:00:15. > :00:20.This programme contains racist In the rural Highlands of Jamaica
:00:20. > :00:30.lies the body of a black teenager murdered by a gang of white racists
:00:30. > :00:33.
:00:33. > :00:39.18 years ago. His name represents one of the most shameful episodes
:00:39. > :00:42.of British race relations history. It has come to symbolise an iconic
:00:42. > :00:52.struggle against injustice and sends a shudder through the
:00:52. > :00:56.corridors of power. His name is Stephen Lawrence. The murder in
:00:56. > :01:01.South London... Stephen Lawrence's family are determined to carry on
:01:01. > :01:06.their long search... Out of the blue he was attacked and stabbed.
:01:06. > :01:10.Stephen Lawrence's 19th birthday, his family lead a vigil... For 18
:01:10. > :01:15.years, Doreen and Neville Lawrence have struggled to win justice for
:01:15. > :01:19.their murdered son. The justice system is saying you can do
:01:19. > :01:24.whatever you like to black people and we will not do anything to you.
:01:24. > :01:29.This is a story of how an ordinary family exposed one of Britain's
:01:29. > :01:39.biggest organisations as institutionally racist. One of the
:01:39. > :01:39.
:01:39. > :01:43.factors in my mind was the family were black. Since 1993, the prime
:01:43. > :01:50.suspects have treated the justice system with content. They were
:01:50. > :01:53.laughing in our faces. They knew that was it. They had got away with
:01:53. > :01:57.murder. Panorama has been granted exclusive access to Doreen Lawrence
:01:57. > :02:02.and her family. The fact that somebody has been held to account
:02:02. > :02:06.and they have gone to prison for him, that will be the closure.
:02:06. > :02:16.follow the story of one woman's relentless fight for justice on the
:02:16. > :02:27.
:02:27. > :02:33.day that time ran out for two of APPLAUSE
:02:33. > :02:36.Minutes ago, Gary Dobson and David Norris have been found guilty of
:02:37. > :02:41.the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Despite these verdicts, today is
:02:41. > :02:51.not a cause for celebration, how can I celebrate when my son lies
:02:51. > :02:52.
:02:52. > :02:58.buried? When I cannot see him, or speak to him, when will I see him
:02:58. > :03:03.grow up and go to university, or get married, or have children?
:03:03. > :03:08.it not been for the tenacity of the Lawrences and especially Doreen,
:03:08. > :03:13.this day might never have come. But there is a private, untold story of
:03:13. > :03:17.this woman's quest for justice. This is the story of the Stephen
:03:17. > :03:25.Lawrence saga that you have not yet heard through the eyes of his
:03:25. > :03:33.mother. He was the first born. I remember I wanted to have a son so
:03:33. > :03:37.I was more than over the moon when Stephen was born. As a baby, he had
:03:37. > :03:45.a temperament, Stephen did. That hadn't changed while he was growing
:03:45. > :03:50.up. He was determined. He knew what he wanted. He was very creative. He
:03:50. > :03:58.loved drawing. He took part in all the sports that happened in school.
:03:58. > :04:06.He took part in the mini-marathon in '88. How did he do in that?
:04:06. > :04:10.came 100 and something. The fact he finished the course was quite good.
:04:10. > :04:14.He was like that older brother, that as a younger brother you could
:04:14. > :04:18.never get to that level, as much as you tried, as much - it didn't
:04:18. > :04:24.matter how hard I worked or trained, when I thought I got to a certain
:04:24. > :04:30.place, I would look up and he would move that marker a step forward.
:04:30. > :04:36.is hard to believe he would have been 37. I think about him all the
:04:37. > :04:46.time. Would he have had a family? Where would he have been in his
:04:47. > :04:47.
:04:47. > :04:51.career? Stuff like that. I still have him as being a young man.
:04:51. > :04:56.the British public, the Stephen Lawrence story begins in South East
:04:57. > :05:02.London on April 22nd, 1993. The events of that evening and the
:05:03. > :05:07.aftermath would change the face of race relations in Britain. 18-year-
:05:07. > :05:13.old Stephen Lawrence and his friend Duwayne Brooks found themselves in
:05:13. > :05:19.Eltham trying to catch a bus home. This was an area that had already
:05:19. > :05:27.seen three racist murders in as many years. There is a bus coming.
:05:27. > :05:37.Can you see it coming? A gang of white youths crossed the road. One
:05:37. > :05:45.
:05:45. > :05:53.of them shouting racist abuse. saw the first person who shouted,
:05:53. > :05:58."What, nigger?" He hit Steve from up above, straight down. At the
:05:58. > :06:05.time of the blow, he did scream. I have never heard anybody scream
:06:05. > :06:14.like that before. The attack was brief, lasting only ten seconds,
:06:14. > :06:22.long enough to inflict two deadly stab wounds. Steve, get up. Stephen,
:06:23. > :06:27.let's go. The word "nigger" is used at the scene. It is a sad fact that
:06:27. > :06:32.in anything else called a racist murder people look around for other
:06:32. > :06:35.explanations. It is a defence mechanism among white people to say,
:06:35. > :06:39."There must be some other explanation" or, "There must be
:06:39. > :06:43.some qualifying factors." Here there are no qualifying factors.
:06:43. > :06:51.They attack this young man because he's black. Everything points to
:06:51. > :06:56.that. Stephen managed to run more than 200 yards before he collapsed.
:06:56. > :07:03.This was a remarkable feat as the knife had severed two of his main
:07:03. > :07:08.arteries. Steve, get up! Steve! Steve, get up! He died where he
:07:08. > :07:18.fell on a cold pavement in Eltham in a pool of his own blood around
:07:18. > :07:28.
:07:28. > :07:38.People talk about the knock on the door and my knock on the door
:07:38. > :07:40.
:07:40. > :07:50.happened. We drove to the hospital. I remember as I walked in, I saw a
:07:50. > :07:52.
