London cops apologize for ‘significant error’ in probe of racist killing of teenager
In April 1993, a gang of people fatally stabbed Stephen Lawrence, an 18-year-old architecture student, at a bus stop. His friend, Duwayne Brooks, also was attacked yet managed to escape.
Police in London have apologized for mistakes made during their investigation into the racist killing of a Black teenager over 30 years ago.
In a statement released on Monday, London’s Metropolitan Police Service apologized for a “significant and regrettable error” in their probe into the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence. According to CNN, Met officials acknowledged that they did not adequately follow up on crucial information regarding a newly named suspect, Matthew White.
Responding to a BBC investigation into The Met’s mishandling of crucial probes, police shared that they had previously misidentified a relative of White who possessed crucial information about the crime.
“On the 30th anniversary of Stephen’s murder, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley apologized for our failings,” said Matt Ward, The Met’s deputy assistant commissioner, “and I repeat that apology today.”
In April of 1993, a gang of young people fatally stabbed Lawrence, an 18-year-old architecture student, at a bus stop. Lawrence’s friend, Duwayne Brooks, also was attacked yet managed to escape.
Five teenagers were identified and arrested for their involvement, but no one was ever successfully convicted at the time.
In 2012, two men were given life sentences for Lawrence’s murder, while “three or four other killers of Stephen Lawrence (are) at large,” Ward noted.
After years of advocacy on the part of Lawrence’s family, a 1997 inquest into his death concluded that Lawrence was killed unlawfully in a “completely unprovoked racist attack by five white youths.”
It’s been determined that the initial police probe had been “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism, and a failure of leadership.”
The Met’s revelation Monday referenced White’s two arrests — in 2000 and 2013 — and how the prosecution claimed no reasonable chance of conviction on each occasion.
According to the statement, the investigating team contacted White again in February 2020, but “insufficient witness or forensic evidence” prevented further action. He passed away in August 2021, months before the police closed the murder case and announced no more lines of inquiry were open.
The agency ordered a forensic investigation into the case last month.
Lawrence’s mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, told CNN in a statement that there should be “serious sanctions” against the authorities who did not adequately probe her son’s killing.
“What is infuriating about this latest revelation is that the man who is said to have led the murderous attack on my son has evaded justice because of police failures,” she claimed, “and yet not a single police officer has faced or will ever face action.”
Ward admitted that London policing is still affected by the racist killing of Lawrence, the attack on Brooks and the inadequate ensuing inquiries.
“Only when police officers lose their jobs can the public have confidence that failure and incompetence will not be tolerated,” said Baroness Lawrence, “and that change will happen.”
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