Stephen Lawrence

Murder of Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence

Stephen Lawrence was a black British teenager from Eltham in south east London who was murdered in a racist attack while he was waiting for a bus on the evening of 22 April 1993, some witnesses said that he was attacked by a gang of white youth who were racist. After some investigations five suspects were arrested but not convicted, Gary Dobson, David Norris, Neil acourt, Luke knight and Jamie acourt are the people in the gang. During investigation of his murder it was suggested that the murder was racially motivated and Stephen was killed because he was black, and that the handling of the case by the police and Crown Prosecution Service was affected by issues of race. 

Stephen Lawrence murder timeline

22 April 1993: Stephen Lawrence is stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack by a gang of white youths as he and friend Duwayne Brooks wait at a bus stop in Eltham, south east London.

23-25 April 1993: A number of witnesses come forward naming a local gang as the likely killers.

26 April 1993: Four prime suspects are put under surveillance.

4 May 1993: Stephen’s distraught parents, Doreen and Neville Lawrence complain that the police are not doing enough to catch the killers.

7 May 1993: Police raid the homes and arrest Neil and Jamie Acourt and Gary Dobson.

10 May 1993: David Norris hands himself into police and is arrested.

13 May 1993: Duwayne Brooks picks Neil Acourt out of an identity parade and he is charged with the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

3 June 1993: Luke Knight is arrested at his home on Well Hall Road

23 June 1993: Luke Knight is charged with the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

29 June 1993: The Crown Prosecution Service discontinues the case against Neil Acourt and Luke Knight claiming there is insufficient evidence.

16 August 1993: The Metropolitan Police sets up a review of their investigation.

21 December 1993: The Inquest into Stephen Lawrence’s death is halted after the family’s barrister, Michael Mansfield QC claims dramatic new evidence has come to light.

16 April 1994: The Crown Prosecution Service declares the new evidence is insufficient to support a prosecution for murder.

September 1994: The Lawrence family launch a private prosecution against the men they suspect of killing Stephen.

23 August 1995: Neil and Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight, Gary Dobson and David Norris appear at Belmarsh Magistrates for committal hearings.

7 September 1995: Jamie Acourt is discharged after it is ruled there is insufficient evidence that he was at the scene of the murder.

8 September 1995: David Norris is discharged on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

17 April 1996: Neil Acourt, Luke Knight and Gary Dobson go on trial at the Old Bailey in a private prosecution for the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

25 April 1996: The case collapses after the trial judge Mr. Justice Curtis rules that identification evidence from Duwayne Brooks is in admissible. All three are formally acquitted and under double jeopardy rules cannot be charged with the same crime again.

13 February 1997: The inquest into Stephen Lawrence’s death returns a verdict of unlawful killing.

14 February 1997: The Daily Mail newspaper prints a front page branding the five suspects “Murderers” and challenging them to sue if they are wrong.

March 1997: The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) announces its own investigation into the handling of the case.

31 July 1997: Weeks after the Labour Party win a landslide election, Home Secretary Jack Straw announces a judicial inquiry into the case to be headed up by retired High Court judge Sir William Macpherson.

15 December 1997: The PCA report into the original police investigation identifies “significant weaknesses, omissions and lost opportunities”.

16 March 1998: The Macpherson inquiry opens.

15 June 1998: The inquiry is shown a video secretly recorded by the police, which show the suspects brandishing knives and expressing extreme violent racist views.

17 June 1998: Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Johnston says he is “very sorry” to have let the Lawrence family down.

29 June 1998: The Lawrence family call on the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Condon to resign.

20 July 1998: The suspects give evidence to the inquiry amid charged scenes. They are pelted with bottles as they leave and have to flee to avoid being attacked.

1 October 1998: Sir Paul Condon apologises to the Lawrence family for police failings but denies that the force is institutionally racist.

24 February 1999: The Macpherson Report is published and concludes that the police investigation was "marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers". It makes 70 recommendations.

5 May 2004: The CPS announces there is insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone for Lawrence's murder.

April 2005: The Government scraps the double jeopardy legal principle which prevented suspects being tried twice for the same crime.

July 2006: A BBC documentary alleges police corruption in the Lawrence case and suggests Clifford Norris, the gangland father of one of the prime suspects, might have paid former detective sergeant John Davidson for information about the investigation.

October 14 2007: Independent Police Complaints Commission finds no evidence of police corruption and no evidence of dishonest links between Mr Davidson and Clifford Norris.

