Four police officers have today been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service over their handling of Stephen Lawrence's murder.
The Crown Prosecution Service will be asked to consider if four senior officers in the original murder investigation committed misconduct in public office.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it has passed a file of evidence to prosecutors to consider whether they should be charged over alleged misconduct in public office.
All four ex-Metropolitan Police officers held senior roles in the first few weeks of the original investigation into the 18-year-old's murder, the IOPC said.
The officers, who are all now retired, are Detective Superintendent Ian Crampton, in charge for the first three days after the murder; Det Supt Brian Weeden, who took over as senior investigating officer; Det Chief Supt William Ilsley, who oversaw them; and DI Ben Bullock.
It follows a multi-million-pound investigation by the National Crime Agency – Britain's version of the FBI – into why officers in charge of the first Met investigation into 18-year-old Stephen's murder in 1993 did not make arrests for two weeks, despite officers repeatedly being given the names of suspects.
Four former police officers have today been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service over their handling of Stephen Lawrence's murder.
Detective Chief Superintendent William Ilsley, left, oversaw the original investigation into the death of Stephen Lawrence. Detective Superintendent Ian Crampton, right, led the Stephen Lawrence inquiry for the first three days
Detective Brian Weeden replaced Crampton three days after the inquiry began
Detective Inspector Ben Bullock was deputy senior investigating officer in the case some 27 years ago
Stephen was murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993, as he ran to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks.
All four former officers strenuously deny committing any offences, with supporters previously claiming they were victims of a 'politically motivated witch-hunt'.
The four former officers have been interviewed under caution, which does not imply guilt.
The offence of misconduct in public office – effectively breach of duty – carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
For the past five years, the NCA has been investigating whether the Lawrence murder suspects – which also included brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt and Luke Knight – were shielded as a result of corruption and who, if anyone, in Scotland Yard was involved.
The original investigation into his death was hampered by institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police, and claims that corrupt officers had sought to protect Norris, whose father Clifford Norris was a notorious drug dealer.
Last year ex-detective sergeant John Davidson was cleared by the IOPC of any corruption, having faced claims that he was in the pay of Clifford Norris.
The IOPC directed a spin-off investigation into the handling of the early stages of the investigation, and it was carried out by the National Crime Agency .
One issue under consideration was the two-week delay in making any arrests after Stephen's death, despite suspects being named by anonymous informants the day after he died.
Scotland Yard has spent more than £50 million over 25 years trying to convict the suspects.
A series of forensic breakthroughs led an Old Bailey jury to convict two of the five suspects – Gary Dobson and David Norris – in 2012.
Despite the convictions of Dobson and Norris, three other members of the gang that stabbed Stephen to death remain at large.
Stephen’s mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence, pictured giving evidence to Home Affairs Select Committee, has long campaigned for justice for her late son
Stephen’s campaigning parents, Doreen and Neville Lawrence , said a series of shocking errors in the early stages of the first murder investigation cheated them of ‘complete’ justice.
Gary Dobson, left, and David Norris, right, were convicted of Stephen's murder
In February 1997, the Daily Mail took the unprecedented step of naming the five suspects – Gary Dobson, David Norris and three others – as Stephen’s killers. Pictured: The front page of the Daily Mail on February 14, 1997
IOPC Regional director Sarah Green said: 'Following thorough and careful analysis of the evidence, we have decided there is an indication that four former officers may have committed the offence of misconduct in public office in relation to their actions and omissions prior to the arrests of the five key suspects for Stephen's murder in 1993.
'We will be providing a full file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service over coming days.
'It is important to note that a referral to the CPS does not necessarily mean that criminal charges will follow.
'It will now be for prosecutors to determine, applying the tests set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors, whether charges should follow and, if so, for whom and what those charges may be.'
Ms Green added: 'This has been a vast and comprehensive investigation by the NCA, involving the gathering and analysis of several million pages of information and intelligence spanning over 27 years since the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence and the attack on Duwayne Brooks on April 22 1993.
'NCA investigators have also interviewed over 150 people including serving and former police officers and staff involved in the original murder inquiry, relevant witnesses and others, including journalists with in-depth knowledge of the original investigation.'
Portrait of the five thugs in the spotlight
David Norris, now 43
Norris, who has five children from various relationships, was jailed for a minimum of 14 years and three months when convicted of Stephen’s murder in 2012.
The gangster’s son grew up in leafy Chislehurst, miles from his fellow gang members who were raised in the more deprived area of Eltham.
Norris, who has convictions for violence and racism, sought £10,000 in damages after he was beaten up in jail in 2017. In 2002, he was jailed for abusing an off-duty police officer on the same road where he and four others had slain Stephen nine years earlier.
Gary Dobson, now 45
Dobson is serving a life sentence in HMP Warren Hill, Suffolk, after he and David Norris were convicted of Stephen’s murder in 2012 when new forensic evidence linked them to the killing.
The father of two was jailed for a minimum of 15 years, two months, and his earliest release date could be 2026.
For 20 years he maintained his innocence but effectively admitted his guilt in 2013 when he abandoned an appeal against his conviction.
Gary Dobson and David Norris were both convicted of the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 2012 at the Old Bailey
Jamie Acourt, now 44
Acourt is 18 months into a nine-year jail sentence over a £4million cannabis plot having spent years in Spain on the run.
In 2018 he was found in Barcelona, where he had lived for two years as Simon Alfonzo. He was arrested over Stephen’s murder in 1993 but, like his brother Neil, was never convicted.
At his sentencing for the drug plot in 2018, his barrister claimed the only reason he hid was that he feared the press coverage he would get after years of being dogged by stories about his suspected involvement in the murder.
Neil Acourt, now 45
Neil Acourt was released from prison last year after being jailed for his part in a £4million drugs racket.
He was seen just two miles from where Stephen was murdered last April while out on licence, loading tools into a van. Acourt was never convicted of Stephen’s murder but was jailed for 18 months in 2002 for a racist attack on an off-duty black detective then imprisoned in 2017 for his role in the drug-smuggling operation. In 1994 a police surveillance team filmed him making appalling racist remarks.
Luke Knight, now 43
Knight was never convicted as there was insufficient evidence linking him with the murder. He is the only one of the five arrested over Stephen’s killing who does not have a conviction.
He was held in 1993 over the murder but was released. He appeared in court again in 1996 when Stephen’s parents brought a private prosecution, but walked free when it collapsed.
Left: Jamie Acourt, now 44; Centre: Neil Acourt, now 45; Right: Luke Knight, now 43