:07:52. > :07:57.young man in front of me, I recognised Duwayne straightaway. I
:07:57. > :08:04.asked him what had happened. He wasn't able to answer me. A nurse
:08:05. > :08:12.ushered us into a room and asked us to wait there. Then we were told
:08:12. > :08:20.that Stephen had died. It was like watching a drama, it was like he's
:08:20. > :08:25.died, no, he's not, he can't be. Within hours, five boys would
:08:25. > :08:30.emerge as a prime suspect and would remain so for the next 18 years.
:08:30. > :08:35.They are Gary Dobson, David Norris, Neil Acourt, his brother, Jamie,
:08:35. > :08:42.and Luke Knight. Over the years, they have strutted their way
:08:42. > :08:50.through an inquest and an inquiry whilst three of them, Dobson,
:08:50. > :08:56.Knight and Neil were acquitted of the murder. I followed the case and
:08:56. > :09:01.in 2006 I made a programme raising new concerns about the suspects'
:09:01. > :09:05.alibis. The case had been dormant, but a fresh review was launched
:09:05. > :09:10.resulting in a dramatic discovery of new scientific evidence and in
:09:10. > :09:16.2010, two of the five, David Norris and Gary Dobson, were charged with
:09:16. > :09:19.murder. Under the double jeopardy law, Dobson cannot be tried twice
:09:19. > :09:28.for the same crime without a special hearing at the Court of
:09:28. > :09:34.Appeal where it must be proved that the evidence is new and compelling.
:09:34. > :09:38.Our journey with Doreen Lawrence begins over a year ago in a
:09:38. > :09:47.barristers' chambers in London. When they said they thought they
:09:47. > :09:52.had more on Dobson than they did on Norris... Dobson... Doreen, her QC
:09:52. > :09:56.and lawyer are preparing for a meeting with the Met Police and the
:09:56. > :10:06.Crown Prosecution Service. Doreen has already been told what the new
:10:06. > :10:07.
:10:07. > :10:14.evidence is. I will remind you what they found was Stephen's blood on
:10:14. > :10:20.Dobson's coat and fibre... Is this new forensic evidence strong enough
:10:20. > :10:24.to overcome the double jeopardy hurdle? DNA is a strong piece of
:10:24. > :10:33.evidence. So when I hear that there's a link between the suspects
:10:33. > :10:38.and the victim based upon DNA, then I think that that is - I can take
:10:38. > :10:42.an optimistic outlook. Doreen hasn't. No surprise because of the
:10:42. > :10:48.years of failures. They seem to be fairly confident.
:10:49. > :10:53.To me, until the time comes when I hear the verdict where they find
:10:53. > :10:57.them guilty, that is the only time I'm going to be able to say, "Thank
:10:57. > :11:04.God for that" - and yes, I believe that will happen. I can't allow
:11:04. > :11:10.myself to be there, I really can't. In her heart of hearts, she wants
:11:10. > :11:14.this to be a success. I think if she doesn't get it, I can't imagine
:11:14. > :11:20.what affect it would have on her. There is much at stake. Not just
:11:20. > :11:25.for the family. For the Met, the Lawrence case has represented a
:11:25. > :11:31.running sore on the force's reputation. They have invested
:11:31. > :11:36.millions of pounds, they have invested everything in this. This
:11:37. > :11:42.is their attempt at redemption and if they get it wrong, they are in
:11:42. > :11:50.for a nasty surprise. The Met are terrified of Doreen Lawrence?
:11:50. > :11:54.most people are! But for now, the meeting with the prosecutors has
:11:54. > :11:59.gone well. We were very pleased they were willing to have the
:12:00. > :12:04.meeting so Doreen could meet the people involved. And get a feeling
:12:04. > :12:10.of their approach, the feelings that they have about the case
:12:10. > :12:13.because Doreen has been there before. They are very confident. I
:12:13. > :12:18.have been there before, when we have been able to say we got this
:12:18. > :12:25.and this. It is the Court of Appeal, that will be the test. The court
:12:25. > :12:30.has to decide in one case whether in fact it can go back for trial
:12:30. > :12:36.before. In order to do that, they have to meet a high threshold. That
:12:36. > :12:40.will be the next big test. Over the years, several re-investigations
:12:40. > :12:47.have failed to crack the case. It was the first investigation which
:12:47. > :12:54.was crucial and it was hampered by incompetence and "institutional
:12:54. > :12:57.racism" from the outset. As Stephen lay dying in April 1993, officers
:12:57. > :13:03.made a series of fundamental errors and assumptions which would haunt
:13:03. > :13:08.the Met for years to come. Where's an ambulance? Call an ambulance.
:13:08. > :13:13.Stephen's friend described a racist assault pointing out the direction
:13:13. > :13:18.the attackers had fled. They ran up Dickson Road... The police appeared
:13:18. > :13:23.to be focusing their suspicions on him. I was in shock. I didn't know
:13:23. > :13:28.he had been stabbed. They were more interested in how he got those
:13:28. > :13:33.injuries. Was it me that attacked him? Did we have a fight? Or were
:13:33. > :13:37.we in a gang fight? Initially believing Stephen had received a
:13:37. > :13:42.blow to the head, police failed to detect the real cause of the
:13:43. > :13:49.emerging pool of blood - two five- inch stab wounds. Officers were as
:13:49. > :13:56.panicked as I was. And seemed to be in shock just as I was. They were
:13:56. > :14:01.also repelled from touching him because of the blood, like I was.
:14:01. > :14:04.Two passers-by were Christians on their way home from a prayer
:14:04. > :14:10.meeting. They were with Stephen during his last moments. They told
:14:10. > :14:19.how police failed to provide any medical attention to Stephen.
:14:19. > :14:25.was no attempt by the officers to try and stop the blood. The blood
:14:25. > :14:30.was fairly visible? Yes. It's a sad thing to leave the world with so
:14:30. > :14:40.much hate directed against you. I said, "You are loved." I wanted to
:14:40. > :14:40.
