New Stephen Lawrence drama Stephen starts on ITV tonight (August 30), but what happened to his killers?
Stephen was attacked and killed in a racially-motivated attack in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.
His parents Doreen and Neville campaigned tirelessly for justice for their son.
However, this didn’t happen till more than 20 years after the crime was committed.
What happened to Stephen Lawrence?
Stephen was stabbed while waiting for a bus in a racially-motivated murder in 1993.
After attending school as normal, Stephen went shopping in Lewisham, before going to his uncle’s house in Grove Park.
He was joined by his friend Duwayne Brooks and they left together at 10pm.
Read more: Are Stephen Lawrence’s parents Doreen and Neville still married?
At 10.25pm, Stephen went to see if the bus was coming, leaving Duwayne at the bus stop.
At around 10.38pm, Duwayne saw five or six white youths approach Stephen, quickly engulfing him.
They forced him to the ground and stabbed him twice, severing arteries and perforating a lung.
Duwayne ran for help and urged Stephen to do the same.
He collapsed after running 120 metres and was pronounced dead as a result of his injuries at 11.05pm.
At the time of his death, Stephen was studying technology and physics and English language and literature.
He was hoping to become an architect.
What happened to the killers of Stephen Lawrence?
Five suspects were originally linked to Stephen’s murder.
In the days following the stabbing, several local residents came forward to provide names of suspects.
An anonymous note was also left on a police car windscreen and in a telephone box naming a local gang as the five main suspects.
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The suspects were Gary Dobson, brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight and David Norris.
All five of the suspects had previously been involved in racist knife attacks in the same area.
No one was arrested until two weeks after Stephen’s death.
Neil Acourt and Luke Knight were eventually charged with murder, but the charges were dropped, with the Crown Prosecution Service citing insufficient evidence.
A ‘completely unprovoked racist attack’
In 1994, the Lawrence family brought a private prosecution against the suspects.
The charges against Jamie Acourt and David Norris were dropped before the trial for lack of evidence.
The three remaining suspects were acquitted of murder by a jury who decided Stephen’s friend Duwayne Brooks’ evidence was unreliable.
They all refused to answer questions at Stephen’s inquest, claiming privilege against self-incrimination.
The jury delivered a verdict of unlawful killing “in a completely unprovoked racist attack by five white youths”.
And the Daily Mail ran pictures of all five with the headline: “Murderers: The Mail accuses these men of killing. If we are wrong, let them sue us.”
They never did.
In 2005 the law was changed based on part of the findings from the Lawrence case.
It was recommended that the rule against double jeopard should be repealed in murder cases.
This therefore made it possible to subject an acquitted murder suspect to a second trial should “fresh and viable” new evidence come to light.
And, after a 2006 cold case review, that’s exactly what happened.
What new evidence came to light?
A microscopic stain of Lawrence’s blood was found in Dobson’s jacket.
It had dried into the fibres and its tiny size implied this had happened very quickly.
The forensic analysis concluded it had not been transferred there from elsewhere as dried blood or later soaked into the fabric, but was deposited fresh, and would have dried almost immediately.
Fibres from Lawrence’s clothing, and hairs with a 99.9% chance of coming from Stephen were also found on the two men’s clothes from the time or in the evidence bag holding them.
As a result, Gary Dobson and David Norris were arrested and charged in September 2011.
On January 3 2012, they were found guilty of Lawrence’s murder.
How long did the killers of Stephen Lawrence get?
They were sentenced to detention at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, equivalent to a life sentence for an adult.
It carried a minimum terms of 15 years and two months for Dobson and 14 years and three months for Norris.
The judge stated that the sentences reflected the fact that Dobson and Norris were juveniles (Dobson was 17 and Norris was 16) at the time of the offence.
As such, the starting point for the minimum term was therefore 12 years.
The judge acknowledged this was “lower than some might expect”.
They have both unsuccessfully appealed the murder conviction.
Mr Justice Treaty described the attack as a “crime committed for no other reason than racial hatred”.
He continued: “A totally innocent 18-year-old youth on the threshold of a promising life was brutally cut down in the street in front of eyewitnesses by a racist thuggish gang.
“You were both members of that gang. I have no doubt at all that you fully subscribed to its views and attitudes.”
So where are the killers of Stephen Lawrence now?
Gary Dobson is now 45 and is currently serving his life sentence at Gartree Prison.
Before being jailed for Stephen’s murder, he was behind bars for five years in 2010 for possessing and supplying class B drugs.
David Norris grew up with a wealthy family and is currently in Belmarsh prison, in south-east London.
He was allegedly attacked by other prisoners in July 2017.
What about the other suspects?
They were never convicted over the murder.
Luke Knight is a free man. It’s thought he lives in London, has a family and works as a roofer.
Jamie Acourt was on the run in Spain with his brother, but is now a convicted drug trafficker.
Neil Acourt was released from jail after serving less than half of his six-year sentence.
According to reports, he’s been spotted near where the murder of Stephen took place.
Stephen starts on ITV tonight (August 30) at 9pm.
So what do you think? Will you be tuning in? Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and tell us.