The devastated mother of one of the men convicted of butchering Middleton-born Lee Rigby has blamed the ‘evil ones’ of Islam for his crime.
Juliet Adebowale, 52, said that her 22-year-old son was raised a Christian but converted to Islam when he was 17 to protect himself from local gangs after his friend was murdered.
She described him as a shy boy who was bullied at school and was drawn into extremism.
She visited his mosque after she became concerned and spoke to the Imam.
Ms Adebowale told the Sun: “They said not to worry, it would be OK. Then I had the shock of my life in May when that harrowing act took place with that older man. It was so out of character, he was very vulnerable.
“When people are vulnerable the evil ones will lure them.
“He had known Adebolajo since they went on a march at the end of March. I still can’t comprehend what happened, what got into his head. The extremism is tearing us apart.”
Adebowale and Adebolajo were found guilty yesterday at the Old Bailey for the murder of Lee Rigby and face life behing bars when they are sentenced in the New Year.
Juliet told how her son was influenced by the older Adebolajo, and has been on suicide watch since having psychotic episodes in which he saw ‘Christian angels’ trying to lure him back from Islam.
Speaking about the first time she visited him in custody, Ms Adebowale said her son cried as she held his hand and told her he wanted to die.
She added: “That poor, poor family have lost a son – but so have I.”
Image courtesy of JewishNewsOne via Flickr, with thanks.
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