:14:41. > :14:44.know that somebody cared. We tried to pray over him, "Lord heal him."
:14:44. > :14:54.I wish I had enough faith so I could try and raise him from the
:14:54. > :14:56.
:14:56. > :15:01.Two officers tried to take a pulse, but no first aid was administered.
:15:01. > :15:08.By the time the paramedics arrived at 10.55pm, Stephen was already
:15:08. > :15:12.dead. I checked all of those officers had
:15:12. > :15:18.done first aid courses. All of them had no idea what first aid is about.
:15:18. > :15:23.I said "What is the ABC of first aid?" They didn't even know what it
:15:23. > :15:31.stood for. None of them touched him properly at all. They didn't do any
:15:31. > :15:35.first aid at all. There is this confused scene and the police
:15:35. > :15:39.inspector arrives. He would say later "takes charge". He made a
:15:39. > :15:45.series of assumptions about what had happened for which there were
:15:45. > :15:49.no grounds and for which the Macpherson Inquiry would later
:15:49. > :15:59.conclude he made those sultss because Duwayne and Stephen were
:15:59. > :16:01.
:16:01. > :16:05.REPORTER: The death of their son has left the Lawrences believing
:16:05. > :16:11.London is cruel and hostile. The family said they didn't want
:16:11. > :16:17.Stephen laid to rest in racist soil. The Lawrences were never able to
:16:17. > :16:21.grieve in peace. Just days after the funeral, they received news
:16:21. > :16:31.that the Crown Prosecution Service was dropping murder charges against
:16:31. > :16:35.
:16:35. > :16:38.two of the suspects. But for Doreen Lawrence that would never do and
:16:38. > :16:48.this signalled the beginning of her long battle against the police and
:16:48. > :16:55.
:16:55. > :16:59.the judiciary. It's March 2011 and I've come to Jamaica with Doreen.
:16:59. > :17:06.I'm hoping to learn about her upbringing, which might give me an
:17:06. > :17:11.insight into what has driven this woman all these years. Doreen was
:17:11. > :17:16.born as lived in the rural Highlands of Jamaica and used to
:17:16. > :17:26.play amongst the trees here. But 1993, this quiet place took on a
:17:26. > :17:31.
:17:31. > :17:35.new significance. It's where Stephen is buried. The Lawrences
:17:35. > :17:45.keep its location a fiercely guarded secret, but Doreen has
:17:45. > :17:54.
:17:54. > :18:03.You can tell by the amount of years I've been coming, the amount of
:18:03. > :18:07.flowers that's been brought. It's always a very sad time and as his
:18:07. > :18:12.picture's beginning to wear out, I think, I'll have to get another one
:18:12. > :18:22.done, for him. I'll get another one done. This is a peaceful place for
:18:22. > :18:26.Doreen, a place to reflect and quietly speak to her son. But I am
:18:26. > :18:30.slightly taken aback when the anger she still feels rises to the
:18:30. > :18:35.surface. I'm really pleased that I have buried him here. Because had
:18:35. > :18:41.he been buried in the UK, his grave would have been desecrated so many
:18:41. > :18:45.times. Nobody knows where he is. The country didn't deserve to have
:18:45. > :18:49.his body any way. They took his life. They didn't deserve him, so...
:18:49. > :18:53.I think it's still the best thing that we did, that we brought him
:18:53. > :19:02.here, so he can be next to his great grandmother, so she can help
:19:02. > :19:06.look after him. I try and talk to him in my head, I just talk to him
:19:06. > :19:13.about how we are, what we're doing. I like to have that time that I can
:19:13. > :19:18.talk to him. This is a side to Doreen Lawrence the public never
:19:18. > :19:22.gets to see. Her reputation is one of an impassioned campaigner and a
:19:22. > :19:32.formidable opponent. I wanted to know how those who knew her as a
:19:32. > :19:34.
:19:34. > :19:44.child remembered her. We're going to meet a lady, who seems to know
:19:44. > :19:47.
:19:47. > :19:52.me. I must have been very young. Hello. You remember me? Yes!
:19:52. > :19:57.looked after Doreen's father until he died and has clear memories of a
:19:57. > :20:01.young Doreen and a childhood treat that led to her nickname, icy. In
:20:01. > :20:09.Britain that would mean that you were quite tough, as a child, is
:20:09. > :20:15.that why she was called icy? No. I think it's something in the family
:20:15. > :20:19.tradition. All I know that icy hard working persons. I'm definitely
:20:19. > :20:29.that. They are kind persons. definitely that. Loving. I think
:20:29. > :20:31.
:20:31. > :20:40.I'm that. Yes, I know. I know. been a short trip and there's just
:20:40. > :20:47.time for a final visit to Stephen's grave. Though many years have
:20:47. > :20:52.passed since his death, these moments do not get any easier.
:20:52. > :20:55.like a bitter sweet moment, really. Yes, I have to get home, but at the
:20:55. > :21:01.same time, it's saying goodbye to him again. It's always again and
:21:01. > :21:09.again. By the time you come back here, to see Stephen again, what
:21:09. > :21:15.would you hope to be telling him? That somebody's gone to prison for
:21:15. > :21:18.his death. Somebody, hopefully. That's what I'd like to be able to
:21:18. > :21:22.tell him. Do you think a positive result in this trial would give you
:21:22. > :21:25.closure? I think where I'm concerned that he's no longer here,
:21:25. > :21:28.that will always be there for me. But the fact that somebody's been
:21:28. > :21:38.held to account and they're going to prison for him, that would be
:21:38. > :21:44.
:21:44. > :21:49.Doreen knows she must put the franc wilt of Jamaica behind her and
:21:49. > :21:53.prepare for what awaits over the coming months. The countdown to one
:21:53. > :22:03.of the most eagerly anticipated murder trials in recent history has
:22:03. > :22:04.
