One of the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby showed signs of links to radical Islam while at university, an inquiry found.
Michael Adebolajo tried to persuade a fellow undergraduate to withdraw an article for a University of Greenwich student magazine that accused the militant group Hizb ut-Tahrir of trying to groom Muslim students.
Another man, who appeared not to be a student, accompanied Adebolajo to a “tense” meeting on campus with the article’s author, at which they urged him to write a second piece renouncing his views. He refused.
The original article attacked a group called Stop Islamophobia, which sought to overturn a ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir speakers at the university, which Adebolajo attended from 2003 to 2005 before dropping out.
An inquiry was ordered by the university after Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale attacked and killed Fusilier Rigby outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, south London, in May 2013.
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While the inquiry found that there was no evidence that the university or its societies contributed to Adebolajo’s radicalisation, it heard from only 14 people. Several others refused to give evidence and many could not be traced.
The report also presented an unflattering picture of the university’s admissions and its care of undergraduates. Adebolajo’s tutor, who should have contacted a failing student, told the panel he had no recollection of him.