8 November 2007: Police conducting a cold case review into the case confirm they are investigating new forensic evidence.

18 December 2009: The Independent Police Complaints Commission announce that a 62-year old retired constable and a 53-year-old member of police staff have been arrested for allegedly failing to pass on information to the Lawrence inquiry. They were arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

2 March 2010: The IPCC announces no further action is to be taken against police officer and civilian worker arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

9 July 2010: Gary Dobson is jailed for five years after admitting supplying £350,000 of cannabis.

19 May 2011: It is announced that David Norris and Gary Dobson will stand trial for murder after significant new evidence was discovered.

15 November 2011: David Norris and Gary Dobson go on trial at the Old Bailey charged with murdering Stephen Lawrence.

3 January 2012: David Norris and Gary Dobson are found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence following three days of deliberations.

31 May 2012: Reviews carried out by both the Metropolitan Police Service and the police watchdog the Independent Complaints Commission (IPCC) find no new evidence.

1 June 2012: Theresa May announces new inquiry looking into police corruption during the original Macpherson Inquiry.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01b1yxm/ 
(Panorama - Stephen Lawrence: Time For Justice)
this link is useful as the video tells you about Stephen's murder and the people who murdered Stephen should be jailed.

The Stephen Lawrence case: how it changed Britain

"It was seminal," says Imran Khan, who represented the family at the inquiry. "People forget what it was like living in Britain in 1993.

"There had been three or four racial murders in south-east London. I was working in the anti-racist field and what I was getting constantly was this brick wall from police officers and other agencies saying 'look, this is not about race'. It was almost impossible to get those in authority to accept that race existed as a problem.

"What the Lawrence case did was it made race mainstream. It made it something people had to recognise, acknowledge and accept. Before that, it was something that the left and liberals talked about as a fringe issue. Now suburban England had to accept that race existed."

Stephen's murder case changed Britain as people who are from an ethnic background have got equal rights and they are treated equally as an individual. No one can away with Institutional racism and hate crime. Due to the laws an individual cannot get discriminated against and this applies at work, goods and services etc. even if an individual get discriminated, that individual have the right to seek redress.

The Moors Murderers

Ian Brady (left) and Myra Hindley,
October 1965

The Moors murders were performed by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, their victims were children between the age of 10 to 17. Myra and Ian killed 5 children between July 1963 and October 1965, their names were Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey and Edward Evans, and all of these children were sexually assaulted. Myra and Ian are known as the Moor murderers because the victims were found in graves dug on Saddleworth Moor.

Three bodies were found, Keith Bennett which was the fourth victim is still not found as the investigators suspect that the body is somewhere in the Saddleworth Moor. Hindley is 'the most evil woman in britian'. She made appeals against her life sentece in prison as she said, that she is changed and will not cause danger to the society but she was not released. Hindley died in prison at the age of 60 due to a heart attack in november 2002, she was the Britian's longest serving female prisoner.

Brady is in Ashworth Hospital, he says that he wants to die but his request was refused lots of time.

This documentary is useful as it shows how Hindley Met Brady, this is worth watching.

Murder of Shakilus Townsend

Shakilus Townsend was murdered in 2008. He was 'Honey Trap' by a girl Samantha Joseph who he was crazy about.

Sakilus was murdered by Samantha, Danny and his gang members in 2008

Samantha was seeing Shakilus and Danny McLean (who was a member of the local Shine My Nine (SMN) gang). Danny killed Shakilus and Samantha helped him as she plan to meet Shakilus.

BBC Three made a factual film called MY MURDER which was based on Shakilus Townsend murder.

This is a short version of the movie but it is useful as the clip will tell you about Shakilus' story.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/pshe_and_citizenship/mymurder/classroomclip/

7 people were found guilty of Shakilus Murder in 2009 they were people from the SMN gang. Samantha is serving a minimum of 10 years in prison for her part in his murder and Danny McLean is jailed for 15 years.

This story is heartbreaking and heartless because the girl helped Danny with the murder. Shakilus was murdered in a very violent way as he was beaten with a baseball bat and stabbed to death which is very crude and vile. He suffered for 10 hours with a lot of pain, when someone called an ambulance it was too late as he died. This is a tragic story and caused a lot of pain to Shakilus' family and friends.

My Murder is a very strong film and sends a message to people and especially young people that everyone's life is important and no one has the right to take someone else's life for a reason which isn't relevant. This documentary is a good way of preventing knife crime.