Stephen Lawrence murder investigation set to close after police admit they have no leads
Scotland Yard 25-year probe ‘unlikely to progress further’ unless new information comes to light
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Scotland Yard is considering closing its investigation into Stephen Lawrence’s murder after admitting it has no leads left to pursue.
London’s Metropolitan Police admitted the probe was “unlikely to progress further” unless detectives receive new information.
Stephen’s mother Doreen Lawrence suggested last week that the investigation into the 1993 killing should close.
His father Neville Lawrence said he remained hopeful that publicity around the 25th anniversary of his son’s murder, as well as a BBC documentary, would drive a crucial witness to come forward.
Stephen, 18, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, on 22 April 1993.
At least five white youths took part in the killing but only two have been convicted, following a trial in 2012, despite the case becoming one of the most high-profile murders in British criminal history.
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: “Despite previous public appeals, rigorous pursuit of all remaining lines of enquiry, numerous reviews and every possible advance in forensic techniques, the Met investigation team is now at a stage where without new information the investigation is unlikely to progress further, and this was explained to the family earlier this year.”
Failings in the initial police investigation in 1993 led to Stephen’s suspected killers being freed after the Crown Prosecution Service ruled there was insufficient evidence to secure a conviction.
It took the discovery of new DNA evidence and changes in the law for Gary Dobson and David Norris to be found guilty of murder nine years later and jailed for life.
Stephen’s mother has campaigned tirelessly to bring all her son’s killers to justice, and her 25-year fight led to her being appointed as Labour peer in 2013.
In 1999, in a watershed for the British justice system, Sir William Macpherson’s inquiry into the initial murder probe concluded the Met was institutionally racist.
Last week Baroness Lawrence called on the force to be “honest” and close the case if detectives had nothing left to investigate.
“I don’t think they have any more lines of inquiry,” she told the Daily Mail. “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.”
She added: “As Stephen’s mother I think all of them 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.”
Neville Lawrence said he hoped a three-part BBC documentary being broadcast to coincide with his son’s murder next week would prick the consciences of potential informants.
Speaking after the Met admitted it had no more leads, he said: “I’m hoping that somebody somewhere that may have some information might just come forward. I’m hopeful.
“The threat of anything happening to them now isn’t as great as it was in the early days. I’m pleased that [the police] tried all different options and are still trying after all these years.”
Chris Le Pere, the senior investigator in the case, said: “We understand that 25 years is a poignant anniversary of the tragedy of the murder of Stephen, and our thoughts remain very much with those who loved him, and feel his loss.
“With the approaching anniversary and airing of a documentary, Stephen: The Murder That Changed A Nation, there is still the opportunity for someone who knows what happened that night to have a conscience and come forward. I would say to you, it is never too late to do the right thing.
“We continue to speak to Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Dr Neville Lawrence to update them on the current Met position.”
There have been a succession of attempts to secure justice for Stephen.
His parents 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 Baroness 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.”