Stephan Lawrence suspects jailed for racist attack
01 August 2002
Two of the five men named in the media as the murderers of Stephen Lawrence - the 18-year old black student who was stabbed to death by a gang as he waited for a bus in Eltham, south London, (see Statewatch vol 3 no 3, vol 5 nos 3 & 5, vol 6, no 3, vol 7 no 1, vol 8 nos 3/4, 5) - were jailed at the beginning of September after racially abusing a black police officer. Neil Acourt and Stephen Norris were sentenced to 18 months imprisonment at Woolwich crown court for the aggravated racial harassment of detective constable Gareth Reid in May 2001, less than half a mile from the scene of Stephen's murder.
The court was told that Norris drove a hire car at the policeman and that Acourt threw a drink at him and shouted "nigger". They were arrested after police traced them from DNA samples left at the scene. Judge Michael Carroll described the attack as "serious" and said that: "The court has a duty to make clear society's abhorrence of racially aggravated intentional harassment." The two men, who in mitigation claimed that their lives had been disrupted by Stephen's death, said that they would appeal against the conviction.
Eltham has seen a renewal of serious racist attacks over the last year, recalling the days prior to Stephen Lawrence's murder when a local gang, the "Nazi Turn Outs", was responsible for a series of vicious racist assaults. In September the fascist British National Party announced, on BBC Radio 4's morning news, that they were launching a leafleting campaign in the area targeting school students.
The Metropolitan police have also attempted to exploit Stephen's murder, by overlooking the fact that Stephen's killers escaped conviction because of their institutional racism and corruption, to call for changes in the law on double jeopardy. Under the double jeopardy rule a defendant cannot be tried twice for the same crime. The Met has supported a proposed Home Office amendment that would allow a second prosecution for serious crimes, including murder, rape, manslaughter and armed robbery.
The planned move has been described as "outrageous" by Imran Khan, the solicitor who acted for Stephen Lawrence's family. He said: "Those who are going to be targeted and prosecuted will be exactly those who are over-represented in the criminal justice system anyway. It will be really ironic that a change which came out of a race case ends up being used against black people." The change, which is opposed by civil liberties organisations, is expected to come into effect next summer. A campaign will be launched to oppose it.