Two men staged a "barbarous" attack on a British soldier, knocking him down with a car before mutilating him with knives and a cleaver as they attempted to behead him, the jury heard at the opening of the Woolwich murder trial at the Old Bailey.
Lee Rigby, 25, was killed in broad daylight in a street close to the Woolwich military barracks in south London as he walked back to his barracks. The incident occurred within yards of a primary school, the jury was told.
Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale deny murdering the soldier in a London street in May 2013. They are standing trial at the Old Bailey in central London.
Beginning the case, the prosecutor Richard Whittam QC told the jury the two men had committed a "cowardly and callous" attack on Rigby and had "mutilated his body with a meat cleaver and knives".
The attack happened just after 2pm on 22 May 2013. A Vauxhall Tigra was driven straight at Fusilier Rigby as he walked across Artillery Place. The car hit him at 30-40mph and crashed into a road sign.
Whittam said: "From eyewitness accounts it appears that Lee Rigby was rendered unconscious by that deliberate act. The car carried him from the road on to the pavement."
The jury were told by the prosecutor: "Both men got out. They were clearly acting together with a common purpose.
"The two men were armed with a meat cleaver and knives. They also had a firearm, a revolver, with them.
"They both attacked the motionless body of Lee Rigby." » | Vikram Dodd, Josh Hallidaay and Matthew Taylor | Friday, November 29, 2013
