Stephen Lawrence was a young, A-Level student who was brutally murdered in a racially motivated attack on 22 April 1993. His killers were never brought to justice because of a series of failings and what was later blamed on the ‘institutional racism’ of the police involved.
The suspects, anywhere between 4–6 white males, jumped Stephen and his friend Duwayne Brooks at a bus stop in South-East London. Stephen was stabbed twice, in the chest and arm, with both wounds severing auxillary arteries. Although he managed to escape, he ran 119 metres before he collapsed and died.
Neil Acourt, then 17, and Luke Knight, who was 16, were the two initially charged with the murder but the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case after citing lack of evidence.
Stephen Lawrence’s family initiated a private prosecution against the original two suspects along with three others. The first two suspects again had the charges against them dropped, and the judge acquitted the remaining three after ruling Duwayne Brooks’ identification of them as inadmissible.
On 14 February 1997, the Daily Mail newspaper labelled all five of those believed to have attacked and killed Stephen "murderers", challenging them to sue the newspaper for libel if they were wrong. The headline read "Murderers: The Mail accuses these men of killing. If we are wrong, let them sue us." Underneath this headline appeared pictures of Gary Dobson, Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight, and David Norris. To date, the men have not sued, but they have used appearances in the media to protest their innocence. The Attorney General later cleared the Daily Mail of contempt of court.
The Lawrence case influenced the Criminal Justice Act 2003, which abolished the previously strict prohibition against double jeopardy, and allowed retrials if there is 'new and compelling evidence'. As of 2010, no retrials have taken place for Stephen’s murder.
No one has been convicted of Stephen Lawrence's murder. The suspected killers, all but one now possessing additional police records, are at large and detailed on the Mail website.
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