:22:04. > :22:07.begun. In 1993, Gary Dobson and David
:22:07. > :22:12.Norris were part of the gang of five who have always been the prime
:22:12. > :22:15.suspects for this murder. Led by Neil, the eldest of the Acourt
:22:15. > :22:21.brothers, the gang had a fearsome reputation for carrying and using
:22:21. > :22:26.knives. Dobson was more of a follower, if perhaps brighter than
:22:26. > :22:34.the others. Norris was a different story, aged just 16, he was a
:22:35. > :22:41.violent son of a drug dealing gangster.
:22:41. > :22:50.Within 48 hours of Stephen's murder, the police received no fewer than
:22:50. > :22:55.26 tip-offs mostly naming the same group of boys. The boys who did the
:22:55. > :23:01.murder, they're five of them. They're nuts.... Involved in a
:23:01. > :23:06.stabbing... They call themselves the Crays.... Despite this, no
:23:06. > :23:09.arrests were made, not even when a police surveillance team watched
:23:09. > :23:13.Jamie Acourt leaving his house carrying a bin liner, potentially
:23:13. > :23:16.full of evidence, get into a car and drive away. The police wasn't
:23:16. > :23:21.interested in Stephen. They weren't interested in catching his killers
:23:21. > :23:25.at all. They assumed that Stephen must know his killers, that we must
:23:25. > :23:30.be into crime and so was Stephen and suggesting that they found a
:23:30. > :23:40.glove on Stephen, as if to say, he was into crime. It's like they're
:23:40. > :23:40.
:23:40. > :23:44.assuming that all black families are criminals. Spring 2011. It's a
:23:44. > :23:50.double jeopardy hearing at the High Court. Only Gary Dobson is subject
:23:50. > :23:54.to these proceed gdz, since David Norris has never stood trial for
:23:54. > :23:58.Stephen's murder. Everything hinges on this hearing. If the CPS cannot
:23:58. > :24:04.persuade the three judges the new evidence meets the legal threshold,
:24:04. > :24:12.there will be no trial at all. Doreen and Imran are preparing for
:24:12. > :24:16.court. We're second day into, to being at the High Court. Once the
:24:16. > :24:20.witnesses are done, the lawyers make submissions to the court as to
:24:20. > :24:25.whether the acquittal should be overturned or not. Once that's
:24:25. > :24:30.heard, submissions made, then we wait. If we get through and the
:24:30. > :24:34.judges say, yes, we can go to trial, then there's a much stronger
:24:34. > :24:39.possibility. At the same time, I'm a little bit cautious. I'm not
:24:39. > :24:49.going to say, yeah, I'll just think, this is fantastic. We are going to
:24:49. > :24:56.
:24:56. > :24:59.get there. Thank you very much. Another day.
:24:59. > :25:09.Prosecuters believe they've found the evidence proving Gary Dobson
:25:09. > :25:10.
:25:11. > :25:14.was part of the group of boys who They claim that at some point
:25:14. > :25:21.during the attack, possibly as a knife was drawn back for a second
:25:21. > :25:25.strike, a tiny spot of Stephen's blood became airborne. It was this
:25:25. > :25:29.microscopic blob, measuring less than half a millimetre, which
:25:29. > :25:36.eventually landed on the collar of Dobson's jacket and crucially,
:25:36. > :25:40.soaked into the weave. New advanced in DNA technology enabled
:25:40. > :25:45.scientists to prove it was Stephen's, with odds of a billion
:25:45. > :25:50.to one that it belonged to anybody else. Clothes fibres belonging to
:25:50. > :25:54.Stephen were also found, but it was this minute blood stain that would
:25:54. > :25:59.form the central plank of the prosecution case. There were fibres
:25:59. > :26:06.that had already been found. They'd been found way back in 1995 and
:26:06. > :26:09.1993. We also followed a line of hair, human hair, that appeared to
:26:09. > :26:15.be quite a considerable amount of human hair. As a result of that,
:26:15. > :26:21.they realised there was a potential for blood as well. At that moment,
:26:21. > :26:28.I think, it became very significant what we'd found. But the defence
:26:28. > :26:32.has an explanation for all of this, contamination. They say that dried
:26:32. > :26:36.blood fragments and fibres from Stephen's blood-stained clothes
:26:36. > :26:41.must have escaped through degenerated seals throughout years
:26:41. > :26:45.of scientific testing. This claim is bolstered by a litany of
:26:45. > :26:52.examples of poor evidence handling, when various key exhibits have been
:26:52. > :26:55.stored or even photographed together. Dobson's team insist this
:26:55. > :27:02.fatally undermines the prosecution evidence and that it doesn't
:27:02. > :27:07.deserve to go before a jury. But for Doreen and Imran, it's the
:27:07. > :27:11.first they've heard of it. arrests, all the information didn't
:27:11. > :27:16.collect the evidence. It's a catalogue of stuff. Listening to it
:27:16. > :27:19.now, nothing much has changed. I heard it, I was shocked. It's
:27:20. > :27:23.staggering that if you wanted to pick any case the Metropolitan
:27:23. > :27:28.Police wanted to make sure they had dealt with properly, after all the
:27:28. > :27:32.criticisms, this would be this one. Despite that, things were not being
:27:32. > :27:36.kept properly. What's concerning me now is that I can hear, if this
:27:36. > :27:41.goes to trial, how the defence are going to make hay with this and
:27:41. > :27:46.they're going to suggest to the jury, you can't trust this, putting
:27:46. > :27:50.legal hat on, looking at it, hopefully objectively, you'd say,
:27:50. > :27:56.yeah, they've got over that threshold. I want to be able to say
:27:56. > :28:06.to you, I hope I can say to you, I was right. OK, well, I hope so too.
:28:06. > :28:19.
:28:19. > :28:26.It's Good Friday, it's also the anniversary of Stephen's death. And
:28:26. > :28:29.whilst the family waits for the judge's decision, Stuart Lawrence
:28:30. > :28:35.addresses a special memorial service to his brother. I'd just
:28:35. > :28:42.like to share with you two really good memories that we both shared,
:28:42. > :28:52.me and Stephen, every Sunday. As far back as I can remember, we used
:28:52. > :28:56.
