The blunders made 25 years ago and how Yard fought to put them right

SCOTLAND Yard spent years battling to right the wrongs committed in the first months of the inquiry into Stephen Lawrence’s murder.

More than £50million was spent as seven investigations and countless reviews poured over every possible lead, clue and piece of evidence.

Meanwhile, a landmark public inquiry led to changes in ‘double jeopardy’ laws which barred suspects being tried for the same crime twice.

In the 1993 murder inquiry detectives failed to act quickly on tip- offs made within days identifying the key five suspects. Four days after the stabbing surveillance officers stood by as a young man left the Acourts’ family home carrying clothing covered in a black bin liner.

Over the next six years, police faced a private prosecution, inquest and public inquiry into their failure to bring the men to justice. Two further murder inquiries were launched, however in 2004 prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to put anyone in the dock.

A bold decision two years later to submit every exhibit for a full forensic review by a private firm led to a breakthrough. In 2007 experts at LGC Forensics began working through 30 items of clothing seized from the homes of the suspects. The discovery of tiny flakes of Stephen’s blood and fibres from his clothes ultimately led to Gary Dobson and David Norris being arrested in 2011 and charged with his murder. On January 3, 2012, they were found guilty and jailed for life.

Police vowed to continue fighting to bring the remaining three suspects to justice. In 2016 police released CCTV of a man seen close to the murder scene and appealed for help identifying a woman whose bag strap was found nearby.

It led to 30 calls from the public but despite extensive inquiries any new leads came to nothing.