UK: Three walk free
01 May 1996
The family of Stephen Lawrence, the 18-year old black youth who was brutally stabbed to death by a racist gang in April 1993, are considering taking a civil court action after their private criminal prosecution against his alleged attackers collapsed in April. Stephen's parents are also considering a negligence claim against the Metropolitan police for their failure to secure important evidence in their initial investigation (see Statewatch Vol 3 no 3).
The racists, Neil Acourt, Luke Knight and Gary Dobson, were acquitted of murder charges after Mr Justice Curtis ruled that eye-witness evidence, given by Stephen's friend Dwayne Brooks who was with Stephen when he was murdered, was inadmissible. Brooks had identified Acourt and Knight in an identity parade but Justice Curtis ruled that his evidence was contaminated because it contradicted earlier statements that he had made to the police. Other evidence disclosed at the trial included fibres, found on Stephen's body, that matched those from Dobson's jacket and a knife - similar to the murder weapon - that was found beneath the bed of Dobson's girlfriend. Other weapons, including knives, a sword and a revolver, were discovered at Acourt's home by the police.
Following the collapse of the trial details of a covert police video, filmed secretly at the home of Gary Dobson eighteen months after Stephen's death, were released. The video showed the three racists, plus a fourth man, David Norris (who had charges dropped at an earlier stage of the proceedings) playing with knives and stabbing furniture and other objects while shouting obscene racist abuse.
At one point in the video Acourt demonstrated to the others how to use a knife and later he is heard telling them: "If I was going to kill myself I would kill every black cunt, every copper, every Paki. I would go down to Catford [in south London] with two submachine guns. I would take one of them, skin the black cunt alive, torture him and set him alight. I would blow his two arms and legs off and say: "You can swim home now"."
Commentators have contrasted the initial police handling of the Lawrence case with the case of Richard Everitt, a white youth who was murdered in 1994. While police were, within a few hours, given information pertaining to the killers of Stephen Lawrence they failed to arrest anyone for over two weeks, allowing important evidence to be destroyed, and identification evidence to be discredited by street gossip. When Richard Everitt was killed the police immediately raided an Asian community centre and questioned over 300 Asian youths, leading to the life-imprisonment of Badrul Miah under the "joint enterprise" doctrine (see Statewatch, vol 6 no 2).
In a separate, but equally shocking case, the family of Afghani refugee Ruhullah Aramesh, who was beaten to death in a racist attack in south London in 1992, may be forced to take a civil action after a man jailed for his murder was freed from prison. Joseph Curtin was jailed for life in November 1993 after admitting taking part in the attack and being convicted of murder. His conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal because of a procedural error (see Statewatch, vol 2 no 5 & vol 3 no 6).
Evening Standard 25.4.96; Observer 28.4.96; Runnymede Trust Bulletin No 295 (May) 1996; South London Press 31.5.96.