Stephen Lawrence was killed 30 years ago on Saturday
Racists on the streets, police cover-ups and corruption. It’s 30 years since the racist killing of Stephen Lawrence—and not much has changed.
Racist thugs stabbed Stephen to death on 22 April 1993 in Eltham, south London. The police ignored clear information about who was responsible, refused to investigate properly and spied on the Lawrence family.
Stephen was the third black man to die at the hands of racists in the area in two years. At the time the fascist British National Party had its headquarters in nearby Welling.
Outrage and determined campaigning by the Lawrences, backed by anti-racists and trade unionists, led to protests demanding action. Campaigning won re-trials of the killers and the 1998 Macpherson inquiry. This labelled the Met “institutionally racist” for the first time.
At the inquiry, vile lies and racism spewed from the mouths of the cops. And Met commissioner Paul Condon refused to say “institutional racism”—just as current boss Mark Rowley did after the Casey report delivered its damning judgment on the force last month. It took 19 years for two of the gang members to be found guilty of murder. The other three still walk free.
On the night of his murder, the group ran towards Stephen shouting, “What, what, nigger,” and stabbed him twice in the chest. Witnesses identified the five as David Norris, Gary Dobson, Luke Knight, Neil Acourt and Jamie Acourt. Police officers who arrived on the scene didn’t administer first aid to Stephen.
The Met received 39 different tip-offs within days of the killing. But cops didn’t knock on doors gathering statements and refused to follow up leads. They didn’t search the estate or the perpetrators’ houses. Instead they tried to criminalise Stephen’s friend and key witness, Duwayne Brooks.
Links between police and Stephen’s murderers were hidden. Detective sergeant Dave Coles, assigned to “protect” Brooks during the 1996 trial of the gang, was connected to Clifford Norris—the father of David Norris.
Tests examining the transfer of fibres from the suspects to Stephen were not carried out until June 1994. And it wasn’t until a review in 2007 that new DNA and fibre evidence was found, which led to new trials and convictions.
Then came more corruption. In 2013 it was discovered that three undercover cops—Anthony Lewis, Dave Hagan and Peter Francis—spied on the Lawrence family.
The 2014 Stephen Lawrence Independent Review—the Ellison Review—then led to the Mitting inquiry. This claims to be investigating spycops who infiltrated the lives of activists, the groups they were in and victims of the state.
Thirty years on, we mustn’t forget this fight for justice.
Institutional racism, sexism and corruption aren’t exclusive to the Met. A new Freedom of Information request by the Guardian newspaper has found that other forces across England have proportionally higher claims against them than England’s biggest force.
Over 30 officers were under investigation in Suffolk over racism, with 37 in Staffordshire and 157 in Essex according to evidence covering late January to early February. And 19 cops in Staffordshire and 14 in Bedfordshire were under investigation for sexual misconduct. These are also proportionally higher than the Met.
What this shows is that oppression isn’t limited to the Met—sexism and racism drips from the pore of every police force. Abolish the lot of them.
A staffing crisis in the NHS
Health workers set to strike across four Manchester hospitals
Bus workers rejected an offer and came back out
