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The father of Stephen Lawrence has spoken of his son’s legacy and the family’s enduring heartbreak ahead of what would have been the teenager’s 50th birthday.
Dr Neville Lawrence said the world was robbed of a “special” young man “who loved people for who they are”.
Stephen was 18 when he was stabbed to death in a racist attack by a group of young white men on April 22, 1993, in Eltham, south London.
The bungled Metropolitan Police investigation into his killing was hampered by institutional racism, incompetence and alleged corruption. Only two of his killers — Gary Dobson and David Norris — have ever been brought to justice.
Dr Lawrence said that the racist murder of aspiring architect Stephen — who would have turned 50 on Friday — denied him a lifelong dream of skyscrapers on London’s skyline bearing the Lawrence name, seeing his son get married or having grandchildren.
Speaking from his home in Jamaica, Dr Lawrence, 82, told the Standard on Thursday: “I wanted to be an architect but my parents didn’t have enough money to send me to university. When Stephen decided he wanted to do that, I was so proud.
“I was hoping by now some of the buildings I would see on walks along London’s skyline might be ones he organised and built. Perhaps even stand there and overhear people say, ‘That’s a Stephen Lawrence tower’.
“It wasn’t to be — and that is a real stain on people like his killers. They see the colour of someone’s skin and make a decision that they are not good enough to stay alive. My son could never do that. He would accept people for who they were.
“I used to worry about how he cared for people. If he saw someone being interfered with, he would try and stop it. We don’t have a lot like that.”
Stephen’s murder and the subsequent botched investigation led to the landmark Macpherson Report in 1999, which found the Met to be institutionally racist.
Last year, the BBC publicly identified a sixth suspect, Matthew White, who died in 2021 aged 50. Multiple police failings to properly investigate him were also revealed. Dr Lawrence said: “I will never give up hope we might just get some of the other people convicted of Stephen’s murder and serve time for what they did.”
He added that he was constantly wracked with sadness over “what could have been”, saying: “I imagine Stephen would be married by now and I’d have two or three grandchildren from him. We were very close, not saying the other two [son Stuart and daughter Georgina] weren’t, but he was the first child. Some people are not blessed with children but I was with three.”
He admitted that this week’s milestone was tinged with sadness because he “doesn’t know where” Stephen’s body is.
Last month, his ex-wife Baroness Doreen Lawrence said she returned their son to the UK having originally buried him in Jamaica because the couple felt “he would not be at peace in this country”. She announced his family had decided to “bring Stephen home to be closer to us”.
However, Dr Lawrence was not informed of the decision to exhume his son’s body, and only found out after being shown a video of the damage done to the grave. He said his son had been “at peace” in Jamaica.
“So far we’ve not been able to find out where Stephen is at the present moment. The last time when we contacted the High Commission they had said Stephen’s body was still in Jamaica. I don’t know where he is.
“Thinking back to what a lovely person he was, Stephen didn’t see others in a bad way. That’s how I was brought up. It’s very sad that Stephen isn’t here to see his milestone 50th birthday,” said Mr Lawrence.
In June a review concluded that four retired detectives who ran the first murder investigation should not face criminal charges.
Baroness Lawrence, left, said in a statement: “The decision means... that not a single officer will ever be held responsible in any way, shape or form for the obvious and unforgivable failings in Stephen’s case.”
An independent police force is reviewing the Met’s handling of new evidence in the case, Mayor Sadiq Khan said in April. A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said: “Earlier this year, we made the decision that we would seek an independent review of our recent approach to the murder of Stephen Lawrence, including material published by the BBC. The terms of reference... are currently being discussed with Baroness Lawrence and Dr Lawrence.”
