19/12/2013 BBC London News

all from us. Now we join our news teams where

Tonight, we live in Woolwich on the day that two men who grew up in

London are found guilty of the murder of soldier Lee Rigby. We talk

to the people who knew the killers and reveal their disturbing past.

His friend got stabbed and that was fatal. He was stabbed. We look at

the effect the killing has had on the people of the area. Also, the

Met apologises after this man, arrested for rape, was released and

went on to rape again. Plus, how some property developers are

avoiding building affordable homes in prime locations by handing over

cash to councils. And policing through a lens. Why the mayor wants

officers to where cameras at all times.

Good evening. It was a murder that shocked the capital stock and today,

two men who grew up in London were convicted of the murder of Lee Rigby

in cold blood in Woolwich. We hear from people who knew the killers and

talk to the local community, seven months after the horrific crime that

happened their doorstep. Our reporter is in Woolwich this

evening. Good evening. This is where Fusilier

Lee Rigby was coming to before he was so brutally hacked to death and

murdered just around the corner from here. It is where his killers

attacked him, but now his killers have been convicted of murder at the

Old Bailey today. Michael Adam Walley and Michael Adebolajo. As far

as verdict go, this one doesn't ring up any surprises. We've all seen the

video footage of Michael Adebolajo with blood on his hands, holding a

machete and spouting his message of hate. He admitted to the killing in

court last week and admitted the killing two police officers when he

was arrested. But what about his accomplice? 22 years old, very

little is known about him. He didn't take the chance in court to defend

himself and speak. That is why our home affairs correspondent went out

to find out what he could about the 22`year`old. He managed to track

somebody down who knew him. Michael Adebowale was being `` was the

youngest of the two men. According to his lawyer, he believed he was a

soldier on a operation. Much more is known about Michael Adebolajo. Very

little about Michael Adebowale until now. He was just a young teenager

trying to fit in. The three years, Jennifer Blake took Adebowale under

her wing. She was a support worker and was trying to divert him away

from the life of crime. He was known to be hanging around with gangs The

usual robberies, phone robberies, selling drugs. She says the

22`year`old, from Greenwich, was the quiet one, humble and easily

influenced. A shocking contrast to the person she saw on television

after the killing of this young British soldier. Lee Rigby was

literally butchered in broad daylight in a south`E. London St. We

know that in 2008, Adebowale was himself, along with two friends a

victim of a knife attack in a crack house. His friend was murdered.

According to his former support worker, it may have been a turning

point. One of his friends got stabbed, that was fatal. He was

stabbed. He literally said that he just had to lay there like he was

dead. He went under the body of his friend who was dead. At that age are

so vulnerable. Both men were brought up as Christians. Their parents

originally from Nigeria. How they met or indeed when or who

radicalised them is unclear, but Jennifer Blake believes Adebowale

might have converted to Islam while in prison for drugs offences. When

he came out of prison, I can say there was a slight change in him. He

seemed slightly bolder than he was. For most people, turning to religion

would be a positive, life changing experience. But Jason Thomas it was.

