The shattered fiancee of murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby has spoken of her daily battle to cope with her devastating loss.
Aimee West was 3,500 miles away in Afghanistan when she learned the awful news that two Islamic extremists had hacked the 25-year-old to death in the street.
Michael Adebolago received a whole life term, while Michael Adebowale was jailed for a minimum of 45 years for the attack near Woolwich Barracks in south-east London on May 22 last year.
Heartbroken Miss West said: “I had a lot of therapy after this happened and the one thing that stuck with me was that if I think about them, if I have any emotions towards them, they’ve won.
“They haven’t just killed Lee, they’ve killed me as well. And I refuse to let them do that.
“It’s as if I’m standing on the outside looking in. I’ve mentally detached myself to be able to cope.”
Fusilier Rigby’s killers claimed to be “soldiers of Allah” and said they were motivated to carry out the slaughter by the plight of Muslims abroad. The British-born pair mowed the dad-of-one down in a car as he was walking towards the barracks wearing a Help for Heroes hoodie.
Following his death, Miss West quit the Army and has returned to university to study law. Last week, it emerged internet service providers did not raise the alarm about extreme messages posted by one of Fusilier Rigby’s killers six months before his death.
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