Ahead of the 25th anniversary of racist killing, Scotland Yard says it is considering closing the investigation down

Scotland Yard has said it has run out of leads in the Stephen Lawrence murder investigation, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the racist killing. It will wait until a three-part BBC documentary about the case is broadcast next week to see if anyone new comes forward. The Met police said it was reviewing the case, which means it is considering closing it down.

At least three of the gang who shouted abuse before the black teenager was stabbed at a south-east London bus stop in 1993 are still free.



The force’s leadership believe they have exhausted all leads and avenues of inquiry in one of the most high-profile murder hunts in the UK.

In a statement on Wednesday, police said: “Despite previous public appeals, rigorous pursuit of all remaining lines of inquiry, numerous reviews and every possible advance in forensic techniques, the Met investigation team is now at a stage where without new information the investigation is unlikely to progress further, and this was explained to the family earlier this year.”

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Two of the gang of at least five who attacked Stephen were convicted of murder in 2012 and the trial judge asked police to continue the hunt for the remaining attackers.

The Met bungled the first murder inquiry, missing crucial chances to catch the gang of at least five white youths who took the life of Stephen, an A-level student with dreams of becoming an architect. His mother, Doreen, had to endure a 25-year campaign for justice that saw her become Baroness Lawrence for her inspiring fight – but her biggest wish was to see all her son’s killers brought to justice.

The senior officer in charge of the investigation, Chris Le Pere, has retired and since late last year worked in a consultative role. In the Met statement, Le Pere said: “We understand that 25 years is a poignant anniversary of the tragedy of the murder of Stephen, and our thoughts remain very much with those who loved him, and feel his loss.

“With the approaching anniversary and airing of a documentary, Stephen: The Murder That Changed a Nation, there is still the opportunity for someone who knows what happened that night to have a conscience and come forward. I would say to you, it is never too late to do the right thing. We continue to speak to Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Dr Neville Lawrence to update them on the current Met position. “

Doreen Lawrence told the Daily Mail last week she would understand if the Met ended the investigation.

Timeline The fight for justice for Stephen Lawrence Show Hide Stephen Lawrence is stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack by a gang of white youths as he waits at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, with his best friend Duwayne Brooks.

Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt, Gary Dobson, Luke Knight and David Norris are arrested in connection with his murder. Committal proceedings are scheduled for Neil Acourt and Mr Knight but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) formally discontinues the prosecution following a meeting with the senior investigating officer.

After the CPS says new evidence is insufficient to support murder charges, the Lawrence family begins a private prosecution against Neil Acourt, Mr Knight and Dobson. The private prosecution against Neil Acourt, Mr Knight and Dobson begins at the Old Bailey but collapses after identification evidence is ruled inadmissible. The three are acquitted. An inquest jury finds that Stephen was "unlawfully killed by five white youths".

The Macpherson report finds the police guilty of mistakes and "institutional racism" and makes a series of recommendations on changes to policing and wider public policy.

The CPS announces there is "insufficient evidence" to prosecute anyone for the murder.

The double jeopardy legal principle, preventing suspects being tried twice for the same crime, is scrapped for certain offences when there is new evidence. The Court of Appeal agrees that Dobson's 1996 acquittal for the murder can be quashed in the face of new forensic evidence. It can then be reported for the first time that Dobson and Norris will face trial.

Dobson and Norris are found guilty of his murder. The National Crime Agency announces that the Metropolitan Police are being investigated for alleged corruption over their initial handling of the murder probe. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) finds that former police boss Richard Walton, who controversially met an undercover officer during the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, would have faced disciplinary proceedings if he had not been allowed to retire. It was alleged that Mr Walton "obtained information pertaining to the Lawrence family and their supporters, potentially undermining the inquiry and public confidence". Scotland Yard announces it has received "significant information" after a fresh appeal. Detectives were attempting to identify a woman whose DNA was on a bag strap found at the murder scene and a separate possible witness. Scotland Yard admits it has no new lines of inquiry in the investigation into Stephen Lawrence's murder.

The last big investigative opportunity detectives had that could lead to new charges revolved around a leather strap found yards from blood at the scene where Stephen was stabbed. Investigators were optimistic that the strap might produce evidence of guilt and believed it was left by one of the suspects as they fled the scene.

But leaders of the Metropolitan police, from commissioner Cressida Dick downwards, have in recent months come to believe that they have run out of leads.

Six years ago at the Old Bailey, Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted of Stephen’s murder after being tied to the murder scene by advances in forensic science. Among the prime suspects still at large are brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt and Luke Knight.

Sentencing Dobson and Norris after their conviction, following 19 years of evading justice, trial judge Mr Justice Treacy told the Met: “The convictions of Gary Dobson and David Norris will not hopefully close the file on this matter. On the evidence before the court, there are still three or four other killers of Stephen Lawrence at large.

“Just as advances in science have brought two people to justice, I hope the Metropolitan police will be alert to future lines of inquiry not only based on advances in science but perhaps also from information from those who have been silent so far, whoever they might be.”

Lawrence, 18, was murdered on 22 April 1993 as he and a friend, Duwayne Brooks, waited for a bus in Eltham, south-east London. They were attacked by a group of five to six white youths who shouted: “What, what, nigger?” and then rushed towards them. Lawrence was enveloped by the group, which “swallowed” him up through its “weight of numbers”, the murder trial of Dobson and Norris heard.

The Acourt brothers, Jamie and Neil, and Luke Knight were named to police within hours of the killing, but police delayed making arrests for two weeks until being shamed into doing so when Nelson Mandela championed the Lawrence family’s struggle during a visit to London.

The case was one of the most famous murders in Britain, and caused shockwaves across the criminal justice system and society.

The fight for justice by Lawrence’s parents led to a public inquiry which uncovered blunders by the Metropolitan police, blamed on institutional racism, which allowed his killers to escape justice.

But also it has been claimed the gangster father of one of the prime suspects, Clifford Norris, used ties to corrupt officers to thwart the first murder inquiry, which Scotland Yard, after years of denials, accepted was fatally flawed. Norris has denied corruption.

Other investigations into the fallout from the Lawrence case continue. A criminal investigation into claims that police corruption shielded the killers is still being conducted by the National Crime Agency, Britain’s equivalent of the FBI. Furthermore, an inquiry into claims that undercover police spied on the Lawrence campaign, among others, continues.

In a 2012 interview with the Guardian, Doreen Lawrence recalled the way the Met failed her: “In the early stages they were trying to prove that Stephen more or less caused this to himself, because of who he was. He belonged to a gang, and we as a family were not law-abiding citizens, so whatever happened was down to us.”

Stephen’s father Neville Lawrence said on Wednesday he remained hopeful that after the publicity around the 25th anniversary of Stephen’s death and the BBC documentary, someone would come forward. He told the Press Association: “I’m hoping that somebody, somewhere, that may have some information might just come forward. I’m hopeful.

“The threat of anything happening to them now isn’t as great as it was in the early days. I’m pleased that they [the police] tried all different options and are still trying after all these years.”