When younger, he also was involved in gang crime. Like Adebowale, he

ended up in jail and converted to Islam. He believes some prisoners

are targeted by extremists. You become numb to violence after a

while. So if you can just get this guy from robbing and stealing for

his own material needs... Then, yeah, it's easy, his accustomed to

violence already. Harry Fletcher is an expert in criminal just, spending

more than three decades as a probation officer. He explains the

dangers some gang members face. The gang members are scared, that's one

of the reasons they are in gangs, for protection. They also are

predominantly black in South London boroughs. Extremists are able to

exploit their socio` economic situation. How many times have been

been picked up by police, what is your attitude to authority, do you

feel you are discriminated against, are you getting good job

opportunities, how was your school, what kind of the state do you live

in? Lots of things to exploit. Did you see anything in him that would

give you any inkling that he could resort to such violence? Know, and I

work with so many young people. I could look at another individual and

say, yeah, you do you know what I could see he would have done

something like that or is capable of doing something like that but

Michael, no. Let's now concentrate on Michael

Adebolajo, the murderer who we saw speaking to witnesses with blood on

his hands, directly after he murdered Lee Rigby. He is somebody

who used his time at the Old Bailey last week to talk about his support

for Al`Qaeda and love for what he called his brothers and Al`Qaeda. He

is not afraid of expressing his views and opinions openly, and that

is exactly what he did in this area just days before he murdered Lee

Rigby. A short distance from here is the Linden community Hall, a hall

which I personally know very well. Nine days before the attack took

place, Michael Adebolajo was there, speaking about jihad openly. Our

reporter spoke to somebody who discussed the subject of Joe Hart

and Michael Adebolajo's views with him, shortly before the attack took

place here. This is Michael Adebolajo at a protest in London,

held by radical Muslim group. He was vocal in his belief that Western

nations were repressing Muslims Just over a week before Michael

Adebolajo killed Lee Rigby on a Woolwich Street, he was preaching

outside this community centre, after Friday prayers there. Abdullah, who

lives nearby, and is a Muslim convert, overheard him talking about

the conflict in Syria and jihad We've agreed to disguise his

identity. He said as long as there are disbelievers we can kill them.

It disturbed me. The killing of innocent people. And affiliated all

of this with Islam, so much so that I stood there and spoke to this man

Fanelli three hours. Everything every single point, I refused him,

or at least put doubt in his mind. It was only when Michael Adebolajo

went on to commit murder that Abdullah realised the true

significance of some of the things he had said. We were speaking about

the killing of soldiers or the army, we don't need to go there. Their

boys are here. Their boys are here. At that point I didn't have a clue

what he was talking about. One of his last words he said to me was, if

I don't see you now, God willing, I will see you in the next life. At

the time Abdullah considered going to be police, but he didn't even

know Michael Adebolajo's real name. He spoke to a friend who advised him

not to. He said, leave it. When you see him again, speak to him again.

The next time I saw him was on the TV. When I seen him, I nearly

fainted. We are innocent, believe me. Michael Adebolajo was previously

arrested in Kenya, allegedly trying to join terrorists in Somalia.

Abdullah himself fought in Bosnia in the 1990s, part of a jihad against

Serbian forces who were killing Muslim civilians. But he says that

you had he was involved in is completely different to Michael

Adebolajo's actions. There's no comparison whatsoever. What we'd

done and what we understood there, it was correct. As a matter of fact,

the government were all for it. The incident in Woolwich took an

emotional toll on Abdullah, wondering if there was anything more

he could have done to prevent the attack. I couldn't sleep at night. I

wasn't having nightmares, it was like... If I was to ponder and think

and continue pondering and thinking deeper, I would probably end up in a

mental institution. Abdullah says he now plans working to ensure other

British Muslims don't end up on the same as Michael Adebolajo.

The picture slowly building up of the two murderers. Joining me now is

an imam in London. At the time of the attack you condemned them very

vocally with what happened here It cost you a death threat from the

terrorist organisation Al`Shabab. Do you still stand by your condemnation

of the attack? Indeed. Justice has been served. These murderers should

be locked up for good. They've not done it in the name of Islam, they

haven't done it for me and certainly no Muslim would support it. They are

deranged, completely lunatic as far as I am concerned. I will scream

from the rooftops saying they are, they should never be tolerated in a

civilised society. You have not been frightened of the death threats that

have come your way. You'll know it's made me mope `` more bold. I

want to go out and say that Islam is a moderate religion. Where is God in

murder. Most importantly, where is Islam in murder? Nowhere. These

people are nothing to do with Islam. If what you say is true, why are we

seeing young people radicalised by Tia in London, causing death and

bringing jihad to London? Tiller these young people you are talking

about a very small in number. We need to deal with them. But our

jihad should be about creating equality in our society, fighting

against poverty, drugs abuse, etc. Let's shift their focus. Let's get

them socially responsible and engaged in politics. That's the

problem with many young people, they don't have role models, they don't

have things to do. If we invest in them in our schools in the future,

things will become better. That is it for the moment. Join me later,

because I will be bringing you a very personal perspective of what

has happened here in Woolwich. It's an area I grew up in and it's an

area where I am still local. Turning to the rest of the news now. The

Metropolitan Police has apologised to a woman who was raped in south

London, saying her ordeal might have been prevented if they had acted

earlier. The victim was assaulted in a graveyard in Orpington by a man

who had carried out a similar attack in the same place almost two years

before. Police began investigating this rapist two years earlier. Yes,

on the night of the 30th of September 2011, James Isted, 27

years old, hit a 17`year`old woman across the back of her head, drugs

into the graveyard of the Church in Orpington, where she suffers a

prolonged rape and is robbed. On the 4th of October he is arrested.

