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Lee Rigby's killers were condemned to life in prison behind bars today despite being absent for the sentencing following a brawl with guards.

Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, were dragged back down to the cells of the Old Bailey after a violent outburst broke out in the dock.

Both men shouted at Mr Justice Sweeney in protest at his remarks and were pinned to the ground by several security guards.

The screamed "Allah Akbar", which means 'God is great', as they were hauled from the court.

Adebolajo may die behind bars after receiving a whole-life tariff for the brutal murder.

This follows a key ruling at the Court of Appeal which backed the legality of whole life terms where prisoners can expect to die in jail.

His accomplice Adebowale was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 45 years.

Fusilier Rigby's family sobbed as the killers shouted across the historic courtroom, with Adebolajo shouting Allahu Akbhar, and Adebowale calling out "that's a lie" and "it's not a betrayal of Islam" as the judge told them they had been radicalised.

The judge said the pair's behaviour was "sickening and pitiless", and that Adebolajo had no hope of rehabilitation.

"Your sickening and pitiless conduct was in stark contrast to the compassion and bravery shown by the various women at the scene who tended to Lee Rigby's body and challenged what you had done and said."

The struggle in the dock was triggered when the killers, both wearing Islamic robes, reacted angrily to comments that Mr Justice Sweeney made about their extremist beliefs.

He told them: "You each converted to Islam some years ago. Thereafter you were radicalised and each became an extremist, espousing views which, as has been said elsewhere, are a betrayal of Islam."

Adebowale protested that this was a lie, ranting about America and Britain, and his accomplice joined in, screaming "allahu akbar" and hurling abuse at the prison guards who grappled him to the ground.

Both men were grabbed around the face as guards struggled to control them, and taken down to the cells.

The soldier's family were visibly distressed, and one relative needed medical treatment.

The British Muslim converts ran Fusilier Rigby down in a car before hacking him to death with a meat cleaver and knives in a frenzied attack.

The two men then dumped Lee's body in the middle of the road near Woolwich Barracks in south east London on May 22 last year.

Adebolajo's defending barrister David Gottlieb argued against his client being handed a whole-life order, with no hope of parole.

Mr Gottlieb said: "He should not in these circumstances be deprived of any hope of release."

The barrister said Adebolajo was "not someone incapable of change without proper encouragement".

Adebolajo, who has two children and four stepchildren, did not intend to physically injure anyone other than the victim, he said.

Mr Gottlieb went on: "There's no evidence that the defendants were part of a wider network or cell or support group."

While the killing of a British soldier had caused anger, Mr Gottlieb said, his murder can not be likened to a mass casualty event like the 7/7 attacks in London.

Fusilier Rigby's murder shares characteristics of a hate crime or the killing of a police officer, more than a murder to advance a political cause, Mr Gottlieb said.

The barrister said it was accepted the defendants ran the soldier over in a car to render him unconscious.

Nor is there any evidence they deliberately mutilated Fusilier Rigby's body, he added.

"There's evidence he can be rehabilitated now, not much evidence but some evidence," Mr Gottlieb said.

Abbas Lakha QC, for Adebowale, said that the 22-year-old should not be sentenced to die behind bars "unless the court is driven to the conclusion without any doubt at all that it is a just sentence".

He cited the case of Pavlo Lapshyn, who was also sentenced by Mr Justice Sweeney for the racist murder of Mohammed Saleem and a series of mosque bombings, but escaped a whole life term.

Mr Lakha said: "There was no evidence they were part of a larger organisation or group, nor was there any evidence that in carrying out the act of the killing that they did any more than what they believed was the command of God, certainly not in furtherance of a religious or ideological cause supported by a group that they were members of."

The court heard that the pair did not plan to kill anyone else, having been acquitted of a count each of attempted murder of a police officer, and that Adebowale's relatively young age should be taken into account.

"He is still a young man, we respectfully submit that his age is a significant mitigating factor which must be borne in mind," Mr Lakha said.

He also told the court that psychiatric problems that Adebowale has suffered, while not a defence, should be taken into consideration when passing sentence, and that although the murder was a joint enterprise the pair should be sentenced as individuals.

Adebolajo, a married father of six, and Adebowale lay in wait near Woolwich Barracks and picked 25-year-old Rigby to kill after assuming he was a soldier because he was wearing a Help for Heroes hooded top and carrying a camouflage rucksack.

After driving into the young father in their Vauxhall Tigra, the killers - who had armed themselves with eight knives, including a meat cleaver and a five-piece set bought by Adebolajo the previous day - butchered him in the street in front of horrified onlookers.

One witness described their actions, yards from Mulgrave Primary School, as being "like a butcher attacking a joint of meat".

The jury of eight women and four men sat through weeks of evidence including shocking footage of Adebolajo with bloodied hands confessing to the killing and claiming his actions were "an eye for an eye".

Both men were shot by police in dramatic scenes captured by CCTV.

Adebolajo was seen dropping the meat cleaver as he sprinted across the road towards a police car, collapsing to the ground when he was shot.

Adebowale, who moved along a wall to draw fire from the officers, was seen folding over as he was shot by one of three armed officers.

Both men asked to be called by their adopted Islamic names in court - Adebolajo as Mujahid Abu Hamza, and Adebowale as Ismail Ibn Abdullah - and claimed they carried out the murder because they were "soldiers of Allah".

The jury was told this was no defence in law to the charge.

The men were cleared of the attempted murder of a police officer, and had previously admitted possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.