Stephen Lawrence: Independent police force to review murder investigation
The picture featured in this section has been provided by the family themselves.
The killing of Stephen Lawrence and the unsuccessful investigation it led to triggered an important examination conducted in public.
Rewritten: Authored by Daniel De Simone
The London Metropolitan Police Department has consented to allowing an autonomous law enforcement authority to assess the inquiry into the slaying of Stephen Lawrence.
The request to reopen the previously inactive investigation was made by Baroness Doreen Lawrence, mother of Stephen.
Previously, the Met expressed regret to her for not keeping their word to respond to inquiries brought up by a BBC examination.
The Metropolitan Police acknowledged the concerns brought forward by Baroness Lawrence and have decided to have an external group evaluate their methods.
The procedure for the independent review and the force responsible for it are unknown as of now. However, this could result in the investigation of the homicide being resumed.
In a BBC interview on Monday morning, Baroness Lawrence urged the Metropolitan Police to initiate a new probe into her son's murder, highlighting that there are additional steps that the law enforcement agency can take to ensure that all of the murderers are held accountable.
On April 22, 1993, in the vicinity of Eltham located in the southern region of London, Stephen, who was only 18 years old, was fatally wounded by a group of young white males in a racial assault.
The moment when he was killed and the subsequent mishandling of the investigation was a turning point that caused a lot of discussion all over the country about racism within the police system.
The initial inadequacies of the Metropolitan Police were censured by the significant Macpherson Report in 1999. This report concluded that the Met had a fundamental issue with racism ingrained within its institutional structure.
The way in which the force managed the case was terrible, resulting in the conviction of only two of Stephen's murderers. The police had originally identified Gary Dobson and David Norris as two of the five main suspects in the case.
The Met declared that they were no longer investigating the murder in 2020, stating that they had already explored all possible leads.
In the previous year, the BBC made known to the public a new potential culprit, Matthew White, who passed away at the age of 50 in 2021. The BBC also exposed several instances where the police failed to conduct thorough investigations on him.
Following Mr. White's identification by the BBC, the Metropolitan Police pledged to give Baroness Lawrence responses to a range of inquiries, however, they failed to deliver on their promise.
On Monday, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley expressed regret and informed the BBC that "in addition to the previous shortcomings over a number of years, this is utterly unacceptable."
Stephen Lawrence's mother has stated that there are still three individuals who have yet to be apprehended as suspects in her son's case.
Reports of a evaluation conducted by an autonomous police authority became public after London's Mayor Sadiq Khan had an honest discussion with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner on Monday afternoon.
The mayor spoke on Monday night after their meeting and shared that Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Commissioner, will request an independent police agency to investigate the assessment made by the Metropolitan Police regarding the case.
Mr. Khan expressed his sincere hope that the Lawrence family, especially Doreen, would feel reassured by the new leadership of the Metropolitan police service. He emphasized that their efforts would be doubled to ensure that Doreen and her family have confidence that the police have learned from past mistakes.
The police told the media, "Even though we haven't found any new leads, we understand that Baroness Lawrence has strong worries about this case and its importance. Therefore, we will be getting help from another law enforcement agency to take another look at our methods."
The newly established unit will be tasked with evaluating a considerable volume of proof. Its primary objective is to determine if there exists a possibility of prosecuting individuals who are still alive.
A person with connections to the mayor's office revealed that the Commissioner has acknowledged the importance of winning over the trust of the Lawrence family by the proposed new authority.
