The two men accused of killing Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich earlier this year have been found guilty.
The jury took 90 minutes to find Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale guilty of murdering Fusilier Rigby and not guilty of attempting to murder a police officer at the scene. A charge of conspiring to murder a police officer had already been dropped.
Adebolajo's defence was that both he and Fusilier Rigby were soldiers, in Adebolajo's case a "soldier of Allah", and that the murder was an act of war. Adebowale chose to offer no evidence but his defence lawyer told the court he agreed with Adebolajo's reasons.
Adebolajo and Adebowale attacked Fusilier Rigby simply because they were looking for a soldier, and they saw him first – wearing a Help for Heroes jersey and carrying a camouflage rucksack. They ran him over with a car before attempting to decapitate him in the middle of a busy street.
The judge will pass sentence after the appeal court has ruled on whole life terms in January.
Fusilier Rigby's family said in a statement:
We would like to thank everyone who has helped us finally get justice for Lee, and the overwhelming support we have received. This has been the toughest time of our lives. No-one should to have go through what we have been through as a family. We are satisfied that justice has been done. But unfortunately, no amount of justice will bring Lee back. These people have taken him away from us forever, but his memory lives on in all of us, and we will never forget him.
Photo by David Holt from the Londonist Flickr pool
