By Elliott West
“One of the highest-profile unsolved racially motivated murders”.
The Independent
Introduction
The murder of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence while waiting for a bus in Eltham in 1993 was one of the most appalling knife killings that this country has ever seen. The death sparked nationwide grief and a subsequent public outcry against the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the case. A murder that highlighted again a prevalent level of racism in the British police force with a large number of people calling it institutionally racist and incompetent. Stephen had spent the day at Blackheath Bluecoat School. After school, he then travelled by bus to his uncle’s house in Grove Park. Joined there by his friend Duwayne Brooks, the pair played video games, leaving at 10 pm.
After realising that the 286 bus would get them home late, they decided to get off at Well Hall Road to switch to a 122 or 161 bus. While waiting for a bus, Stephen decided to walk to the junction of Dickson Road to see if he could see a bus coming, leaving Duwayne waiting at the bus stop. As he waited, Brooks saw a group of six white youths crossing Rochester Way. They then walked towards the bus stop with one of them calling out to Lawrence to ask if he had seen the bus. Then like a swarm of bees, they descended on Stephen, shouting racially abusive comments as they approached. They then pinned him to the ground and started stabbing him. Lawrence received stab wounds to his right collarbone and left shoulder, penetrating a lung. The attackers then ran away but as Brooks and Lawrence tried to run, Stephen collapsed 150 metres from the scene and bled to death. A feat that was amazing in itself and it was only Lawrence’s physical fitness that allowed him to run so far with life-threatening injuries.
The Aftermath
After his death, five of the attacking males, Gary Dobson, brothers Neil and Jamie Acort, Luke Knight and David Norris we’re due to appear in court in 1994 after the Lawrence family brought a private prosecution against the five, hiring Michael Mansfield QC as their barrister. However, just before the trial, two of the accused, Jamie Acort and David Norris, their charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. The three other suspects were acquitted of murder when tried at the Central Criminal Court in April 1996. A judgment that was reached due to the identification evidence given by Duwayne Jones was deemed unreliable by the judge, Mr Justice Curtis.
However, an inquest into the death of Stephen Lawrence in 1997, concluded that all five men were guilty of Stephen’s murder, calling it an unlawful killing. A judgment was reached after just thirty minutes of deliberation. All five refused to answer any questions during the inquest. Yet this verdict went beyond their remittance. Despite a public inquiry in 1997 ( Macpherson Report), the only aspect of the case that changed was the law was changed in 2005 so those accused of murder could no longer not be tried due to double jeopardy. Two of the accused, David Norris and Neil Acourt were jailed in 2002 for a separate offence, the racially aggravated harassment of a police officer, a plainclothes black officer.
The Sixth Man
“There’s no doubt and I’m extremely confident other people at the bus stop would have picked him out and this case would have been solved then.”
Duwayne Brooks
Thirty years after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, new evidence has come to light with Duwayne Brooks telling the Sunday Mirror that he could have identified a sixth suspect if he had been given the opportunity in a line-up. This was Matthew White who died in 2021. White was arrested in 2000 and 2013 but on both occasions he was released because there was no realistic prospect of conviction. The police put him in a witness bracket instead of being seen as a suspect. Lawrence’s mother, Doreen has also been highly critical, saying that sanctions should have been taken out against these police officers who failed to investigate White.
Afterthoughts
Stephen Lawrence’s murder is horrific in all aspects and the fact that thirty years later, no one has been imprisoned for his murder is mind-boggling. I can’t begin to imagine what his parents Doreen and Neville have had to go through, losing their son, living in limbo and still having had no justice for his murder. This murder caused a divorce and for Neville to return to Jamaica to bury his son and to live, vowing never to live in the UK again. The Metropolitan Police made a catalogue of errors when investigating this case, taking too long to search properties and all five suspects were only ever arrested and not charged. It really beggars belief that the police failed on so many counts and even now in 2023, the Metropolitan Police is still being branded systemically racist. Lessons clearly have yet to be learned with a racist culture still deep set in the police force. Knife crime had risen in London since Stephen’s brutal murder and no one has a clear plan of how to reduce knife crime and ultimately prevent more innocent people from losing their lives.
