Stephen Lawrence's dad believes 'one man holds key to nailing all my son's killers'
The father of Stephen Lawrence has said he believes one of the thugs behind his son's death "holds the key" to nailing the rest of the killers - after he finally confessed to being involved in the murder. Neville Lawrence is preparing to watch David Norris give evidence at his public parole hearing next week.
In March it emerged that 48-year-old Norris has admitted for the first time in 32 years to being in the gang of five or six youths that killed Stephen while shouting: 'What, what n*****?' He had previously always denied having anything to do with the knife attack on the 18-year-old student.
The teenager was fatally attacked at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, on April 22, 1993. Mr Lawrence said: 'I just hope that whatever he says can be used as evidence against the rest. My message to him would be, 'You have served so many years in prison, you've known what you did was wrong'.
"'You refused to give the information in the early days about all the other boys that were involved. I need you to say exactly who was there with you that night because we now know that you were there'. I want to hear if he is genuinely sorry about what he did and his part in taking my son's life. I want to hear the reason he gives for doing that.'
The Mirror reports the Lawrence family fought for justice after they were repeatedly failed by the Metropolitan Police who bungled the investigation and spied on their campaign. It took until 2012 for Norris and Gary Dobson, 49, to be convicted of murder. The rest remained free and the investigation was closed in 2020.
With Norris' minimum sentence coming to an end he is entitled to be considered for release. Mr Lawrence, 83, said: 'If I was part of that parole board he would have to genuinely tell me that he's completely changed his views about seeing people on the street. Would he pass a Black person and call them a n***** or something like that still? Has he changed his attitude towards others?
'That's one of the main things I would like to know from him.' Mr Lawrence and ex-wife Baroness Doreen Lawrence were let down by detectives who failed to arrest suspects despite having their names within hours of the attack. The then Labour government granted the family a public inquiry and the Macpherson report delivered damning findings.
Dobson is serving life with a minimum of 15 years and two months. Norris was sentenced to 14 years, three months. Mr Lawrence said: 'I feel it's very unfair that these people who took my son's life 32 years ago are going to be able to come out and walk up and down like an everyday person.
'My son will never be able to do that because he's dead and it's because of these people that robbed me of my son.' A report by Baroness Louise Casey two years ago found the Met guilty of institutional racism, sexism and homophobia – reflecting the conclusions of the 1999 Macpherson report.
Met chief Sir Mark Rowley said last week that it was 'shameful' that black boys in London were more likely to die by 18 than white boys. Mr Lawrence, who has been awarded an OBE and honorary doctorate in law, said of his comments: 'Well, he's always talking and saying things. We need action, stop talking and do the action.
'Over the years even in the Black police they don't get the chance to do the jobs they were supposed to do. They are being sidelined all of the time as far as I can remember before even Steve was murdered. They don't get the chance. There are good Black officers I know that have been persecuted over years that eventually have had to leave the force."
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The Lawrences expressed their thanks to the former Detective Chief Inspector whose probe led to Dobson and Norris being jailed. And we can reveal that the ex-officer, Clive Driscoll, is working as an adviser on a review of the case headed by the College of Policing. It is examining if any leads have been missed since he left the force.
Mr Driscoll had been optimistic charges would be brought against more of the gang but was told to retire by the Met in 2014. The retired police chief, portrayed by Steve Coogan in 2021 ITV drama Stephen, said two years ago: 'I've always felt there were lines of inquiry that could have been pursued.'
Mr Lawrence said: 'I am glad that the review has now started and hope they come up with something that secures further justice for my son.' Mr Lawrence spoke to us at the Kingston Race and Equalities Council in South West London. Its CEO John Azah said: 'They should have done the decent thing and let him know that they had agreed the terms of reference for the review.
"It's quite disgusting that they continue to treat him with the disdain they have shown to him since the murder of his son 32 years ago.' Mr Lawrence said of Norris: 'He holds all of the key evidence because he was part of the people who were there.' He went on trial at the Old Bailey.
During questioning by prosecutor Mark Ellison QC, the thug was repeatedly asked what he had been doing when the teenager was killed, Norris said: 'You are accusing me of murder. I am an innocent man.' At the time of the killing Norris was 16 and living four miles from the scene with his mum and gangster dad Clifford in Chislehurst.
He was captured in a police surveillance video describing how he would kill Black people, those of Pakistani origin and police officers. Norris said in a clip shown at his trial: 'I'd go down Catford and places like that, I am telling you now, with two sub-machine guns. He talked about torturing a Black person and setting them alight.
He said: 'I'd blow their two arms and legs off and say, 'Go on, you can swim home now'.' His lawyers opposed having this month's parole hearing – listed for July 30 and 31 – in public. But an application from the media was backed by Neville and Doreen. Norris was caught in 2022 taking selfies on a mobile phone in prison and bragging he would be free in two years.
