Lee Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo works as de-radicalisation mentor at jail London Bridge terrorist was freed from – The Sun
LEE Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo is working as a de-radicalisation mentor at the jail where London Bridge attacker Usman Khan was an inmate.
The jihadi, 34, who renounced extremism last year and said sorry to the family of soldier Lee, 25, has taken on an unofficial role talking to jailed terror plotters.
Adebolajo, given life for murdering Lee, has been assisting pastoral prison workers to help extremists reform at HMP Woodhill — the jail Khan was freed from in December last year.
A source said: “Michael’s U-turn has been astonishing but he insists he is on the path of reform and has been helping to talk to other prisoners about the importance of staying on the right path.
“He tells others that he made a drastic mistake and is trying to encourage others to shun extremism and not go down the path he went down.
“He was in the prison at the same time as Usman Khan.”
Khan, who killed two reform workers last month after attending a prison rehabilitation seminar, had been jailed for 16 years in 2010 for plotting to blow up the London Stock Exchange.
But just two years later, while in Woodhill, he began saying he wanted to be free of Islamist extremism and repeatedly renounced his radical ways until he was released halfway through his sentence.
NEWFOUND REMORSE
Adebolajo, like Khan, had links to Anjem Choudary’s extremist group al-Muhijaroun.
He and accomplice Michael Adebowale hacked to death dad-of-one Lee outside Woolwich Barracks in South East London in 2013.
When Adebolajo performed his U-turn last year, he expressed his newfound remorse to prison staff and a fellow inmate.
The killer, who cited the Koran moments after the 2013 atrocity, also admitted he “misinterpreted” Islam’s holy book.
In a further desperate shift from his radical ways, he has asked to be known as Michael after years of insisting he be called Mujahid Abu Hamza.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: “Adebolajo is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous extremists in the prison system. He has never wavered from his beliefs before — which makes this confession all the more remarkable.
“He approached a fellow inmate and a member of prison pastoral staff to say he finally regretted the murder.”
He admitted he was brainwashed and said his attack on Lee was “a misguided attack on an institution”.
Now, he is telling other prisoners to reject Islamic extremism and is helping prison staff beat radicalisation.
During his trial in 2013, he kissed the Koran and insisted on only being referred to as Mujahid Abu Hamza.
He screamed “Allahu Akbar” and fought with policemen in the dock as he was given a whole-life tariff.
Adebolajo also lost his two front teeth on remand in Belmarsh as prison officers tried to restrain him before he was moved to Woodhill.
Fiyaz Mughal, founder and director of Faith Matters, commented: “Someone like Adebolajo, who has started to regret his decision to murder Drummer Lee Rigby, demonstrates that people can have a change of heart.
"This has happened by mentoring through an imam in prison — but the reality is that every scrutiny must be placed to ensure that all avenues are checked and that the Prison Service is not being duped.
“Adebolajo will, rightly, grow old in prison and never be released but for others, we must learn the experience of Usman Khan.”
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