:28:56. > :29:01.to come to this church. I can look around and I can see memories...
:29:01. > :29:05.the early days I questioned why wasn't God there to protect
:29:05. > :29:11.Stephen? I had real difficulty in that, in the early days. I'd just
:29:11. > :29:16.like to say, I'm really grateful for all the help and support you
:29:16. > :29:20.give my family over all these years, especially my mum. And then I start
:29:20. > :29:24.thinking that everything happens for a reason and I think all the
:29:24. > :29:29.things that's happened since Stephen's death, even though he had
:29:29. > :29:32.such a cruel death, it's like it was meant to be, because all the
:29:32. > :29:35.changes happened. Hadn't Stephen died, a lot of things would never
:29:35. > :29:45.have happened. That's the things I start thinking about whenever I'm
:29:45. > :29:52.
:29:52. > :29:56.People say to me, well, how strong you are - I don't think I'm strong.
:29:56. > :30:02.I think there is something there carrying me and helping me through,
:30:02. > :30:07.so I'm not doing it on my own. If there is one thing I must say, I
:30:07. > :30:11.don't forgive the boys who have killed Stephen. They took away
:30:11. > :30:15.Stephen's life. There's nothing in them, in their behaviour, anything
:30:15. > :30:25.to show that they regret what their actions have done and the pain that
:30:25. > :30:38.
:30:38. > :30:44.Today the judges deliver their decision and the Lawrences learn
:30:44. > :30:50.Gary Dobson will stand trial for Stephen's murder alongside David
:30:50. > :30:56.Norris. If we get today over with, we can evaluate from there, so to
:30:56. > :30:59.speak. Yeah, it's going to be hard. I'm not sure both individuals are
:30:59. > :31:05.going to be in court today. I suppose I am looking forward to see
:31:05. > :31:12.what they look like now. In the past, say ten years or so, I have
:31:12. > :31:16.not seen so and everybody has grown up and got a bit older. Stephen was
:31:16. > :31:21.never allowed to get older. They have got on with their lives as if
:31:21. > :31:27.nothing has happened. It is like, "Yeah, you thought you got away
:31:27. > :31:37.with it." With a bit of luck, we will say, "Yeah, we've got you," -
:31:37. > :31:43.
:31:43. > :31:50.well not quite, but we are on the We go into Court 4 and we get the
:31:50. > :31:53.decision. The prosecution are allowed to tell the family and
:31:53. > :31:57.myself an hour before what that decision is going to be so we will
:31:57. > :32:01.know an hour before. So we will go into court knowing the decision. If
:32:01. > :32:11.it is a good decision, that will be an hour on cloud nine. If it is a
:32:11. > :32:25.
:32:25. > :32:29.bad one, that hour will be a very It is the result Doreen has been
:32:29. > :32:34.waiting for. The new evidence is strong enough to go in front of a
:32:34. > :32:40.jury. Gary Dobson and David Norris will stand trial. It's been a long
:32:40. > :32:50.time in coming, but we still have a long way to go. So, at this moment
:32:50. > :32:51.
:32:51. > :32:57.in time, all I can think about is Stephen and that perhaps somewhere
:32:57. > :33:07.down the line we will finally get justice for him. It's been a long
:33:07. > :33:12.
:33:12. > :33:22.time for us to get to this position. Even though you hear all of it, but
:33:22. > :33:28.is it real? After 18 years, are we going to have a trial with the CPS
:33:28. > :33:32.saying, "We want to make something happen"? It's a bit surreal. Is
:33:32. > :33:38.this really happening? Is this some sort of dream? Is this going to be
:33:38. > :33:43.the start of a big hope that ends in disappointment? There will be a
:33:43. > :33:48.trial. It is 18 years too late? Yeah. The worry is having heard
:33:48. > :33:58.some of the evidence, which is fine at this stage, is it enough for a
:33:58. > :34:01.trial? Doreen is no stranger to overcoming obstacles. From the
:34:01. > :34:07.beginning, she found herself up against an establishment that
:34:07. > :34:11.didn't want to listen. Within 48 hours of Stephen's murder, there
:34:12. > :34:21.were already strong grounds for arrest but it took an intervention
:34:21. > :34:29.from the world's number one humanitarian Nelson Mandela before
:34:29. > :34:33.the police moved. It is as if they are condoning what these people are
:34:33. > :34:37.doing. Next day, despite no significant new evidence, police
:34:37. > :34:42.started arresting the suspects, including Dobson and Norris. But
:34:42. > :34:52.during interviews, the boys who were all aged 16 and 17, gave
:34:52. > :34:59.
:34:59. > :35:09.A vast array of weapons was seized but none could be proved to be the
:35:09. > :35:31.
:35:31. > :35:36.David Norris also remained tight- Gary Dobson was much more talkative.
:35:36. > :35:39.As well he might be. Dobson had some explaining to do. He had
:35:39. > :35:44.already told police during their house to house enquiries he stayed
:35:44. > :35:49.home all night. By the time of this interview the police knew otherwise.
:35:49. > :35:54.A local youth had heard about the stabbing, put two and two together
:35:54. > :36:00.and turned up at the Acourts' house an hour after the murder. There's
:36:00. > :36:05.been a stabbing. You boys don't know nothing about it? Why should
:36:05. > :36:12.we? This witness would later claim he saw Dobson, Norris and the
:36:12. > :36:19.Acourts cleaning themselves up and acting suspiciously. He's dead.
:36:19. > :36:29.now you've told us... Word got out this boy had spoken to the police
:36:29. > :36:37.
:36:37. > :36:47.about what he had seen. Dobson Then Dobson repeatedly lied about
:36:47. > :36:53.
