Stephen Lawrence murder: three or four still at large, says judge

Mr Justice Treacy urged detectives not to “close the file” on the case almost 19 years after the 18-year-old was stabbed to death.

Dobson, 36, was sentenced to 15 years and two months and Norris, 35, received 14 years and three months for what the judge described as a “terrible and evil crime”.

However, the Old Bailey heard it was a gang of five or six white youths – not two – who were seen racially abusing and then attacking the A-level student in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.

Police have nine suspects, having reduced 187 names of interest to just 11. They include Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt and Luke Knight, who have been frequently linked with the killing and deny murder.

Mr Justice Treacy took the unusual step of calling forward Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, the senior officer in the case, to speak to him in front of the packed courtroom.

He said a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mr Lawrence’s death had “shamed and humbled” the Metropolitan Police, but praised the hard work done in recent years.

“At least a measure of justice has been achieved at last,” Mr Justice Treacy said. “However, the convictions of Gary Dobson and David Norris will not, I hope, close the file on this murder.

“On the evidence before the court, there are still three or four other killers of Stephen Lawrence at large.

“Just as advances in science have brought two people to justice, I hope the Metropolitan Police will be alert to future lines of inquiry, not only based on developments in science but perhaps also information from those who have been silent so far, wherever they may be.”

Police confirmed the case remains open, but have remained tight-lipped about what is now being done to bring further offenders to justice.

A spokesman for the Met said: “The case is still open, but under UK law we are limited about what we can say about persons we may want to speak to. In terms of lines of inquiry, we will continue to use new technologies and reinvestigate where it is appropriate to do so.”

Police are understood to have identified Dobson as a weak link, and plan to speak to him in prison in the hope that he will name other gang members in return for a lighter sentence.

Mr Lawrence’s father, Neville, said outside court that he hoped the pair would “give up the rest of the people” involved.

He said the sentencing was as “only one step in a long, long journey”.

“One of my greatest hopes is that these people have now realised that they have been found out, and they are now going to go and lie down in their beds and think that they weren’t the only ones who were responsible for the death of my son.”

Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe urged anyone with information about the killing to come forward.

He warned: “The other people involved in the murder of Stephen Lawrence should not rest easily in their beds.”

In a direct appeal for further potential witnesses, he added: “Anything you know, please tell us. We can make a difference in this case still.”

When asked about allegations that the Metropolitan Police was still institutionally racist, Mr Hogan-Howe said: “I hope we are not but it is a bit like asking someone if they are a nice person. Are we the best people to ask?”

Dobson was 17 and Norris 16 at the time of the murder, so were sentenced as juveniles.

Mr Lawrence’s mother, Doreen, said it had been a “really difficult day”, but thanked the judge. “The sentences may be quite low, but at the same time the judge’s hands were tied,” she said outside the court.

“And for that, as much as he can do, I am very grateful. It’s the beginning of starting a new life because we’ve been in limbo for so long.

“So today we’re going to start moving on, and it’s time to take control of my life once more.”

Earlier, while sentencing the pair, Mr Justice Treacy quoted the Lord Chief Justice who called it a “murder which scarred the conscience of the nation”.

The initial failed prosecution by the Crown Prosecution Service led to the Macpherson Report, which found the Met to be “institutionally racist”.

Mr Justice Treacy said he took the racist motive, and the fact both men knew one of their number had a knife, and was likely to use it, into account when sentencing.

“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,” he said.

“You were both members of that gang. I have no doubt at all that you fully subscribed to its views and attitudes.”

He said that undercover police footage of the pair using racist obscenities showed “disgusting and shocking scenes”, and that the murder was committed “for no other reason than racial hatred”.

Mr Justice Treacy said that neither Mr Lawrence nor his friend Duwayne Brooks, who was with him on the night of the fatal attack, had done anything to harm, threaten or offend the group.

The evidence in the trial could not prove who wielded the knife, but he said that whoever used it had done so with Dobson and Norris’s “knowledge and approval”.

Neither of them had shown “the slightest regret or remorse” since the murder and they had both lied to the court. He added that the men would have faced double the amount of time behind bars if they had committed the murder today.

Mr Justice Treacy told Dobson and Norris: “In modern times an adult committing this crime would be facing a life sentence with a starting point for a minimum term of around 30 years.”

But the judge was restricted by having to apply the law as it was at the time of the attack in 1993, a decade before tougher sentencing rules were brought in and when both men were still juveniles. When sentencing was over, Dobson left speedily, stepping over Norris, who had bent down to pick up his papers.

As the judge rose to leave, a few people began clapping in the public gallery. Dobson’s father, Stephen, called down to the court: “Shame on all of you.”

The two men are likely to be given extra protection in prison to prevent them from being attacked by fellow inmates.

They could be held on wings reserved for “vulnerable” prisoners, such as paedophiles, and kept away from other inmates.

Fears over their safety were raised after Norris was attacked in February by Asian inmates while on remand at Belmarsh prison in south-east London.

His nose was broken, he lost a number of teeth and suffered four broken ribs. He and Dobson were taken back to Belmarsh prison and could be transferred to other category-A prisons in the near future.