No new Lawrence charges

Stephen Lawrence: stabbed to death in 1993

The killers of Stephen Lawrence will not face fresh murder charges because of insufficient evidence, it emerged today.


After an 11-year investigation - costing £30 million - detectives are about to be told they lack the evidence needed for a successful prosecution.

The Crown Prosecution Service will also advise the Metropolitan Police against going back to court with alternative charges.

The decision comes after a full reinvestigation of the case - the biggest ever conducted by Scotland Yard. This took five years but still failed to identify who stabbed the 18-year-old A-level student.

The CPS has spent two years considering thousands of pages of evidence against the five original suspects and a number of other individuals thought to have been involved in the killing.

They are expected to announce their decision by the end of the week after informing Stephen's parents, Doreen and Neville Lawrence. Stephen was stabbed to death by a gang of white youths in Eltham on 22 April 1993.

But bungled enquiries, the collapse of a private prosecution and prejudicial publicity scuppered any chance of convicting his killers.

Senior officers now admit that - unless new forensic evidence comes to light or a suspect confesses - it is unlikely the case will ever be solved.

One detective said: "We have gone as far as we can.

"No stone has been left unturned in the quest to get justice, but there is simply insufficient evidence to bring

fresh charges."

Gary Dobson, Neil Acourt and Luke Knight were acquitted of murder in 1996 when a private prosecution brought by the Lawrence family collapsed.

The case against two other suspects, Jamie Acourt and David Norris, was dropped before it reached court.

In December 2001, Darren Davis, 29, a cousin of Norris, was arrested on suspicion of murder. He, too, was cleared.

After three separate murder probes, a heavily criticised internal review and an external inquiry by Kent Police, Jack Straw, then Home Secretary, set up a public inquiry.

The resulting £4.19million MacPherson report accused the Met of institutional racism. The Lawrence family was later awarded £320,000 compensation.

Before today Scotland Yard had intended to pursue fresh charges against the main suspects in the murder - if the Government succeeds in scrapping the "double jeopardy" rule, which prevents acquitted defendants being tried again for the same crime.

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