The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
I forgive my son’s racist thug killers – Lawrence
Father of murdered Stephen makes ‘hardest decision’ 25 years on
The father of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has made the humbling decision to forgive his son’s killers, nearly 25 years after losing his first child.
Neville Lawrence, 76, said the decision was the hardest he has ever made, and that he struggles to put into words the devastation caused to his family when his son was killed.
Stephen was murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham, south-east London, on April 22, 1993 at the age of 18.
His father said: “The fact that I had to lose my first child has been devastating. I can’t begin to explain the pain and the anguish me and my family have suffered over the past 25 years.”
He said the decision to forgive Stephen’s killers was “the hardest I will ever make in my lifetime”, but that he has embraced Christian faith. He plans to spend the 25th anniversary of his son’s death in church.
Two of the group of up to six thugs who attacked the teenager and his friend, Duwayne Brooks, simply because they were black, have been convicted of murder, but the rest have evaded justice.
David Norris and Gary Dobson are both serving life sentences, while three other men who have consistently been accused of the killing but never convicted are Jamie Acourt, 41, from Bexley; his brother Neil Acourt, 42, who uses his mother’s maiden name Stuart, and Luke Knight, 41, both from Eltham.
The initial investigation into Stephen’s death was hampered by incompetence, racism and alleged corruption.
A key moment was when Mr Lawrence and his exwife Doreen met Nelson Mandela two weeks after Stephen died. Mr Lawrence said: “Meeting him gave me the courage to do some of the things I have done over the years. Other families came to my rescue as well.”
Parts of the UK have seen a surge in violent crime, with nearly 60 murders in London so far this year.
Mr Lawrence, who speaks to young people to spell out the dire consequences of carrying a weapon, said: “Right now with the violence, and the knife crime violence, it is even more urgent now that I talk to these youngsters and explain to them the pain and the suffering they inflict on families.
“It is a life sentence and something that will never be served. I’ve been serving a life sentence for the last 25 years and I will go on serving that until the day I die.”
Mr Lawrence and his former wife, who is now Baroness Lawrence, have campaigned for more than two decades to get justice for their son.
The botched case led to a major public inquiry and eventually a change in the law to allow Dobson to be tried twice for murder.