Stephen Lawrence's mother suggests police should stop investigating her son's murder
Baroness Lawrence said police should be ‘honest’ and shelve the inquiry if – as she suspects – they have no more worthwhile leads to investigate
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Stephen Lawrence’s mother Doreen has suggested the continuing police investigation into her son’s 1993 murder should be closed.
Baroness Lawrence said police should be “honest” and shelve the inquiry if – as she suspects – they have no more worthwhile leads to investigate.
In an interview marking the 25th anniversary of her 18-year-old son’s death at the hands of a gang of racist thugs in Eltham, south-east London, Lady Lawrence suggested it made no sense to continue spending taxpayers’ money on the investigation if it now has no hope of succeeding.
She told the Daily Mail she had met the Scotland Yard officers working on the case at the end of February and said she didn’t think they had a single significant lead to go on.
Lady Lawrence said: “I don’t think they have any more lines of inquiry. They say they’re carrying on the investigation, but carrying on doing what? If they’ve come to the end, they should be honest say they’ve come to an end and stop.
“I think they’re carrying on pretending everything’s fine because they don’t want to hear what I’ll say if it is stopped.”
It has long been accepted that Stephen was stabbed to death by a group of up to six white men in an unprovoked racist attack as he waited at a bus stop with a friend on 22 April 1993. But to date, only two people have been convicted of murder, after a 2012 trial.
Lady Lawrence, who has campaigned tirelessly to bring all the killers to justice, said: “As Stephen’s mother, I think all of the gang should be behind bars spending time for murder.
“But it’s six years now since those two convictions and I’m very conscious that the money for the investigation is coming out of the public purse.
“Had the police done their job properly in the first place we wouldn’t be here. But they were incompetent and racist. They are the reason we are here today.”
Failings in the initial 1993 police investigation led to the suspects being released because the Crown Prosecution Service ruled there was insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.
It took until 2012 and the discovery of new DNA and fibre evidence before Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty of murder under joint enterprise and jailed for life.
In 1999, in a watershed for the British justice system, Sir William Macpherson’s inquiry into the initial murder investigation found that the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist.
Over the years there have been a succession of attempts to secure justice for Stephen Lawrence.
Stephen’s parents Neville Lawrence and Lady Lawrence launched a failed private prosecution against Dobson, Norris and other suspects in the case in 1994.
Then, in 1996, a murder trial at the Old Bailey against Dobson and two other defendants collapsed after identification evidence was ruled inadmissible.
At a 1997 inquest, a jury concluded Stephen was “unlawfully killed by five white youths”.
The current investigation into the murder has involved the offer of a reward of up to £20,000 for details leading to a successful prosecution and a televised Crimewatch reconstruction of the attack.
The 25th anniversary of Stephen’s death will be marked with a memorial service and a concert, but Lady Lawrence, 65, said she needed to “draw a line” under some aspects of her campaigning.
She said: “I can’t keep doing this. I just want time for me – time to reflect.
“I’ve been on the go for 25 years. I haven’t stopped. I don’t think I’ve even completely grieved for Stephen.
“If you spend 25 years fighting for justice, where do you find the time? There isn’t any. You pick up your grief and put it down; pick it up and put it down because there is always something you need to do.”
She added that the 2012 convictions of Dobson and Norris had lessened some of the anger she feels.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence remains in an active phase. The Met continues to hold regular meetings to update the family.”