Nearly a year later he is released on bail due to lack of evidence

Then on the 7th of May this year, he targets a 27`year`old woman,

threatening her with a knife, dragging her into the same graveyard

where she is raped. It is 1:30pm, so there are eyewitnesses. They called

the police, they disturbed James Isted and arrested him nearby. We

cannot comprehend what these two women have gone through. Both had to

relive their ordeal because he pleaded not guilty. The second

victim now knows her rape could have been prevented. What has the Met

said about this? They have issued a statement saying that the

Metropolitan Police acknowledges that in this case we have made

mistakes and have apologised to the victim of the second offence. At

certain actions being taken earlier, a second offence may have been

prevented. An internal investigation continues. Looking at the wider

issue here, we know that severe police failings allowed two serial

rapist, John Warboys and Kirk Green, to strike. Is the Orpington case an

isolated failure or another example of a systemic problem?

How some developers in London or avoiding building in prime locations

by handing money over to councils. A Freedome Of Information enquiry for

BBC London has revealed in the last two years there has been a big leap

in the money developers are paying councils to exempt them from these

obligations. Developers can chuck tonnes of

money. This is what developers present to the council to say we

can't afford this. This community activist keeps his best to keep tabs

on the buildings springing up along the South bank. Like this one, there

will be 269 Apartments, but none will be affordable. Instead,

developers have promised ?29 million to the local council to use for

cheaper housing elsewhere. We fought for 40 years to have a mixed

environment community, the people to live, work and play here. We need

affordable housing. In Bermondsey, we are showing where Southwark is

spending some of the money. Here, they can build more affordable

homes. We have 20,000 people on our waiting list. Waiting for a long

time for an affordable home. The reality is we can build to council

homes for everyone home we would have in a prime development. There

has been a sharp rise in so`called commuted payments, according to

research. Between 2008 and 2011 London councils received ?75

million. In the last two years, that has risen to ?132 million. That is

leading to gentrification. In central London, there are not as

many affordable homes. Westminster Council has received ?60 million

over the last five years. Some parts of this city have high land values

and it wouldn't work for developers to put houses there. I can get more

for my money by putting houses somewhere where land value is

cheaper. Now, it is the only game in town, and a tale of two cities

further apart. 100 cyclists took part in a protest

outside Boxall tube station demanding safety. The council says

it does plan to build more segregated lanes.

The London Mayor is calling for the trial of cameras on police officers

to be rolled out across London. Sutton is the first bar in the

council to test the scheme where officers on the beat where small

cameras to tackle anti`social behaviour and record responses to

instances of domestic violence. The start of a shift at Sutton

police station. Part of the kit now is a camera which records pictures

and sound. They have been on trial in Sutton. Today, Boris Johnson paid

a visit. He said he would like them to be issued across London. I think

it is massively beneficial for the criminal justice system to have

real`time evidence about what has actually happened. This is the

camera working now, in Sutton. The picture is very clear. These are

pictures from a police officer searching for drugs. And it has

other uses. With disorder in the town centre where police officers

have cameras and people have instantly looked at the fact we are

filming but they are doing, they have modified their behaviour. One

campaigning group says the spread of such cameras would need to be

carefully monitored. There is setting the argument that there to

be cameras when it is really depressing, a right case, but what

we don't want is every police officer having cameras rolling

constantly. They are not walking around with the camera on all the

time. They tell it on for specific purposes. When an incident happens

in the street, these days, six people will have their phones out

straightaway recording it. This is one other phone recording it, the

police have their own record. And issue may be the cost of around ?500

per camera. It wider trial across London is now likely.

Returning to our top story. And two men have been found guilty

of murdering the soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich in May. Let's once again

