The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Woolwich attack

  • UK murder suspect Adebolajo leaves hospital

    UK murder suspect Adebolajo leaves hospital

    Suspected Woolwich attacker Michael Adebolajo has left hospital and is being questioned by police over the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby, Sky News reports.

    The 28-year-old had already been arrested on suspicion of the solder’s murder, but he has been further arrested on suspicion of the attempted murder of a police officer.

    Adebolajo has been taken from hospital to a south London police station.

    “He remains in custody and will be interviewed by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service Counter Terrorism Command,” a police statement said.

    Michael Adebowale, 22, has already been charged with murdering the young soldier and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday.

    Drummer Rigby, 25, was hacked to death near Woolwich barracks in southeast London last week after he was hit by a car.

    Adebowale and Adebolajo were both shot by armed response teams in Woolwich in the wake of the murder.

    An inquest into Drummer Rigby’s death opened earlier and heard that he was killed as he returned to his barracks after a day working at the Tower of London.

    He suffered “extensive and serious” injuries and had to be identified by a dental expert, the inquest also heard.

    Several people have so far been held by detectives investigating the soldier’s death, including a 42-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the illegal supply of guns.

     

  • Adebowale charged for murder of British soldier

    A man has been charged with the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London, police has said.

    Michael Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich, London, who will appear later at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, is also accused of possessing a firearm.

    A second man, Michael Adebolajo, 28, remains under arrest at a London hospital and is in a stable condition, BBC reports.

    A post-mortem examination found Drummer Rigby, 25, died of “multiple incised wounds” after the attack the May 22 attack.

    Mr. Adebowale, who was discharged from hospital on Tuesday, and the other suspect were shot by police at the time they were arrested.

    Sue Hemming, head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Special Crime and Counter-terrorism Division, said: “Crown Prosecutors have been working with the investigators of Counter Terrorism Command since the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby on May 22.

    “Following the release of Michael Adebowale from hospital, we have authorised the police to charge him with the murder of Drummer Rigby.

    “We have also authorised police to charge him with possession of a firearm, contrary to section 16A of the Firearms Act 1968.

    “There is sufficient evidence to prosecute Michael Adebowale and it is in the public interest to do so.”

    The CPS said it was continuing to advise police over other suspects arrested during the investigation into Drummer Rigby’s death.

    Scotland Yard said the inquest into Drummer Rigby’s death would open at Southwark Coroner’s Court on Friday.

    On Wednesday, Commander Simon Letchford of the Metropolitan Police made a fresh appeal for information and witnesses following the street attack near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich.

     

  • UK attack: Three suspects released on bail

    Three men who were held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder following the death of Drummer Lee Rigby have been released on bail.

    The trio, aged 21, 24 and 28, were arrested in southeast London on Saturday, three days after the 25-year old soldier was hit by a car and then attacked with a knife and a meat cleaver in Woolwich, Sky News reports.

    They have been bailed to return to a south London police station, the Metropolitan Police said.

    Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale, 22, who were arrested on suspicion of murder at the scene of the killing on Wednesday, remain under arrest.

    Counter-terrorism officers are also continuing to question a 22-year-old man in Highbury Grove, north London, who was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.

    Meanwhile, anti-terror police in Nairobi have confirmed that Adebolajo was also arrested in Kenya in 2010.

    Adebolajo appeared in court in Mombasa suspected of leading a group of Islamists trying to join the al Shabaab group.

    Anti-terrorism unit chief Boniface Mwaniki said Adebolajo was believed to have been preparing to train and fight with the al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group.

     

  • ‘Woolwich suspect Adebolajo was held in Kenya’

    One of the suspects in the Woolwich murder case was arrested in Kenya in 2010, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

    It said Michael Adebolajo was arrested there and it gave consular assistance “as normal” in the circumstances.

    The suspect was believed to have been preparing to fight with Somali militant group al-Shabab. He was later arrested and deported, a Kenyan government spokesman told the BBC.

    Meanwhile, police investigating soldier Lee Rigby’s murder have arrested a 22-year-old man in north London.

    The arrest at Highbury Grove, on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, brings the total number made so far in the case to nine.

    Several hundred people have gathered at the scene of the murder, some chanting Mr. Rigby’s name and waving Help for Heroes flags.

    The Met Police said it was aware of a planned community event in which a group of people intended to lay a wreath.

    A small group of English Defence League members have also joined the crowd.

    The Kenyan government had previously denied that Mr. Adebolajo had ever visited the country, but spokesman Muthui Kariuki said there had been some confusion as he was arrested under a different name.

    Mr. Adebolajo was handed over to United Kingdom authorities when it emerged he was a British citizen, he added.

    In video footage of his court appearance which emerged on Sunday, Mr. Adebolajo is heard to say: “These people are mistreating us, we are innocent.”

     

  • M5 ‘approached Woolwich suspect’

    MI5 asked Woolwich murder suspect Michael Adebolajo if he wanted to work for them about six months before the killing, a childhood friend has said.

    Abu Nusaybah told BBC Newsnight his friend – one of two men arrested after Drummer Lee Rigby’s murder in south-east London on Wednesday – had rejected the approach from the security service.

    The BBC could not obtain any confirmation from Whitehall sources.

    Abu Nusaybah was arrested at the BBC after giving the interview.

    The Met Police said a 31-year-old man had been arrested at 21:30 BST on Friday in relation to suspected terrorism offences and search warrants were being executed at two homes in east London.

    The arrest was not directly related to the murder of Drummer Rigby, it said.

    The soldier was killed in front of dozens of people near Woolwich Barracks, where he was based, on Wednesday afternoon.

    Mr. Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who was also arrested at the scene, remain in hospital after being shot by police.

    In his Newsnight interview, Abu Nusaybah said he thought “a change” had taken place in his friend after his detention by security forces on a trip to Kenya last year.

    Abu Nusaybah said Mr. Adebolajo suggested he had been physically and sexually abused during an interrogation in a prison cell in the African country.