Stephen Lawrence killer to receive damages

One of Stephen Lawrence’s killers has settled a claim with the Ministry of Justice after he was attacked in prison.

David Norris suffered a broken nose and ribs at HMP Belmarsh in 2011 where he was being held on remand ahead of his trial for murder.

He sued for damages, reported to be £8,000, after the assault. Norris and another man, Gary Dobson, were found guilty of murdering the teenager in a racist attack in 1993. The pair were given life sentences in 2012. A spokesman for the Ministry of Jus- tice said: “We robustly defend all claims and are successful in two-thirds of cases brought against us by prisoners.”

During Norris’s murder trial, defence lawyer Stephen Batten QC said the prisoner had been attacked several times while on remand in jail. He told jurors at the Old Bailey on one occasion his client’s nose was broken, teeth were knocked out, and ribs were broken. Stephen, a black 18-year-old from London, was waiting for a bus on the evening of 22 April 1993 when he was stabbed to death.