:36:53. > :37:00.But unknown to Dobson, he had been photographed with Norris outside
:37:00. > :37:04.the Acourts' house a week before. Many items of clothing had been
:37:04. > :37:07.seized including a jacket from Dobson and a pair of jeans from
:37:07. > :37:17.Norris' room but they would yield no useful forensic evidence, for
:37:17. > :37:19.
:37:19. > :37:23.now. By the summer of 1993, the case ground to a halt. Today,
:37:23. > :37:33.Doreen's full-time job is keeping Stephen's case in the public eye.
:37:33. > :37:34.
:37:34. > :37:37.In a lasting memorial, she helped set up she is the director of the
:37:37. > :37:41.Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust in Greenwich. Tonight is about
:37:41. > :37:45.celebrating the life of Stephen Lawrence. Doreen hates the
:37:45. > :37:51.limelight but never shirks from being the public face of the
:37:51. > :37:56.campaign. We are honoured to be part of the story with Doreen and
:37:57. > :38:01.Neville and the family. Doreen and Neville divorced in 1999. Events
:38:01. > :38:05.like these are amongst the only times they meet. These balloons are
:38:05. > :38:15.balloons that have Stephen's name and his signature on them. We are
:38:15. > :38:16.
:38:16. > :38:20.going to invite the family first to release their balloons... God bless
:38:20. > :38:30.you, Stephen. Ladies and gentlemen, a toast to Stephen Lawrence. May
:38:30. > :38:34.his name rise and rise and rise. are here to look back at what's
:38:34. > :38:40.happened since his death and to look forward to the future and the
:38:41. > :38:48.work of the Trust. What I'm most proud of is having this magnificent
:38:48. > :38:54.building and the work that takes place in it, working hard to make
:38:54. > :39:04.Stephen Lawrence' name and all the achievements to be a lasting legacy
:39:04. > :39:07.
:39:07. > :39:11.for years to come. Thank you. APPLAUSE
:39:11. > :39:16.I lost a loved one. I don't know if I would be able to say things that
:39:16. > :39:20.she does, do the things she does, put a brave face on and meet
:39:20. > :39:27.hundreds of people and all she wants to do is to stick her head
:39:27. > :39:32.under the pillow and just grieve. I have great respect for that, huge
:39:32. > :39:42.admiration. I can carry on with my job. Her, this is her life. I'm so
:39:42. > :39:49.
:39:49. > :39:55.in awe of the fact she can continue At some point, I would love to be
:39:55. > :40:01.able to say bye-bye and see the Trust support itself. It is hard. I
:40:01. > :40:06.am just a regular mum, you know, who has lost a son and I have
:40:06. > :40:10.campaigned. I think if from the word go had the police caught his
:40:10. > :40:20.killers, and did what they needed to do, nobody would ever hear from
:40:20. > :40:21.
:40:21. > :40:31.me or know who I am. I have been divorced for the past, what, 11
:40:31. > :40:34.years. Would it be nice to be married? Probably not. Things were
:40:34. > :40:38.probably going wrong before Stephen's death. I have had nobody
:40:38. > :40:48.in my life since then. You can be out with loads of people and you
:40:48. > :40:56.
:40:56. > :41:00.After the failure of the first investigation in 1993, the family
:41:00. > :41:05.intensified the pressure on the Met and the fresh inquiry was launched
:41:05. > :41:10.the following year. This time, detectives set about their task
:41:10. > :41:15.with vigour and installed a tiny camera in a plug socket of Gary
:41:15. > :41:23.Dobson's flat. The footage showed Dobson, pictured here with the
:41:23. > :41:33.large knife, Norris and others at play and in their element. The
:41:33. > :42:00.
:42:01. > :42:10.They behave in a way which, as evidence of racism, is shocking
:42:11. > :42:12.
:42:12. > :42:18.almost beyond belief. Certainly almost beyond unbearing. The film
:42:18. > :42:21.shows Neil Acourt with a knife virtually all the time. As he is
:42:22. > :42:26.talking, he is waving the knife around, he is making stabbing
:42:26. > :42:31.movements in the air, he is making a strange bowling movement with the
:42:31. > :42:36.knife in a sinister way. Rereplicates the way Stephen
:42:36. > :42:41.Lawrence is attacked. It is evidence of a violent obsession
:42:41. > :42:45.with knives, but not evidence of murder. The investigation stalled
:42:45. > :42:50.again. The Lawrences frustrated at yet another failure took matter
:42:50. > :42:54.into their own hands and in 1996 brought a private prosecution.
:42:54. > :42:59.NEWSREEL: The parents of Stephen Lawrence arrive at the Old Bailey...
:42:59. > :43:07.The charges were laid against Gary Dobson, Luke Knight and Neil Acourt
:43:07. > :43:15.but the case rested on Duwayne Brooks who had picked out Acourt
:43:15. > :43:22.and Knight in an ID parade. But his evidence was ruled inadmissible.
:43:22. > :43:28.don't think what's happened today is fair comment. My wife is not
:43:28. > :43:33.here today. I remember collapsing when I went home and they would get
:43:33. > :43:38.a doctor to see me. I think that is probably one of the first times I
:43:38. > :43:44.have seen a doctor since Stephen's death. I have been holding myself
:43:44. > :43:50.for so long that I kept myself going and that was probably the
:43:50. > :43:53.last straw and it affected me quite badly. Three of the suspects,
:43:53. > :44:03.including Dobson, walked free from court. Because of the way the law
:44:03. > :44:09.
:44:09. > :44:16.stood at the time, they believed In a store room at the back of the
:44:16. > :44:22.Trust, Doreen is taking me through a box of Stephen's belongings. Who
:44:22. > :44:27.is that? He was the one... I can see that despite the public profile,
:44:27. > :44:35.Doreen guards closely her private memories of him. These are some
:44:35. > :44:41.pictures that are of him growing up. I didn't like the idea of too many
:44:41. > :44:51.photos of Stephen being out. I just think that everybody just seems to
:44:51. > :44:54.
