Stephen Lawrence's Murder Case

The murder was Britain's most notorious unsolved case and led to radical changes in modern policing after a public inquiry found the Met Police was 'institutionally racist.'

" The two racist killers who murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence were detained nearly 19 years after they stabbed him to death at a bus stop. "

Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, were part of a gang of white youths who targeted the 18 year-old A-level student and his friend Duwayne Brooks because of the colour of their skin.

Stephen was stabbed twice after being 'swallowed up' by the gang in Well Hall Road, Eltham, southeast London, just after 10.30pm on April 22, 1993.

The pair were convicted of murder after a two-month trial at the Old Bailey.

Dobson must serve at least 15 years and two months, while Norris, the son of notorious south London drug lord Clifford Norris, was handed a minimum term of 14 years and three months.

Mr Justice Treacy stressed that he was bound to sentence Dobson and Norris as juveniles under the law as it was in 1993.

'It may be that the resulting sentences are lower than some might expect,' he said, 'but the law as laid down by Parliament and must be applied and I am constrained by it.'


THE INVISIBLE SPECK OF BLOOD :

In 2008 a blood spot, measuring just 0.25mm by 0.5mm, was found on the collar of a jacket seized from Dobson, which provided a one in a billion DNA match to Stephen.

Further dried blood fragments were also found in the evidence bag the coat had been stored in.

The total amount of blood particles found no more than two cubic millimetres.

Eleven pink and orange cotton or polyester fibres, from Stephen's red polo shirt, were also found on Dobson's jacket, along with two green and blue strands from Stephen's corduroy trousers.

Six green and blue fibres were found on Norris' blue sweatshirt, along with an orange cotton fibre from the polo shirt.

Among debris collected from the packaging which held Norris's jeans scientists recovered a 2mm and 1mm fragment of afro-Caribbean hair.

Prosecutor Mark Ellison QC said: 'The material discovered on each of the defendants' clothing indicates that they must have been members of the group that attacked Stephen Lawrence that night and they are guilty of his murder.'

He said the 'only discernable reason for the attack was the colour of their skin.'

The pair were arrested and charged in September last year and faced trial after Dobson's previous acquittal was successfully overturned at the Court of Appeal.

CHEERS :

Stephen's estranged parents Doreen and Neville emerged from the court to spontaneous applause and cheering.

Mrs Lawrence said: 'All I now feel is relief.

'Relief that two of my son's killers have finally been brought to justice; relief that these racist men can no longer think they can murder a black man and get away with it.'

She added: 'I feel relief to some extent that I can move forward with my life.'

Mrs Lawrence said she hoped the police had 'learned their lesson and don't put any other family through what we have been put through.'

She concluded by saying: 'Racism and racist attacks are still happening in this country and we should not use my son's name to say that they are not.

'I want people to think of Stephen Lawrence other than a black teenager murdered in a racist attack in southeast London.
'I know this is fact but I also want him to be remembered as a bright, beautiful young man.'

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