Latest news with #jointenterprise
Daily Mail
20-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Stephen Lawrence's father pleads with one of the thugs who murdered his son to reveal the names of the other gang members involved in the attack
The father of Stephen Lawrence has issued a heartfelt plea for one of his son's killers to reveal the names of all those responsible - as the convicted murderer is set to make a bid for his freedom. David Norris, 48, had always denied being involved in the 1993 murder of the teenager. But in March, it was revealed that Norris had a change of heart and 'accepted he was present at the scene.' He also admitted to punching the 18-year-old, but claimed he did not 'wield the knife' during the fatal stabbing incident at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, on April 22, 1993. Only Norris and Gary Dobson, 49, two of the original five prime suspects, were convicted in connection with Stephen's killing. Both were found guilty under the law of joint enterprise, which allows people to be convicted of murder even if they did not inflict the fatal blow. It has never been proven who stabbed Stephen, who suffered two knife wounds, or whether more than one knife was used. Now ahead of Norris' public parole hearing next week, Neville Lawrence, 83, is urging the killer to reveal exactly what happened on that fateful day. Speaking to The Mirror, Mr Lawrence said: 'My message to him would be, 'You have served so many years in prison, you've known what you did was wrong and you refused to give the information in the early days about all the other boys that were involved. David Norris (pictured) had always denied his involvement in the 1993 murder until earlier this year. The convicted murderer is set to make a bid for his freedom at a public parole hearing 'I need you to say exactly who was there with you that night because we now know that you were there'. He added that it felt 'unfair' if Norris succeeds in his parole, because he will be able to walk out of prison and live his 'everyday' life again. Mr Lawrence said: '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.' In March, Parole Board vice chair Peter Rook KC announced Norris had changed his stance on his involvement. 'Recent reports now suggest he has accepted he was present at the scene and punched the victim but claims that he did not wield the knife. 'He does not accept he holds racist views.' In a major victory for the Mail and the Lawrence family, Norris' parole hearing will be heard in public. Norris fought against such an application from this newspaper, arguing that having the hearing in the open to do so would increase the risk to his safety. But Mr Rook ruled that his case should be made in public, and in his judgement quoted extensively from an application made by the Mail which argued that without press scrutiny it is unlikely that Stephen's killers would have faced justice. Five men were initially arrested over the murder, in Eltham, southeast London, with Norris, 16 at the time, and Gary Dobson, 16 then but 49 now, only brought to justice after a belated forensic breakthrough. Both were given life sentences in 2012. It followed a lengthy campaign from the Mail to secure justice for Stephen, including a 1997 front page in which Norris was named as one of his killers. The application to the Parole Board also quoted from a recent interview with Stephen's father, Neville, in which the 82-year-old said he would be willing to accept Norris's release from prison if he apologised and showed he was a changed man. The Mail argued that a public hearing would provide the killer with the platform to properly express remorse for his actions. The Lawrence family supported a public hearing but lawyers for Norris argued that the murderer, who has been diagnosed with PTSD, would suffer from 'emotional stress' should a hearing be held in public. They also argued that it would increase the risk to his safety within the prison estate, given he has been attacked three times while incarcerated, and that he would be incapable of giving his 'best evidence' should his remarks be made public. But Mr Rook found that the case remained of public importance because of its impact on policing, that it was accepted that not all those involved have been brought to justice and that the public will be interested to know whether Norris now accepts his responsibility for Stephen's murder. The criminal justice system had clearly failed with regard to this case at earlier stages, he said, with the subsequent MacPherson report into the investigation making multiple recommendations still relevant today. 'There is a clear public interest in seeing the Parole Review conducted in a proper judicial manner with evidence-based decisions on risk,' Mr Rook said. Norris's time in prison has not been without issues that will likely count against him when the panel makes its decision. He was caught illegally using a smartphone in jail in 2022, which he used to take a sickening selfie from his cell on Dartmoor's E wing, which houses supposedly well-behaved inmates. The phone was recovered from his body after he was X-rayed and a police investigation into how he obtained the device was launched. A date is yet to be set for the hearing. Stephen's father called on Norris to name his son's other killers and tell the truth about what happened on the night of his murder for the first time. During an interview from his home in Jamaica in March, Mr Lawrence thanked the Daily Mail for its fight to ensure his parole hearing would be heard in public. 'Thank you to the Daily Mail for doing this service for us,' he said. 'Without your appeal this would have stayed behind closed doors.' Mr Lawrence added: 'If he's going to make a statement the public will hopefully finally hear everything that happened. 'He knows who was there with him. 'And he has been in prison for all this time so it's his chance to say it wasn't just him alone, there were others with him. And name them. 'I don't think he's going to do that but that's what I want him to do. 'This is his chance to come clean and confess to what happened that night.' Mr Lawrence said he planned to attend the hearing and his solicitor would read a statement outlining the effect Stephen's murder has had on the family. 'He's going to be able to walk away and live the rest of his life if he behaves himself. 'Stephen can't do that,' he said. 'I feel if someone is lucky enough to have that chance for parole they should have to say I'm sorry, I'll never get into trouble again and they should have to admit what they did. 'If he admits it and said how sorry he was and he names the other people I could accept him coming out. 'No one who was there that night has ever told the truth about what happened or even admitted the fact that they were there. 'If he does do that it will be the first time. 'If he admits he was there and caused my son to lose his life I would accept what happened and it would make it seem to me he was a changed person but if he just says nothing I can't accept [his release].'
