New Stephen drama shows parents’ long fight for truth

A TELEVISION drama will depict the battle for justice by the parents of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Stephen, 18, pictured, was killed in a racially-motivated attack while waiting for a bus in London in 1993. Five men were named by the Daily Mail as his killers in 1997, but it was not until 2012 that two of the group were convicted of murder.

The ITV drama called Stephen is set in 2006. It will be a three-part sequel to The Murder Of Stephen Lawrence, which was screened in 1999. Line Of Duty and Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio is helping to produce the show. Stephen’s parents Baroness Lawrence and her former husband Neville yesterday welcomed the new series. It will portray how detective Clive Driscoll – working closely with the Lawrences – put together an investigation that finally secured murder convictions.

The original investigation had failed to convict those responsible, and the campaign for justice by the Lawrences led to a public inquiry which branded the Metropolitan Police institutionally racist.

The Murder Of Stephen Lawrence will be repeated on ITV this Thursday and a discussion programme on the issues raised will also be screened.

Anti-racism campaigner Baroness Lawrence, 67, who was made a peer in 2013, said she hoped the show ‘will provide some insight into what we went through and give some hope to others that justice can eventually prevail.’

Mr Lawrence said: ‘It is important that the next part of the story is told, particularly at a time when, thanks to the Black Lives Matter campaign, concerns around institutional racism are so prominent.

‘The recent BLM protests have served to remind people that black men and women continue to be subjected to racially-motivated attacks. It was true when Stephen was killed and it still happens.’ It is not yet known when the new drama will be shown.