Lee Rigby murder began wave of ‘easy lone wolf’ terror attacks in the UK

FIVE years ago, the attemped beheading of a soldier on a London street shocked the world — but little did we know it would prove to be the first of a series of similar attacks. Now a terror expert warns we’re moving into a new wave of extremism.

ISLAMIC extremists unleashed bloody terror on British soil last year, with the Manchester Areana attack proving one of the worst the UK had ever seen.

Less than two weeks after 22 people died at the Ariana Grande concert when one man set off a homemade bomb, three extremists executed a bloodbath at London Bridge, where two young Australian women were among those stabbed.

It was five years ago this tactic of ‘easy lone wolf’ terrorism had its horrifying debut, when British soldier Lee Rigby was hacked to death in south London.

The city had already endured the deadly 7/7 bombings, and suffered years of sporadic violence at the hands of the IRA, but Rigby’s execution was different in that it was unsophisticated.

Two radical Islamists ran him down and butchered him with knives in broad daylight.

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Lee Rigby was attacked and killed by two men in the Woolwich area of London in May, 2013. Picture: AP/MOD, File

Michael Adebolajo appearing on TV with blood on his hands and holding a knife and a meat cleaver after killing and mutilating Lee Rigby on a London street.

Terrorism expert Greg Barton said Britain’s fight against Islamic inspired terror was a tough one, thanks to organisations harnessing the “successful” tactic of using cars and knives as weapons, a move credited with the surge in lone wolf attacks.

“The Lee Rigby attack was seen as an ideal formula to be repeated. There have been a series of lone wolf attacks since,” the Deakin University research professor in Global Islamic Politics said.

“ISIS began to push this as a model to follow. These cheap, lone wolf attacks became modern terrorism.

“Somebody does something where it attracts a global audience and others say ‘OK, they did that so I can do that too. I can rent a white van and drive it into pedestrians.’

“It became a thing.”

London Metropolitan Police released vision of Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, after the attack.

A man who witnessed the barbaric attack was so distressed by what he saw he killed himself three years later.

An inquest heard Danny Cornelius, agged 38 when he took his life, became more isolated after the incident as he suffered severe trauma.

Another person who was there, Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, has since said she wished she didn’t intervene because it “ruined” her life afterwards — despite the fact that she was awarded for her bravery.

But it wasn’t just civilians who changed after Rigby’s murder.

The key change was with Islamist group tactics, specifically ISIS, with the realisation of just how easy it was to inflict fear.

A wannabe jihadi didn’t need to join militants in Syria, source expensive weapons or gather a group of people. Rigby’s attackers showed that executing an attack and gaining worldwide media attention was possible with household items.

At least 16 plots or incidents took place in the wake of Rigby’s murder in which bladed weapons were either used or had planned to be used in the UK.

ISIS used their English-language propaganda magazine calling for attacks against Westerners by any means necessary, with the tagline: “just do it.”

Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, on the ground after the attack.

But terrorist groups are always looking to evolve, with Mr Barton saying organisations were already moving out of that wave and toward more “gruesome” and “provocative” methods.

“ISIS are making innovations with an ultra violent approach,” he said.

“The recent attacks in Surabaya reflected revolution. Doing something as outrageous as using a mother and daughter as suicide bombers made people beside themselves with anger and disbelief.

“This is exactly the psychological impact ISIS wants to inflict.

“Not only that, but it is easier. If a family is radicalised to the point of preparing to be a part of suicide attacks, why not use them all.

“It’s easy to keep a secret and easy to deal with them all as a family unit.”

The family members responsible for the Surabaya bombings in Indonesia on May 13, 2018.

TERROR IN THE UK

7/7 LONDON BOMBINGS

July 7, 2005:

The central London bombings were conducted by four Islamist extremist suicide bombers, who targeted civilians using the public transport system during the morning rush hour. Three bombs were detonated on three separate trains on the London Underground and one on a double-decker bus. As well as the suicide bombers, 52 other people were killed and around 700 more were injured. It was the UK’s worst terrorist incident since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the first Islamist suicide attack in the country.

BRITISH SOLDIER BEHEADED IN LONDON

May 22, 2013:

A British soldier, Lee Rigby, was hacked to death in an attack in Woolwich by two Islamist extremists armed with a handgun and a number of bladed implements including a cleaver. Both men, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, were sentenced to life imprisonment, with Adebolajo given a whole life order and Adebowale ordered to serve at least 45 years.

NIRA BOMB PLOTS

February 10-14, 2014:

The New Irish Republican Army (NIRA) claimed responsibility for a series of parcel bombs sent to army recruitment offices in Oxford, Brighton, Canterbury, Slough, Aldershot, Reading and Chatham.

MURDER OF JO COX

June 16, 2016:

Popular MP Jo Cox was shot and stabbed to death by Thomas Mair, a 52-year-old white nationalist. Cox, a well known humanist, was killed outside a surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire. A passer-by who came to her aid was also severely wounded. Mair shouted “This is for Britain”, “keep Britain independent”, and “Put Britain first” as he attacked Cox. The attack was treated as an act of terrorism, and in sentencing Mair the judge said: “There is no doubt that this murder was done for the purpose of advancing a political, racial and ideological cause, namely that of violent white supremacism and exclusive nationalism most associated with Nazism and its modern forms”.

WESTMINSTER ATTACK

March 22, 2017:

Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old British man, drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, before crashing the vehicle into the Palace of Westminster’s perimeter. He then entered the grounds of the Palace of Westminster, the meeting place of the Houses of Parliament, before being confronted by a police officer. Masood then fatally wounded the officer, which led to him being shot by armed police officers protecting the Palace. Four other people were killed in the attack, and 49 other people were injured. The attack was treated as an act of terrorism motivated by Islamic extremism.

MANCHESTER ARENA BOMBING

May 22, 2017:

One of the most horrific terror attacks the UK had ever seen, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. Salman Abedi, a British suicide attacker of Libyan descent, also injured 250 when he set off the bomb at the end of the show. This was the worst terrorist attack in Britain since the 7/7 London bombings in 2005. Many of the 22 victims were children or teenagers, the youngest being an eight-year-old girl.

LONDON BRIDGE ATTACK

June 3, 2017:

Less than two weeks after the Manchester Arena bombing, a second terrorist attack occurred on British soil, this time in London. A total of eight people were killed, including two Australian women, and nearly 50 were injured. A white van drove at high speed across London Bridge, mowing down groups of people before it crashed. The occupants then ran to nearby Borough Market, where they stabbed several people. All three of the terrorists responsible were shot dead by police eight minutes after the incident was reported. All three were wearing suicide bomb vests.

FINSBURY PARK MOSQUE ATTACK

June 19. 2017:

White supremist Darren Osborne drove a van into Muslim worshippers close to a mosque in Finsbury Park, London during Ramadan. A man who had earlier collapsed and was receiving first aid died at the scene. The incident was investigated by counter-terrorism police as a terrorist attack. On June 23, Osborne was charged with terrorism-related murder and attempted murder. In February 2018 at Woolwich Crown Court, he was found guilty on both counts and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

PARSONS GREEN TUBE ATTACK

September 15, 2017:

A rush-hour bomb blasted an underground tube as the train was pulling into the Parsons Green station in West London. It was lucky the explosive device on the train did not explode properly however 22 people were injured in the explosion. The incident was treated as a terrorist incident. Prime Minister Theresa May said at the time the nation’s threat level was at “severe.”

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Originally published as Lee Rigby murder began wave of ‘easy lone wolf’ terror attacks in the UK