Hodge Jones & Allen

HJA client Neville Lawrence now hopes to bring the other three or four killers to justice

5th January 2012

 

Yesterday, Gary Dobson was sentenced to a minimum term of 15 years and 2 months and Davis Norris to fourteen years and 3 months imprisonment having been found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993. The convictions follow a seven week hearing at the Old Bailey, more than 18 years after he was killed.

 

The long campaign by Stephen’s parents Neville and Doreen Lawrence to get to this point follows a catalogue of initial police failures, a collapsed trial, an inquest, an inquiry and several police investigations into the murder.

 

Along the way, this case has changed laws, particularly in relation to the ‘double jeopardy’ rule and also prompted the Macpherson report, which found that the police were “institutionally racist”.

 

Neville’s solicitor, Jocelyn Cockburn, a partner at Hodge Jones & Allen, read a statement on behalf of her client outside The Old Bailey on Tuesday.

 

In the statement, Neville made a point of thanking the police for their “faultless preparation and delivery” in finally bringing Stephen’s killers to justice but said he “cannot rest until they [the other murderers] are all brought to justice”.

 

Jocelyn Cockburn commented: “These convictions have been fought for all the way by the Lawrence family.  Neville Lawrence brought a legal challenge against the CPS for their decision in 2004 that they would not bring anyone to trial for the murder.  Luckily the CPS decision changed after a new police investigation found forensic evidence linking these two men with the murder. It is a matter of great relief that nothing has derailed this latest attempt at justice.”

Neville Lawrence’s statement, which was read on his behalf  on 3rd January 2012 at the Old Bailey, London, following the guilty verdicts was:

 

"My life was torn apart by the senseless murder of my son over 18 years ago. Unfortunately no one was brought before a court at that time as they should have been.

 

"The loss itself, together with the lack of justice, have meant that I have not been able to rest all this time. I'm therefore full of joy and relief that today finally two of my son's killers have been convicted for his murder.

 

"They will be sent to prison and forced to face the consequences of their actions - consequences which my family and I have been living with all these years.

 

"I would like to thank the police and prosecutors for their faultless preparation and delivery of the case. I would like to thank the judge for the work he has put in to ensure that the suspects had a fair trial. I thank the jury for their careful attention to my son's case day after day and the verdicts they have delivered.

 

"Something has happened over the last seven weeks - I have watched justice being done. As for me, I'm not sure where I will go from here. I will let this good news sink in for some time.

However, I'm also conscious of the fact that there were five or six attackers that night. I do not think I'll be able to rest until they are all brought to justice."

 

Neville Lawrence also gave a brief statement outside court after sentencing on 4^th January 2012, as follows:

 

"I said yesterday I didn't know where I was going to go from here. 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 were the ones who were responsible for the death of my son.

 

"And they are going to give up the rest of the people so that I can come out here again in a year's time and talk to you people again.

 

"I'd like to thank the judge, jury and all the teams who have been responsible for this case from the bottom of my heart.  All the general people who have supported this case over the years -  thank you very much."