The Guardian
26-06-2025
- The Guardian
Excessive use of charging powers observed in joint enterprise trials, say researchers
Researchers who spent six months observing joint enterprise trials have found excessive use of powers, with individuals charged with murder despite only tenuous connections with the crime. The findings from the miscarriage of justice charity Appeal add to concerns surrounding the doctrine, which allows defendants in England and Wales to be convicted of crimes they did not physically carry out if they are deemed to have encouraged or assisted the perpetrator. Dr Nisha Waller and Tehreem Sultan followed 17 attempted murder and murder joint enterprise trials at the Old Bailey in central London. Such cases have been of particular concern because of the scope for people who made no clear contribution to be tried as if they were the perpetrator and receive a life sentence. In many cases, the authors said, the evidence was said to be 'weak, and in some, virtually nonexistent'. They highlighted one 'especially concerning case' of seven boys charged with murder, where the prosecution case against five of them relied almost entirely on their 'voluntary presence' at the scene. They said their findings point to an 'unreasonably wide net' being cast, with overzealous charging decisions by the Crown Prosecution Service and a failure to weed out weak cases before trial. Waller and Sultan said the findings of the report, called Joint Enterprise on Trial, 'reveal serious concerns about the way joint enterprise continues to be used. Defendants were charged with serious offences on weak evidential grounds which stimulated a range of problematic prosecution strategies, aimed at maximising the chances of conviction.' An enduring concern about joint enterprise, also known as secondary liability, has been its disproportionate use against young Black men. In the trials observed, 60% of the defendants were Black and 79% were from minority ethnic backgrounds. The researchers said prosecution narratives included racial stereotypes about gangs despite recent CPS efforts to address this issue. The only trial observed in which all but one of the defendants was white was the only one in which all but one defendant was granted bail. Only eight of 33 defendants explicitly identified by the prosecution as secondary parties charged with murder or attempted murder were convicted of the respective charge. In one case, in which 50 charges were brought against eight defendants, the jury returned a single conviction against one. The authors said their findings aligned with earlier research by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, based on a significantly larger sample, which found that the conviction rate for secondary suspects indicted for murder was 40%, compared with approximately 60% for all murder indictments. The new report said that cases were often based on speculation rather than facts, while knowledge and intention – key components of secondary liability – were routinely presumed, rather than evidenced. Keir Monteith KC, who wrote the foreword, said the report was 'seismic' and provided further evidence of institutional racism in the criminal justice system. 'The CPS must stop prosecuting young Black men for murder and other serious crimes just because they are voluntarily present somewhere near the scene,' he said. 'Remanding and wrongly prosecuting these young Black men for crimes they did not commit is immoral, contrary to the rule of law and costs millions. It has got to stop.' Appeal said it intends to invite prosecutors, judges, policymakers and other stakeholders to a roundtable to determine the best way to end the inappropriate overuse of the law. A CPS spokesperson said prosecutors 'use all available evidence to piece together each defendant's role in a crime. A central thread of fairness runs through how we look at these cases. 'We choose the right charges for the right people based on the evidence in front of us. We look objectively at the evidence before making our own decisions. 'The CPS carefully monitors joint enterprise prosecutions, with senior legal oversight over every case to ensure that our approach is fair and proportionate.'
BBC News
11-06-2025
- BBC News
Paul Rosser and Joshua Cullen deny 'joint enterprise' to kill man
An uncle and nephew accused of murdering a 27-year-old man in Swansea were in a "joint enterprise to kill", a court has Norman died after he was found with serious injuries to his neck in Cwm Road, Hafod, at about midday on September Rosser, 49, from Gendros, and Joshua Cullen, 32, from Waun Wen, appearing at Swansea Crown Court, both deny one count of murder and one of Rees KC prosecuting told the jury that Mr Rosser used a sharp broken bottle as a weapon to attack Mr Norman. The barrister added that his nephew, Mr Cullen, encouraged or assisted him before they both walked away from the scene without contacting emergency told the jury that the pair were part of a "joint enterprise to kill" or cause Mr Norman "really serious" jury heard the three men had allegedly bought drugs on the morning of the incident, and had been travelling in an Audi A3 driven by another prosecution said Mr Norman withdrew £150 from a cashpoint, before an altercation was captured on CCTV of the men outside a shop in Port the car took off again, the jury saw dashcam footage of the three exiting the vehicle on New Cut Road, before they walked towards Cwm prosecution pointed out to the jury that Paul Rosser can be seen holding a broken bottle in the CCTV court heard the next video of the accused men was from after the attack.A delivery driver saw a man, described by the prosecution as being Mr Norman, waving a branch at two men who were standing "shoulder to shoulder".The jury heard members of the public had seen Mr Norman with a "deep gash to the neck" on Cwm Road with "blood pouring out of it".Despite their efforts, along with paramedics, the court heard that Mr Norman died at the scene. The jury heard that a post-mortem examination revealed a sharp force injury to Mr Norman's jury heard that when Mr Rosser was later arrested, he told police: "I only gave him a few slaps and walked away."Mr Rosser told the court he he had been drinking alcohol for about four days before the incident and he had also taken heroin and crack jury heard he had told officers: "It was an accident. I didn't mean to kill anybody."The prosecution said that Mr Cullen was arrested in his flat at Griffith John Street, where he lived with his Mr Cullen's arrest, the jury heard he said in his police statement he was completely sober at the time, and that it was Joshua Norman who was "trying to start a fight".The defence's argument is that the pair smashed the bottle to "scare off" Mr prosecutor said to the jury that its position is that the pair tried to murder trial will resume on Thursday.