:44:54. > :45:04.want to have photos of him. I think no. The one is enough. This is his
:45:04. > :45:10.
:45:10. > :45:15.cap from the Cubs and the Scouts. He got his bronze and silver badge,
:45:15. > :45:23.he didn't quite get his gold. This is just his work. Then when I look
:45:23. > :45:31.at the date of when he did that, he did it on April 7, 15 days before
:45:31. > :45:36.he died, when he did that. When you say you can't read it? No, I can't
:45:36. > :45:41.read it. No. Why not? I find it difficult. When I look at what he
:45:41. > :45:51.could achieve and, it's his work here, no, I'm not ready to read
:45:51. > :45:52.
:45:52. > :45:59.this yet. Not ready to read this yet. In the early days I know there
:45:59. > :46:03.was days when I would lock myself in my room. I didn't come out. That
:46:03. > :46:10.was really a dark place. I know once you're in there, it's very
:46:10. > :46:18.difficult to take yourself back out. I'm always worried about allowing
:46:19. > :46:22.myself to go back there. With just two months until the trial,
:46:23. > :46:29.Doreen's decided to have a family barbeque. It's a rare opportunity
:46:29. > :46:35.to see her and Stuart relaxing. It's a good way to get the family
:46:35. > :46:45.together, to spend some time together, socialising, you know.
:46:45. > :46:46.
:46:46. > :46:50.That's stressful times and stuff. I hope they're prosecuted for my mum.
:46:50. > :46:56.It would put this to rest and her to move on. That's the most
:46:56. > :47:03.important thing to me really. have you got for your old auntie,
:47:03. > :47:07.darling? Doreen's sister has been a crucial pillar of support
:47:07. > :47:14.throughout the years. She didn't ask for this. This is not the life
:47:14. > :47:19.she planned for herself. I think from the 2 2nd April 1993, her
:47:19. > :47:27.world became dark. I'm hoping by the end of the year, there will be
:47:27. > :47:37.a light. What we need is justice. I don't think she'll stop until she
:47:37. > :47:38.
:47:38. > :47:44.hears "guilty". It was the Lawrence family's relentless search for
:47:44. > :47:47.answers which eventually forced the full public inquiry in 1998
:47:47. > :47:52.REPORTER: Doreen Lawrence has been highly critical of the police
:47:52. > :48:01.investigation into her son's death. The Macpherson Inquiry would become
:48:01. > :48:06.the water shed moment in British race relations history. It exposed
:48:06. > :48:13.the Met and in particular its first investigation into Stephen's murder
:48:13. > :48:17.as institutionally racist. I think she went through the inquiry almost
:48:17. > :48:23.saying "I told you so. I told you so." Look, this is what was
:48:23. > :48:25.happening and I knew it all along. The crucial thing about the
:48:25. > :48:30.institutional racism, is that there was a collective failure of the
:48:30. > :48:35.police, as we call it, a collective failure. Almost every decision that
:48:35. > :48:41.should have been made didn't get made. If it did get made, there
:48:41. > :48:45.aren't records of it. If it was made, the decision was wrong.
:48:45. > :48:48.William Macpherson called for a complete overhaul of police
:48:48. > :48:52.training and crucially a change in the double jeopardy law, which
:48:52. > :48:55.eventually led to the current prosecution. But the inquiry would
:48:55. > :48:58.be remembered as much for its damning verdict of the met as it
:48:58. > :49:03.would for the scenes outside after the five suspects had finished
:49:03. > :49:08.their evidence and revealed very little once again. They were just
:49:08. > :49:15.laughing in our faces. They knew that was it. They'd got away with
:49:15. > :49:21.murder. People just had enough of them and was pelting them with all
:49:21. > :49:25.sorts of fruit, bottles and all sorts of things thrown at them. But
:49:25. > :49:35.they came across as exactly the type of person that they are, evil,
:49:35. > :49:50.
:49:50. > :49:56.It's the first day of the trial, the day she's been waiting for for
:49:56. > :50:03.18 years and I had, perhaps naively, expected Doreen and Stuart to be
:50:03. > :50:09.more upbeat. Just numb at the moment. The media attention is
:50:09. > :50:17.going to be even more intense than ever. It's like something new, you
:50:17. > :50:22.know, it may be going on for 18 years, but it's still something new.
:50:22. > :50:28.Listening to the news this morning, you know, it's so clinical, how the
:50:28. > :50:35.reporters, how they talk about it. It's just a matter of fact. It's a
:50:35. > :50:39.statement. It's emotional involvement for me. Most of the
:50:39. > :50:42.stuff is resting on contamination. What the prosecution is saying for
:50:42. > :50:47.us is that they are ready for that, they have answers for it. Dare I
:50:47. > :50:51.say if we meet in five weeks' time, I think we'll have a conviction.
:50:51. > :50:57.What do they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating? Until
:50:57. > :51:01.that happens, nobody can be certain. Are you ready? If there's such a
:51:01. > :51:11.thing as being ready. Just put one foot in front of the other really,
:51:11. > :51:25.
