The father of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has said he will push for his killers to stay behind bars if they do not admit their guilt.
Neville Lawrence, 81, confirmed that he plans to give victim impact statements at the parole hearings of the only members of the racist gang that fatally stabbed his son to be jailed for his death.
Gary Dobson, 47, and David Norris, 46, were convicted in 2012 of murdering Stephen, 18, at a bus stop in South East London in April 1993.
Dobson was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years and 2 months, while Norris received a minimum of 14 years and three months and will be eligible for parole next year.
Mr Lawrence said it was ‘essential’ to him that the killers acknowledge their guilt before they were allowed back into society and added: ‘My son is dead, he will never be able to come out of the coffin.’
Neville Lawrence, 81, confirmed that he plans to give victim impact statements at the parole hearings of the men convicted for his son’s murder
Stephen Lawrence, 18, who was planning on fulfilling his father’s dream of being an architect, was stabbed to death in April 1993
Mr Lawrence, speaking to The Mirror for the 30th anniversary of his son’s death, says he sees no point in meeting Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley after a report found recently that the Met continues to struggle with institutional racism, homophobia and sexism.
He said: ‘No one is taking any notice of what we’re saying, they haven’t been for 30 years, so why would I even bother? I don’t want to meet him.
‘If there should ever be a situation where somebody was able to bring good evidence to try to get the rest of the people responsible for my son’s death, who’s going to take the case?’
The report seemingly confirmed concerns that little progress has been made in the London-based force since the damning 1999 Macpherson study.
Mr Lawrence, who holds an honorary doctorate in law, said recent scandals involving police forces meant he wouldn’t call an officer, even if he needed them.
‘Those things make you feel it is an apartheid system they are using,’ he explained, referring to a case where a black teenager was strip-searched.
The retired plasterer, who first came to the UK from Kingston in Jamaica in 1960, has been praised alongside his ex-wife, Baroness Lawrence, for his poise and dignity since his son’s murder.
The couple married in 1972 and had three children: Stephen, and his siblings Stuart and Georgina.
His son – who was planning to fulfil Mr Lawrence’s life-long ambition of being an architect – went to school on April 22, 1993 as normal. But he would never come home.
The grief-stricken father said that having seen his son’s body he didn’t remember driving home – and that it wasn’t until he saw Stephen’s untouched bed the next morning that he realised it was real.
The family trusted that Stephen’s death would be properly investigated and believed that the Met was ‘the best police force in the world’.
Gary Dobson (right), 47, and David Norris (left), 46, were convicted in 2012 of murdering Stephen, 18, at a bus stop in South East London in April 1993
Suspect Jamie Acourt spent more than two years on the run living in Spain under the alias Simon Alfonzo and was released from prison for his part in a drugs plot in November 2022
Mr Lawrence said that after feeling forced to pursue the suspects in a private prosecution, which ultimately failed, and seeing DCI Clive Driscoll, who led the probe that saw Dobson and Norris jailed, forced off the case in 2014, he felt the Met was not interested.
Police failed to arrest the men suspected of killing the teenager despite having their names within hours of his fatal stabbing.
The Labour government of the time promised the family a public inquiry – leading to the Macpherson report in 1999.
Two of the other suspects, brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, have served time in prison for drug dealing in the intervening years but the final suspect, Luke Knight, remains free.
Mr Lawrence was moved to a safe house after police warned him of an assassination plot six years after Stephen’s death. He said the best thing had to been to leave the country and he now spends much of his time in Jamaica.
He said: ‘When I get to the stage I feel the burden is too heavy, I just go. I look after Stephen’s grave, paint it up and make it look nice, that’s my job.’
When asked about Mr Lawrence’s criticisms, the Met referred to Sir Mark Rowley’s comments after the release of the Casey review.
The Met Chief said that the report must bring about ‘meaningful change’ and that: ‘If it only leads to pillory and blame of the exceptional majority of officers, then only criminals will benefit.’
