Stephen Lawrence murder: ‘No closure until all the suspects are found guilty’

Duwayne Brooks, who was with Mr Lawrence on the night he was stabbed in April 1993, said yesterday’s verdicts were just “part of closure”.

He said last night: “It can’t be full closure, because all the suspects are not found guilty.

“But I hope, more than ever, that this inspires the investigating team to work harder to bring the rest of the suspects before a jury.”

Top-ranking officers at Scotland Yard have said the Met will work to bring the rest of Mr Lawrence’s killers to justice.

Witnesses to the fatal attack in Eltham, south-east London, said there were more than two assailants – five or six people engulfed the 18-year-old in a flurry of racist violence.

Mr Brooks, who managed to escape, said: “I wish we both had ran, but only I had ran and Stephen stuck in his position and was attacked by the group of white boys. Stabbed and died.

“All I could think about was why? Why Steve? Never done anything to anybody, no fights, no argument, yet he’s been murdered because he’s black.”

He added: “We were interrupted by a group of white boys on the opposite side of the road who shouted out ‘What? What? N*****’.

“My response was obviously shock, immediate fear. We were in a part of London back then that was dangerous for black people, let alone young black boys by themselves, and there was a gang of six white boys on the other side of the road. One began to withdraw a weapon from their trousers and from then it was immediate fear, and run.”

Mr Brooks also criticised the way he was treated by police after the attack. “The treatment was appalling. For me it was the constant questions around my integrity and Steve’s,” he said.

“There was disbelief that we were innocent.

“I was even questioned about the words ‘What? What? N*****’. Senior officers at the station on that night were suggesting it could have been a nickname for Steve that I did not know about.”