In a social media post apparently sent from jail, the killer wrote that he was 'buzzing' after learning he would be up for parole He added: 'Get that party sorted girls 'cos I [will] be there soon.' Inmates are banned from having mobiles in cells and breaches can result in an extra two years inside. Stephen was stabbed to death as he waited for a bus with pal Duwayne Brooks, now 50.
Brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt were accused of being in the gang and have served time for drug dealing. Another, Luke Knight, remained free. All deny involvement. The sixth suspect was Matthew White, who died at 50 in 2021. He was named for the first time two years later by the BBC who exposed a series of police failings relating to him.
The CPS ruled last year that four officers involved in the botched Met probe would not face charges. A Met spokesman said: 'Our objective remains to achieve the arrest, prosecution and conviction of all of those responsible for Stephen's murder. We believe all viable lines of enquiry had been exhausted by the time the last investigation was closed in 2020.
"We are approaching the independent review with a completely open mind and will give it our full backing to identify any missed opportunities from the past 10 years. The review, which is being led by the College of Policing, is now progressing following the agreement of its terms with Baroness Lawrence.'
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Mrs Minihane says: 'The day after that trouble I went on our Facebook group – there's about 700 of us – and said we are never going to win if we have more protests like that. We need to change the narrative. So we ordered a batch of T-shirts saying 'We Are The Children's Voice'. And we are going to show that this problem is much worse than people think it is.' She talks of repeated incidents of women being pestered while jogging or walking their dogs and recounts the story of a friend, a mother of four girls. Her 15-year-old, she said, was chased on the local common by a man who, she says, was living at The Bell. 'She told the police, who did nothing at first,' says Mrs Minihane. 'When she went back again, they told her to be careful. They said: 'Remember what happened to those protesters after Southport.' But we're not putting up with that any more.' I later verify the story with the girl's mother. Mr Farage explains that what Mrs Minihane is doing in Epping reflects a broader trend. 'The boats issue is increasingly becoming a female issue. Mums for Reform, call it what you will, is a real thing,' he says, pointing to this month's Tory-to-Reform defections of Laura Anne Jones, a member of the Welsh Senedd, and Westminster city councillor, Laila Cunningham, along with a marked shift in the party's membership. Having been 58 per cent male and 42 per cent female at the last election, he says, it is now 50:50. It's hard to see what more the Tory-run council can do. All are as one when it comes to the failings of the Home Office, which commandeered the hotel without consulting the locals first. 'We are speaking to the Home Office on a regular basis. I have to say to you, at the present time, they have not been overly co-operative,' council leader Chris Whitbread tells the meeting. Holly Whitbread, his fellow Tory councillor (and daughter), is more forthright: 'It is my firm belief that the Government is now treating our community with contempt. Contempt for local democracy, contempt for public safety, contempt for our town which deserves better than this.' The hotel has been the trigger for plenty of other complaints, too. Hairdresser Barry Seago tells me that today alone he has had five cancellations from customers worried about trouble in the town. Locals point to the trouble they have in finding an NHS dentist – hence their fury when they saw a mobile dental unit turn up at The Bell. This week has also seen protests an hour away at Canary Wharf, where the Home Office has taken over the vast Britannia International Hotel, which has 531 bedrooms, as a new accommodation centre. I remember the days when my old newspaper used to hold (rather dreary) office parties there. It might be more Alan Partridge than The Ritz but it's not cheap. As Whitehall maintains its customary reluctance to discuss these things, rumours are rampant that migrants will be housed three to a room, suggesting a new population of 1,500 predominantly young, undocumented adult men with nothing to do. Here, I meet a small group of protesters in the rain, all native East Enders who live around here. Once again, they are happy to be identified. 'You've got working people round here using food banks – my Mum runs one – and then people are being put up here on three square meals a day and we don't know anything about who they are,' says Ben Cavanagh, 45, a scaffolder and father of three. Fellow scaffolder Matthew John-Lewis, 44, says tensions have gone off the scale. 'I'm busting my arse off to pay taxes for all this. I can barely afford the rent on a two-bedroom flat and this lot get given everything,' argues the father of four children. He adds that he does not want his children to be targeted by gangs of bored young men who 'don't understand' British culture. 'And don't anyone dare call us racist. My family were immigrants and I'm three-quarters black,' he says. The hefty police presence here and the even bigger one in Epping are an acknowledgement that we are at a very ugly tipping point. With another Stand Up To Racism protest against the residents of Epping – or 'organised Nazis' as they call them – planned for Sunday, further outbreaks of violence are no longer a question of if – but when.
