After 19 long years two of the murderers of Stephen Lawrence have finally been brought to justice. In their wake Gary Dobson and David Norris left a grieving family and a criminal justice system with deeper questions than they had ever had to answer before.
The nation's thoughts remain, all these years later, with the parents of Stephen Lawrence. To lose a child is a tragedy indeed, but to lose a child as a result of a racist and pointless attack is simply unbearable. But their misery was only to be compounded further. They themselves were treated with suspicion, and Lawrence's best friend who was with him at the time of his murder was assumed to be a member of a gang. Furthermore, the Lawrences were then told that the key early part of the investigation, the golden hour, had been wasted due to a combination of malpractice and incompetence. Then finally they were told that due to the actions of the Crown Prosecution Service and then later the Criminal Complaints Authority no legal action could be taken against Stephen Lawrence's killers.
So the 19 year struggle for justice of Doreen and Neville Lawrence. They were left with no choice but to find brave lawyers to work pro bono, free of charge, to try and get some justice. There were continual attempts to try and brush them aside and yet they persevered until justice was done. Yet the remarkable thing remains, that at a time when some will celebrate the Lawrence's bravery has manifest itself again in the words of Neveille Lawrence when he says, "I'm also conscious of the fact that there were five or six attackers that night. I do not think I'll be able to rest until they are all brought to justice."
Our debt to the courage of the Lawrences runs deep. At the time of Stephen Lawrence's murder the Metropolitan Police Service was "institutionally racist" as found by the Macpherson Report in 1998. But given the efforts of the Lawrences in pushing for the subsequent public inquiry the police service of today is very different to that of 1993 against which cases were routinely brought for racist abuse or for mistreatment. The Macherson Report also found that the double jeopardy law should be abrogated in murder cases to allow a retrial on new and compelling eveidence. This became law in 2005 and was crucial in bringing a new case against Dobson and Norris.
Stephen Lawrence certainly was not the first black man to be murdered nor was he the last. The fact that his parents, Doreen a special needs teacher and Neville a decorator, brought their son's case into the mainstream public conscience is remarkable. They were able to articulate in a clear and charismatic manner that they were not getting justice due to the colour of their son's skin. They were able to explain to ordinary citizens of all races and backgrounds that their son had died and they were a grieving family who simply wanted justice to be done.
Since the murder of their son there have been great changes made to the Metropolitan Police Service as well as to the Crown Prosecution Service. All is still not perfect. But it was Cressida Dick who decided in 2006 to have a cold case review to take stock on the evidence in this case in light of the changes to technology and the law. Whilst it was this review that allowed two of Stephen Lawrence's killers to be locked up, we await further compelling evidence which will bring the rest of his killers to justice.