous act.
@michael,moors murders in the 60s,Denis Nielsen in the 80s,etc…history is riddled with horrific crimes and events…
From a Nigerian Christian family ……
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