:51:25. > :51:29.as I've been doing for the past 18 In the following weeks the
:51:29. > :51:34.Lawrences would hear testimony from dozens of police and forensic
:51:34. > :51:41.witnesses. And for the first time, the case against David Norris was
:51:41. > :51:45.revealed. On a sweatshirt found in his bedroom, during the original
:51:45. > :51:52.search of his house, there were six fibres that matched Stephen's
:51:52. > :51:58.trousers. Also, a fibre that matched Stephen's polo shirt. On
:51:58. > :52:05.his jeans, there was found amongst the debris on the surface, two very,
:52:05. > :52:08.very small fragments of hair. And mitochondrial DNA of that hair
:52:08. > :52:13.matches Stephen Lawrence and his maternal relatives. Norris would
:52:13. > :52:18.tell the jury the garments didn't belong to him. Dobson said he
:52:18. > :52:21.hadn't worn the key jacket for years before the murder. Dobson's
:52:21. > :52:26.defence meant a stinging attack on the principal evidence, the blood
:52:26. > :52:31.stain on the jacket collar. They claim that one of these dried blood
:52:31. > :52:34.fragments from Stephen found their way to Dobson's jacket through
:52:34. > :52:39.cross-contamination. When scientists tested the jacket for
:52:39. > :52:42.traces of saliva, they sprayed it with water before covering it with
:52:42. > :52:47.a paper sheet and wait to squeeze them together. It's during this
:52:47. > :52:53.process, they say, that one of Stephen's blood flakes became
:52:53. > :52:58.liquid again and soaked into the fabric. The defence didn't offer
:52:58. > :53:01.any scientific experts of their own. But the lead prosecution scientist
:53:01. > :53:08.carried out a series of tests to see if this saliva examination
:53:08. > :53:12.could explain the blood stain. During our experimentation we were
:53:12. > :53:17.never able to replicate the stain on the collar using dried flakes of
:53:17. > :53:21.blood from Stephen Lawrence or from the blood from the packaging. The
:53:21. > :53:26.nature and appearance of that stain indicated that it was the result of
:53:26. > :53:30.wet blood landing on that garment. And it was not the result of the
:53:30. > :53:33.testing that had been conducted subsequently on the item. One of
:53:33. > :53:38.the explanations for the stain was that the wearer of that jacket was
:53:38. > :53:42.at the scene of the attack? Yes. But the jury was told how a
:53:42. > :53:48.comprehensive police review of the handling of each exhibit over the
:53:48. > :53:51.past 18 years exposed a series of contamination plunders. Given that
:53:51. > :53:57.this is one of the most High profile, unsolved murders in
:53:57. > :54:01.Britain, never mind in the Met, wouldn't the Lawrences be entitled
:54:01. > :54:08.to expect that these exhibits would have been better looked after?
:54:08. > :54:13.I think that they were things I wish were better, but they didn't
:54:13. > :54:17.affect the evidence that we've placed before the court. I'm not a
:54:17. > :54:22.scientist. I go to scientists and had they have said to me, well,
:54:22. > :54:28.that is a disaster. Then I would have, my heart would have sank. But
:54:28. > :54:32.at no stage did we get that. Four weeks into the trial, after intense
:54:32. > :54:42.legal debate, a jury was shown the police surveillance video for the
:54:42. > :54:44.
:54:44. > :54:49.very first time, 17 years after it Both defendants took to the stand
:54:49. > :54:53.to denounce their extreme racism and proclaim their innocence.
:54:53. > :55:00.Alibis were offered. Stephen and Pauline Dobson swore their son was
:55:00. > :55:03.at home at the time of the murder, as did Norris's mother. The
:55:03. > :55:13.defendants' fate is now in the hands of the jury, which, after six
:55:13. > :55:26.
:55:26. > :55:30.weeks of evidence, is sent out to After deliberating for more than
:55:30. > :55:35.eight-and-a-half hours, the jury has finally returned its verdict,
:55:35. > :55:38.Gary Dobson and David Norris have been found guilty of the murder of
:55:38. > :55:45.Stephen Lawrence. They now face prison. For the Lawrences, after a
:55:45. > :55:49.wait of more than 18 years, justice has finally been delivered.
:55:49. > :55:57.In her only post verdict television interview, Doreen told me of her
:55:57. > :56:02.relief. Just so numb. I think when the, when we were told that the
:56:02. > :56:05.jury was, the verdict was in, all of a sudden you just feel gosh,
:56:06. > :56:09.panic, whereas before, even though I was sort of really holding myself,
:56:09. > :56:13.it seems to have just got even tighter still. So when they said
:56:14. > :56:18.that you know, you just feel something inside like snap, to say
:56:19. > :56:25.thank God. When it's both of them, that's even more. You were very
:56:25. > :56:31.emotional in court. Was it like an outpouring of 18 years of... Grief.
:56:31. > :56:34.Some part of that I feel that it's just releasing some of the stress
:56:34. > :56:39.and strain that's been happening, that's been building up for the
:56:39. > :56:44.past 18 years. It's not all out. I just think I'm still, you know, am
:56:44. > :56:51.I going to keep pinching myself to say that they've actually been
:56:51. > :56:55.found guilty? I think it will take a little while to sink in.
:56:55. > :57:01.Doreen Lawrence this verdict may represent a chance for closure. For
:57:01. > :57:06.the Met and for Britain, the legacy of Stephen Lawrence will endure.
:57:06. > :57:09.This case is extraordinary, which has had more impact on policing
:57:09. > :57:14.than any other single case I can think of in modern times and
:57:14. > :57:19.possibly in the history of the met. The way we approach homicide
:57:19. > :57:22.investigations is utterly changed. The way we approach working with
:57:22. > :57:29.families and with communities is completely changed. The face of the
:57:29. > :57:34.met has changed. I meet many people in my work, and the one thing they
:57:34. > :57:37.all say is what a fantastic job the Lawrences have done. That's white
:57:37. > :57:39.people as well as black people. It's not necessarily just about
:57:40. > :57:47.black and white. It's about whatever background you're from, it
:57:47. > :57:52.means you can't get away with doing the things that you did before.
:57:53. > :57:57.Even after all this time, the name of Stephen Lawrence is instantly
:57:57. > :58:02.recognised and even among people who weren't alive when he was
:58:02. > :58:06.killed, the name alone is a key to a whole series of issues and
:58:07. > :58:10.thoughts, positive ideas about Britain and race. If that's Stephen
:58:10. > :58:17.Lawrence's legacy, it's a very fine one. We should be very grateful to
:58:17. > :58:21.him. Stephen's name will go down in
:58:21. > :58:31.history for all sorts of things. That's a positive. I'd rather have
:58:31. > :58:31.
:58:31. > :58:36.my son here than having his name attached to a legacy. Gary Dobson
:58:36. > :58:42.and David Norris are now convicted of the murder of Stephen Lawrence.