Rigby killer to sue British Government

AN extremist jailed for life after being convicted of the murder of soldier Lee Rigby has taken High Court action against the Ministry of Justice.

Lawyers representing Michael Adebolajo have lodged papers in the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court in London, where judges analyse damages claims relating to personal injury.

Paperwork shows a claim was filed on July 20. Papers list Adebolajo as the claimant and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) as the defendant, but they give no detail of Adebolajo’s allegations.

A member of staff at a High Court office said on Friday that papers which would outline detail of Adebolajo’s claim were not currently available for public inspection. A report in the Sun newspaper has suggested that Adebolajo is claiming to have suffered a “psychiatric injury” while in custody and wants compensation.

An MoJ spokesman said the claim would be “robustly” defended.

“The public will be rightly outraged at the thought of this offender claiming compensation from the taxpayer,” said the MoJ spokesman.

“We will be robustly defending this matter.”

He said the MoJ was “successful” in “two thirds of cases brought against us by prisoners”.

Fusilier Rigby, 25, died after being attacked near Woolwich Barracks in south-east London in May 2013.

Adebolajo, who is in his early 30s, and Michael Adebowale, who is in his mid-20s, were convicted of murder following a trial at the Old Bailey.