Lee Rigby killer Michael Adebowale in hospital with Covid-19

One of Fusilier Lee Rigby's killers is seriously ill in hospital with Covid-19, the BBC has learned.

Michael Adebowale is serving a 45-year jail sentence for murdering Fusilier Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London, in May 2013.

Adebowale was removed from Broadmoor last week following a deterioration in his condition after he contracted Covid-19.

The 29-year-old is not in intensive care or on a ventilator.

The Sun reported Adebowale tested positive for coronavirus a fortnight ago.

Adebowale, who now uses the name Ismaail Kuti, and his fellow killer Michael Adebolajo, 36, drove into Fusilier Rigby with a car before hacking him to death near Woolwich Barracks in 2013.

Fusilier Rigby died as a result of multiple cut and stab wounds following the attack fuelled by Adebowale and Adebolajo's extremist beliefs.

The killing was described as a "betrayal of Islam" at their murder trial in 2014.

Adebolajo had claimed he was a "soldier of Allah" and the killing was an act of war.

In a police interview Adebolajo said he and Adebowale decided to lie in wait near the barracks and targeted Fusilier Rigby because he was wearing a Help for Heroes hooded top and carrying a camouflage rucksack.

Adebolajo then gave a witness a handwritten letter containing a speech about fighting "Allah's enemies" and bringing "carnage" to London's streets.

The murder was widely condemned by the then Prime Minister David Cameron and the Met's Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick.