Lee Rigby’s mother says the Ministry of Defence offered her family ‘no support’

The mother of Lee Rigby has accused the Ministry of Defence of failing to offer support to her family.

Fusilier Rigby, 25, was murdered in May 2013 by two Islamic extremists while off duty in Woolwich, south London.

His mother, Lyn (pictured above), told BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme on Tuesday that her family has not heard from the MoD since his funeral.

‘We never got the support, we were classed as a non-dependent family of Lee’s so we weren’t classed as Lee’s family,’ she said.

‘The next of kin get looked after, they get the support and everything else. We never got the counselling, we got that from the actual victim support.’

Ms Rigby, who appeared with Lee’s 16-year-old sister, Courtney, also said that the main charities ‘didn’t want to know’ about her family’s plight.

‘We had so much press and media outside the door and we couldn’t get together as a family,’ she said.

‘We couldn’t grieve together as a family. None of the charities really wanted to get involved with us and get us away somewhere quiet. There are a lot of parents and siblings out there going through the same as us that are struggling.’

She added: ‘I think it’s pretty disgusting. There are a lot of mums and dads and their siblings that are still out there that have lost loved ones in Iraq or Afghanistan that still don’t get the support and still don’t get counselling.

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‘We were lucky in a way because we did get a little bit of support up to Lee’s funeral [from the MoD], but after the funeral we got nothing.’

She said the MoD had failed to support her family, who live in Manchester, both financially and emotionally, saying that she sometimes skipped meals so her partner and children can eat.

‘We do struggle from day to day to put food in the kids’ mouths,’ she said.

‘People think because Lee was murdered we’re millionaires and we’ve got thousands in the bank, but we’ve not got a penny.’

Ms Rigby said her family had been celebrating her son’s life on the fourth anniversary of his death, May 22, when they heard the news about the terror attack at the Manchester Arena that same evening.

She said she had expected some kind of contact from the MoD following the attack at an Ariana Grande concert, in which 22 people were killed.

‘We really did think we would get a phone call just to make sure we were okay,’ she said.

Ms Rigby added that the attacks on London Bridge earlier this month, in which eight people were killed, felt like a repeat of what happened to her son.

Fusilier Rigby was run over by two men in a car before they attacked him with knives and a cleaver.

His murderers, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, are serving life sentences in prison.

‘I do get angry, but you can’t give in to these people. You can’t let them win,’ said Ms Rigby.

She and her partner have set up a charity in their son’s name and are renovating a house in Staffordshire which will serve as a retreat for the families of soldiers who have been killed.

‘Lee will be proud up there of what we’re doing,’ she said. ‘We’re doing this for Lee to help the vulnerable and those who need it. I miss him so much every single day.’

An MoD spokesman said: ‘We do our utmost to support armed forces’ families that have lost loved ones, providing trained visiting officers who offer guidance on accessing help as well as a range of support from individual regiments, including financial aid. Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Drummer Lee Rigby.”