A new independent review has been commissioned into the 1993 racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, more than three decades after the teenager's death. The College of Policing, at the request of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), has commenced a review of the investigation to determine if any outstanding lines of inquiry can be pursued.
The move comes after years of pressure from Stephen's family and following a series of recent reports that raised questions about the initial police investigation and identified a potential sixth suspect. Stephen Lawrence, an 18-year-old aspiring architect, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack in southeast London on April 22, 1993.
While two men, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were convicted of Stephen's murder in 2012, at least three other members of the gang remain at large. The Metropolitan Police declared the case "inactive" in 2020, stating all identified lines of inquiry had been exhausted.
Stephen's mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, described the new review as the "last opportunity" to achieve full justice for her son. She has made an emotional plea for anyone with information to come forward, stating that there may have been reasons why witnesses felt unable to speak out at the time.
The review is being led by an experienced investigator from the College of Policing, operating independently of the Metropolitan Police. It will examine existing information held by the Met and will seek to identify if any lines of inquiry were missed or not pursued properly. The review follows a BBC investigation that publicly named a sixth suspect, who has since died, and exposed a series of police failings in the original case.
The Stephen Lawrence case is one of the most significant in modern British history. A 1999 public inquiry led by Sir William Macpherson concluded that the initial police investigation was "incompetent" and that the Metropolitan Police was "institutionally racist." The inquiry's recommendations led to major changes in law and police practices.
