It’s been three decades since Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racially motived attack, aged just 18
WORDS: VERONIQUE HAWKSWORTH. PHOTOS: ALAMY, DAILY MAIL, EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS, GETTY, SHUTTERSTOCK
It’s a moment etched in Baroness Doreen Lawrence’s mind. When she saw her neighbours at her front door, and heard her son Stephen’s name, she knew something terrible had happened. He’d been attacked, they said, and he was hurt. But they knew little else so Baroness Lawrence and her husband Neville went out looking for their son. It was 22 April 1993 and after 10.30pm, so it was dark. They made their way to the local hospital where doctors explained Stephen had been brought in. After a torturous wait in a family room, they were given the devastating news that their son was dead. ‘I looked at them as if to say, “How do you mean he’s dead? He can’t be dead.” I don’t remember what I did then. I can’t remember whether I cried out or anything. That was it,’ the mum-of-three recalls. She asked to see her son’s body so she could say goodbye. ‘He looked as though he was just sleeping,’ she remembers. ‘I just kissed him and more or less cuddled him.’
POLITICALLY CHARGED
It later emerged that Stephen had been stabbed in an unprovoked attack at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London. Killed by strangers, the disturbing case would become politically charged. Stephen’s death highlighted not only the state of racism and knife violence in the UK, but also an apparent apathy and racial bias in the police force. To this day, only two of the initial suspects have been jailed, following forensic discoveries in 2011.
Thirty years on, Stephen Lawrence Day will be marked on 22 April to remember the young man who had his life cut short at just 18. It is also a chance to reflect on any progress made in the past three decades. Have things changed for the better, or is the state of racial hate crime on the streets as bad as ever?
On the evening of his death, Stephen, who dreamt of being an architect, was heading home from his uncle’s house with his friend Duwayne Brooks when he was set upon by a group of white youths. Forcing Stephen to the ground, they stabbed him once in his right collarbone and once in his left shoulder, severing axillary arteries and puncturing a lung.
The prime suspects were identified within three days, but it took two weeks for any arrests to be made. Brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, Gary Dobson, David Norris and Luke Knight were arrested in connection with the killing. All denied involvement in