join our reporter, Asad Ahmad. In the 17 years I have worked here,

I have been lucky enough to report from all over London, Britain and

around the world. I have never reported on a story which has been

so hard to cover personally than this one. This murder took place on

my doorstep in an area I know better than any other area around the

world. I was asked to come here as it will put up while also being a

look `` to come here as a reporter was also being a local myself. Seven

months on, how has Woolwich managed to recover? Instead of speaking to

community leaders, I went into the town centre to speak to anyone I

found, ordinary people from Woolwich. Come with me now to find

out what was said. Another ordinary day at the end of

an extraordinary year in Woolwich. Also known as the Royal Arsenal for

its historic past in producing weapons for the Armed Forces, you

may think this challenge of dealing with the murder of Lee Rigby could

be the challenge that finally splits the community apart. But don't be

fooled, this is an area which has been instrumental in fighting

battles for over 250 years. As you might expect, the people here are no

pushover. I got speaking to locals in the town centre, and time and

again, there was a sense of pride with other people Woolwich had dealt

with the difficulties. It is a working`class area where people

don't want other people to think badly of them. There are some really

good people here. That is reflected with the riots happening and what

happened to Lee Rigby. It is just a sense of spirit. You have to carry

on. What may surprise many people from outside the area is how that

spirit to carry on is evident when you speak to some young people in

Woolwich. I got talking to this group walking past when I stop them

to their views. Where we are from, we feel safe. But other people might

not. Other people think people get killed him, but it's not that bad.

What gave Woolwich a bad name was the riots. And for that to get added

on top didn't help the image. Nearby, the manager of an

independent coffee shop which uses local produce whenever it can. He

told me how he thinks many in the area have mentally come to terms

with what happened. We will take it as a bad thing which happened, like

a bad dream. People will try to think of good things, there are a

lot of good things in Woolwich. A few minutes away from the town

centre is where the brutal events in native place. It is also where three

local women showed extraordinary courage. This is the exact spot

where the so`called angels of Woolwich sat with Fusilier Lee Rigby

as he lay dying in his final moments. And confronted his

killers. Those images were sent all around the world and it left the

people of Woolwich proud of those women, because they had shown the

spirit and bravery of the area. It is great that the people of Woolwich

rallied together and people did help. I genuinely think that man is

generally good and will help another human being in distress. Of course,

the vicious murder here will never be forgotten, but with the people of

Woolwich very much looking forward, there is a real sense of community

and hope which is being kept alive. I joined now by the local MP Nick

Raynsford. We had lots of positive feelings in Woolwich. There was a

rise in Islam are phobic tax after the death. The mosque here was not

attacked, it was not subject to the awful attacks which occurred

elsewhere. The community held together. There was a strong sense

of people from all religions including the Muslims, that we did

not want to allow this dreadful incident to damage the very good

community relations that have characterised this area. That has

held in the last seven months. I spit you seven months ago.

Everything seemed to be going `` I spoke to use seven months ago and

everyone seemed to be working well together.

This evening, I was at a meeting with community leaders, to ensure

there was reassured 's `` reassurance that those who are

nervous, that we were working together. I am pleased to say there

is that strong sense of people working together to protect our

community. Thank you. That is the situation in Woolwich. Hopefully a

positive chapter will now open in the area.

Time now for the weather. Some difficult weather again this

evening but it won't last as long. This is the radar. This is the

problem heading our way. These are down to rain. But having said that,

mixed in with that, there could be some pale and even some wet snow.

The other possibility is scored the wins, as the wet, wintry mix makes

its way across the capital `` squally winds.

Don't be surprised if you hear a rumble of thunder. By 11pm, the

skies were clear and temperatures tumbling. It is likely to turn icy

on untreated roads and pavements. It looks as if the worst that could be

to the north west of London which is why there is a Met Office weather

warning. A crisp start tomorrow lots of sunshine in the morning

Somewhat cloudier skies by the afternoon. It should be dried during

daylight hours for most of us at least, temperatures getting up to 10

Celsius. Then, once it gets dark, the winds will build. The rain will

stop to fall. As we go through tomorrow night into Saturday, the

rain will become more widespread. More persistent. Quite heavy as

well. Not particularly cold tomorrow night. But the rainfall totals will

start to stack up. We may have some of this during Saturday. Some local

flooding is on the cards. Again a weather warning in place that.

Sunday, on the other hand, dry, bright and breezy. If you are

heading out to the shops to do some of that last`minute Christmas

shopping, you could get wet, because there is always the possibility of

some showers around on Sunday. The main headlines: Two men have

been found guilty of the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby near Woolwich

Barracks in May. A jury took just 90 minutes to reach

a verdict on Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. The soldier's

family said no one should have to go through what they'd been through.

The judge praised their dignity for sitting through days of harrowing

evidence. You can see more on that and the other main stories on our

website. We will be back later during the ten o'clock News. From

all of us here, good night. Me and Alan don't always

play by the rules. I think perhaps we should

never mention it again. I'm getting wed again. I hope that's

all right. Ready when you are, kid.