Stephen Lawrence was born in 1974 to Neville and Doreen Lawrence, originally from Jamaica. He was born in Greenwich Hospital, which meant he was a British Citizen. Stephen was studying physics and technology, with an ambition to become an architect. He lived in Eltham, South East London.
On the 22nd of April 1993, Stephen went to his school, called Blackheath Bluecoat School as usual. He then went to Lewisham (a shopping centre) and caught a bus from there to his uncle's house, where he met up with his best friend, Duwayne Brooks. They played video games until late evening and both friends left.
Catching the 286 bus home would get them there late, so they decided to catch either the 122 bus or 161 bus. At that moment they were on Well Hall Road. Stephen went to check round the corner, on Dickson Road, whether he could see a bus or not and went back to the bus stop. Duwayne was a little off Lawrence.
Just then, Duwayne saw a gang of 5 or 6 white people approaching Lawrence from the other side of the road, shouting abuse of “What, what, nigger.” They pinned him down and stabbed him twice, in the shoulder and collar. The stabs were 5 inches (13 cm) deep, which meant that his right arm was technically numb and paralysed and his breathing became restricted. Duwayne called Stephen to run and Stephen kept up until about 130 yards where he collapsed.
It is surprising that he managed to get 130 yards with all the injuries he had, but also the fact that the deep penetrating wound of the right side caused the upper lobe to partially collapse his lung. It is therefore a testimony to Stephen's physical fitness that he was able to run the distance he did before collapsing.
Richard Shepherd (pathologist), Macpherson Report
Duwayne called an ambulance and a of-duty police car pulled over. A police officer covered him with a blanket. Ambulance came and took to hospital but by 11:05pm he was dead of blood loss.
The main suspects for this crime were Gary Dobson, Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt, David Norris and Luke Knight. There were three witnesses who saw the action but couldn't distinguish between the faces. An old lady phoned detectives thrice, to report that these were the most likely killers. This was because just a month before, four of the killers were involved in stabbing Gurdeep Banghal and Stacey Benefield. Many others had been victimised recently such as Kevin London and Darren Giles.
The prime suspects were confirmed within 3 days but weren't arrested until the following year, 'due to misconception on whether arrest based on reasonable suspicion was allowed by the law.' Neil Acourt and Luke Knight were charged with murder but were cleared. The reason given was that there was 'insufficient evidence.' Apparently, Duwayne's witness account was unreliable. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) was described as 'institutionally racist.'
The Mail published on the front page as a headline, with such confidence: 'Murderers: The Mail accuses these men of killing. If we are wrong, let them sue us' and the picture of each of the five suspects was presented underneath this shockingly powerful and risky statement.
In 2002, David Norris and
