I led the hunt for Stephen Lawrence’s murderers… I wanted to search for a SIXTH attacker… but was given chilling warning
THE cop who led the hunt for Stephen Lawrence’s killers says he wanted to look for a sixth attacker but was told to retire.
Former Det Chief Insp Clive Driscoll caught the racist murderers in 2012 and was hopefully charges would be brought against more suspects – but he was told to retire by the Met Police in 2014.
Mr Driscoll said he was looking into an alleged sixth member of the gang at the time.
Speaking to the Mirror ahead of the 30th anniversary of Stephen’s murder on Saturday, he said: “I’ve always felt there were lines of inquiry that could have been pursued.
“There was a person who was saying something that could be confirmed, there was corroborative evidence for this, he was saying a certain thing.
“Well you just follow that, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes. I think it’s a potential person that took part.
Mr Driscoll added that he knew Baroness Lawrence had been briefed on the situation and that the person was never spoken to again.
Gary Dobson, 47, and David Norris, 46, were jailed in 2012 for the murder.
Luke Knight and brothers Jamie and Neil Acourt were also named publicly as suspects in the killing but remain free.
Stephen, 18, was stabbed at a bus stop in Eltham, south east London on April 22, 1993.
Mr Driscoll has always suspected six youths were involved.
After being appointed Senior Investigating Officer in Operation Fishpool, Mr Driscoll and his team generated several new leads by focusing on forensic evidence.
The four-year forensic probe cost £3.8million – but secured the convictions of Dobson and Norris.
Norris was nailed when two hairs belonging to Lawrence were found on his jeans.
And Dobson was caught when new tests found Lawrence’s blood and traces of his clothing fibres on his jacket.
A spot of blood 0.5mm x 0.25mm was found soaked into the collar – it matched Stephen’s DNA.
On January 3, 2012, both received life sentences with Dobson jailed for a minimum of 15 years and two months Norris for 14 years and three months.
In 2020, the Met said “all identified lines of enquiry have been completed”.
Mr Driscoll revealed the Met had recently made contact with him for the first time since he left the force.
He said he had agreed to help, adding he felt it was his “moral responsibility”.
Speaking about Baroness Casey’s review which found the Met to be institutionally racist, he said now was the time to take action.
The Met said: “No unsolved murder is ever closed. Any information and evidence that came to light about Stephen’s murder would be assessed and investigated accordingly.”
Mr Driscoll was portrayed by Steve Coogan in the 2021 ITV drama Stephen which detailed the horrifying case.