Good evening, a devastating and unprecedented attack on racism in Britain’s police forces was made today in the report into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. The Inquiry into the way the Metropolitan Police handled its investigation slammed its professional incompetence and poor leadership. It concluded that the country’s entire police service suffered from institutional racism and it condemned the treatment of the Lawrence family and the failure to arrest key suspects. ITV News at Ten
His name represents one of the most shameful episodes of British race relations history. Stephen Lawrence: Time for Justice, BBC 2011
For eighteen years Doreen and Neville Lawrence have struggled to win justice for their murdered son. ibid.
The day that time finally ran out for two of her son’s killers. ibid.
Within hours five boys would emerge as the prime suspect and remain so for the next eighteen years. ibid.
It was the first investigation which was crucial and it was hampered by incompetence and institutional racism from the outset. ibid.
Police failed to provide any medical attention to Stephen. ibid.
Doreen and Neville divorced in 1999. ibid.
The Macpherson Inquiry would become the watershed moment in British race relations history. It exposed the Met ... as institutionally racist. ibid.
Gary Dobson and David Norris have been found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. ibid.
Stephen Lawrence: watchdog to probe police ‘corruption’: Scotland Yard has called in the police watchdog following allegations that police corruption hampered the original investigation into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence.
The move comes after The Independent published police intelligence reports detailing extensive allegations of corruption against a detective, John Davidson. Following the reports, the Metropolitan Police began a trawl of documents to discover if anything was held back from the 1998 Macpherson Inquiry. The Independent 12th May 2012
Tonight: the legacy of Steven Lawrence. But twenty years on how much has really changed? Tonight: Stephen Lawrence – 20 Years On, ITV 2013
Stabbed to death by a gang of white youths in 1993 a Public Inquiry into the crime and the way it was handled branded the Metropolitan Police institutionally racist and called for widespread social reform ... We remember Stephen Lawrence. ibid.
Stephen’s death shocked the nation: both because the brutal manner in which it was committed and the way the police handled the case. ibid.
2007: new forensic evidence in the case. ibid.
Footage of knives and stabbing: 05.12.94 only two were eventually convicted ... A secret recording by police in 1994: ‘I reckon every nigger should be chopped up, mate.’ ibid.
Last year there were over 35,000 racial hate crimes recorded in England and Wales. ibid.
His family are still pursuing full justice for his murder. ibid.
Exactly twenty years ago today teenager Stephen Lawrence was murdered in South East London by a racist gang. The compromised investigation to catch the killers would reveal a police force that was institutionally racist. The Lawrence family’ search for justice sent shockwaves to the heart of government. It was a crime that shook Britain. Crimes that Shook Britain: Stephen Lawrence s4e1 *****
In January 2012 ... two men – David Norris and Gary Dobson – were finally convicted of a murder they committed in 1993. ibid.
Duwayne Brooks was by now all too aware of how serious Stephen's injuries actually were. He ran to a phone box and frantically called for an ambulance, but was angry when shortly after a police car not a team of medics arrived at the scene. ibid.
In the following days the Lawrences at home grieving for their son were also beginning to have doubts about the direction of the police investigation. ibid.
They were inundated with leads pointing the finger of suspicion at a gang of white youths who had been terrorising Eltham ... Nothing was done. ibid.
The interviews represented another missed opportunity. ibid.
The Macpherson Report was published in February 1999 and concluded the police investigation into Stephen's murder was marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers. ibid.
The Lawrence Inquiry would go on and have a dramatic effect on Britain. ibid.
An undercover cop reveals all about Britain’s police spies. For decades undercover agents have infiltrated political campaigns and protest groups. Dispatches: The Police’s Dirty Secret, Channel 4 2013
A top secret special branch division called the Special Demonstration Squad, or SDS. ibid.
Peter rose to become a branch secretary of Youth Against Racism in Europe. ibid.
He and other police spies were in fact looking for intelligence that could discredit the family [Lawrence] and the campaign. ibid.
Whilst the Met were supposed to be catching Stephen’s killers, they were also secretly collecting intelligence that could be used to smear her family and the campaign. ibid.
Police spies continue to operate in protest groups. ibid.
It’s almost as if they are condoning what these people are doing. Doreen Lawrence
They weren’t interested in catching his killers at all. Doreen Lawrence
Of all the things I have found out over the years this has certainly topped it [Police spying on Lawrence family]. Doreen Lawrence
They ran out and hit him with an iron bar. Why would they do that? The Murder of Stephen Lawrence, rozzer, 1999
They have the right to conduct a post-mortem as well. ibid. family liaison rozzer
There have been three others. ibid. journalist at press conference
A lot of people on the estate know who they are. ibid. woman to Lawrence family
We cannot respond to this kind or any kind of political pressure. ibid.
Everybody knows who these boys are. ibid. Lawrence to rozzers
The Crown Prosecution Service ruled there is insufficient evidence against them. ibid. BBC news
It is quite plain from the papers who did it. And it is quite plain from the papers the police completely bungled the investigation. In the forty-eight hours after the killing dozens of people called the police and always gave them a combination of the same names. ibid. QC
I saw them come running across the road. ibid. witness
[Lawrence family] Lost their private prosecution for murder. ibid. BBC news
They set about investigating him and us. ibid. Mrs Lawrence at inquest
The family liaison officers refuse to accept the murder was purely racially motivated. ibid.
The inquiry chairman calls the internal police review of the case ‘indefensible’. ibid