Retired Stephen Lawrence detectives will not face prosecution over failings

Four retired Metropolitan Police detectives should not face criminal charges over their handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation.

Stephen was killed by a gang of racists in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993 as he ran to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks.

Only two of his killers – Gary Dobson and David Norris – have ever been brought to justice.

The four senior officers had been investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over failings in the case, but the CPS decided last year not to pursue any charges.

Stephen’s parents and friends challenged the decision, but it has now been upheld following a review by a senior CPS lawyer, according to the BBC.

It means no police officers have been held criminally responsible for what is widely seen as one of the biggest failures in the history of Britain’s biggest police force.

The CPS said it understands the news will be ‘extremely disappointing for Stephen’s family and friends’.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Brooks said: ‘As someone affected by these senior officers’ decision-making skills, I have no idea whether today’s decision or the original decision by the CPS is a credible one, as I have not seen the report.’

The decision follows a request under the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme and was carried out by a prosecutor who was independent of the original review.

It represents a final decision by the CPS.

The Met’s decision to close the hunt for Stephen’s killers will also be reviewed, according to the Guardian. That decision in 2020 was similarly opposed.

According to the newspaper, there are three draft terms of reference; ‘the effectiveness and reasonableness of the closure strategy, family liaison strategy and communications strategy’.

The document, written by the Met assistant commissioner Louisa Rolfe, accepts the force is still making ‘serious mistakes’ in the case: ‘Yet despite 31 years of apologies, learning and progress, serious mistakes in relation to the death of Stephen Lawrence are still being made.’

Former Met DCI Clive Driscoll, who led the investigation that secured murder convictions against Dobson and Norris in 2012, is reportedly expected to be on the review team.

Stephen’s mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, previously described him as the only police officer she trusts.

The original investigation was hampered by institutional racism in the Met, and claims that corrupt officers had sought to protect Norris, whose father Clifford Norris was a notorious drug dealer.

Last June, the BBC named a sixth suspect, Matthew White, who died aged 50 in 2021, and outlined the bungled handling of evidence against him.

Two witnesses said White had confessed to being present during the attack and one, his stepfather, was not spoken to by police until 20 years after the murder because officers had previously misidentified him.

White was arrested twice in connection with the murder, but on both occasions there was not enough evidence for a prosecution, the Met said.

Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS’s Special Crime Division, said: ‘The unprovoked and racially motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 shocked the nation, and had a vast impact on the criminal justice system in the years that followed.

‘Significant changes were made to policy and legislation in the wake of Stephen’s death, and in 2012 the CPS was able to successfully prosecute two men for his murder – Gary Dobson and David Norris – due to a change in double jeopardy laws.

‘Following our decision in July 2023 not to bring criminal charges against four police officers involved in the initial six weeks of the investigation into Stephen’s murder, we received a request to review the decision under the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme.

‘An extensive review of that decision, which involved an independent prosecutor re-examining a substantial amount of evidence and material in the case, has now been completed.

‘Offences of misconduct in public office were reconsidered, but the review upheld the original decision not to bring any criminal charges against the four officers in the case.

‘We understand this news will be extremely disappointing for Stephen’s family and friends, and the CPS has offered to meet with close family members to explain our reasoning in further detail.’

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