Mother of murdered soldier hits out at lack of support from MoD

Fusilier Rigby, 25, who served in North Yorkshire for a time and who has family living near Halifax, was stabbed to death outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, south

London, in May 2013 while off duty.

On the fourth anniversary of his murder, his family was celebrating his life when Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb, killing 22 people at the end of the Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester

Arena.

Lyn Rigby told the BBC’S Victoria Derbyshire programme she had received no contact from the MoD to “check we’re OK” in the wake of the attack.

She said: “The support we had was from people we’d never met – the public.

“The Ministry of Defence ... barely support people who aren’t listed as next of kin. The main charities didn’t want to know.”

She told the programme the London Bridge terror attack in June felt like a repeat of the murder of her son – who was also struck by a vehicle before being attacked with knives and a cleaver.

“I do get angry, but you can’t give in to these people. You can’t let them win,” she said.

Fusilier Rigby’s killers, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, were sentenced to life in

prison in December 2013 after they were found guilty of his murder.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We do our utmost to support Armed Forces families that have lost loved ones, providing trained visiting officers who offer guidance on accessing help, as well as a range of support from individual regiments, including financial aid. Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Drummer Lee Rigby.”

Adebolajo and Adebowale had circled the barracks in a blue Vauxhall Tigra for an hour hunting for a victim.

As Fusilier Rigby crossed the road, the pair spotted his Help 4 Heroes hoodie and mowed him down in the car.

The pair waited for armed police to arrive, then charged at a patrol car apparently hoping to be martyred. They were both shot and injured.