Stephen Lawrence's father Neville says son's killers should stay locked up if they don't confess

Ahead of the anniversary of his son's racist murder, Stephen Lawrence's father Neville, has told ITV News London his fight for justice will continue despite having lost everything since his family was torn apart 30 years ago.

Mr Lawrence has said he will demand that the men who killed Stephen stay locked up for life if they refuse to confess their guilt.

He will face one of his son's killer, David Norris, at a parole hearing next year in an attempt to try to keep him behind bars and plans to give victim impact statements.

He wants Norris to admit his part in his son's murder as a condition of his parole.

"Stephen is buried in Jamaica and he can't come out of where he is. I don't think he (Norris) should be let out in public unless he admits to being one of the people who killed Stephen.

"That should be a condition for him being let out," Mr Lawrence said.

Five men had been arrested over the racist murder of Stephen, who was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in Eltham on April 22 1993 when he was just 18.

It took until 2012 before two men, David Norris and Gary Dobson, were given life sentences after being found guilty of murder.

Norris received a minimum of 14 years and three months and will be eligible for parole next year.

Mr Lawrence and his former wife, Doreen, dedicated their lives to the fight to get justice for Stephen, and on a personal level paid a high price.

He said his son's death "destroyed everything".

"A group of people had such a devastating on my life," he said.

Mr Lawrence said: "From living with four people and myself, I'm in a house by myself and nobody to talk to, listening to the radio, watching TV.

"You go from being married and having your family around you and all of sudden you're by yourself. It's not so easy."

But despite the impact on his life, Mr Lawrence can not rest until he has justice.

Three decades may have past since Stephen's brutal murder but for Mr Lawrence it feels "like yesterday".

"I'm doing everything possible. I just have this feeling that someone is going to come forward with crucial evidence to put these other people away.

"I'd like someone who was there to finally come forward to give the evience that we need to convict all the others involved in the murder of Stephen."

While Stephen's murder has brought about change, 30 years on, there are cultural and systemic issues that remain tragically familiar.

The Metropolitan Police's bungled original murder investigation into Stephen's death was hampered by racism and alleged police corruption, which meant it took nearly 20 years for two of Stephen's five killers to be brought to justice, with three never prosecuted.

The force’s response to Stephen's mrder was branded institutionally racist in the 1999 Macpherson report, which said the Home Office and police needed a “comprehensive system of reporting and recording all racist incidents and crimes”.

In the wake of Stephen's death and the force's handling of the investigation serious questions were being asked about rock hard institutions like the Met for the first time.

But just weeks ago, the Casey Review into the Met found the force to be institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic in the wake of a series of scandals including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and Pc David Carrick being unmasked as a serial rapist.

Mr Lawrence said he was "not surprised" by the findings.

On Friday, Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley apologised for failings in the aftermath of the killing, which led to the force’s response to it being branded institutionally racist in the 1999 Macpherson report.

Mr Rowley said a failure to robustly confront “cultural and systemic” failings, which were exposed by the force’s response to the murder, had undermined its ability to fight crime and pledged to “finally” make the Met determinedly anti-racist.

He said in a statement: “Thirty years on from Stephen’s murder, we offer our sympathies to the Lawrence family on their unimaginable loss.

“He was a dearly loved son and brother who was taken from them far too soon and in such senseless circumstances.

“Their dignified fight for justice, conducted in the pressure of the public eye with unwavering determination over so many years, continues to be a source of inspiration for us and so many.

“On behalf of the Metropolitan Police, I apologise again for our past failings which will have made the grief of losing a loved one all the more difficult to endure.

“This anniversary, which closely follows the stark findings of the Casey Review, prompts us to pause, to remember and to reflect honestly on how policing has responded to the necessary calls for change that have punctuated the past 30 years."

For Neville Lawrence, the memory of his son's last day and the life Stephen could have lived are with him every day.

"I was hoping he'd be coming to see me in Jamaica," Mr Lawrence, who now lives in the Carribean island, said.

"He'd be married with his wife and children, my grandchildren, helping me in my retirement.

"If I thought about it any other way, I dont' think about it any other way, I don't think I could survive," he told ITV News London.

"It's an everyday thing for me. It's right there... you can't forget it. I wonder what Stephen's children would look like."

The murdered teenager’s family will hold a memorial service at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square on Saturday to mark the 30th anniversary of his death.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer are expected to attend.

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