Stephen Lawrence: Retired officers will not face prosecution over murder probe CPS confirms
Four retired police officers involved in the original Stephen Lawrence murder investigation will not face criminal charges, prosecutors have said.
The initial investigation failed to bring anyone to justice - although two of the murderers were jailed in 2012.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided the four ex-officers, who were senior members of the investigation team, will not face charges of misconduct in public office over their handling of the initial six weeks of the murder investigation.
The CPS acknowledged Mr Lawrence’s family would find the decision “deeply disappointing” and offered to meet them to explain “in detail”.
Mr Lawrence's mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence said she was left "bitterly disappointed" at the decision which has caused her "immense distress".
In a statement, she said: "After 30 years in which there have been countless police investigations, a police complaint and a Public Inquiry I thought there might be some hope of holding those police officers who failed me and my son to account.
"My hope has been in vain. I am bitterly disappointed with the CPS decision not to charge any police officer. I will be seeking a review of it.
"Everyone knows that the first murder investigation was institutionally racist and yet there is no mention, let alone consideration, of racism in the CPS decision as being the possible reason for the officers acting as they did.
"Yesterday at London City Hall Sir Mark Rowley accepted the obvious failings of the police in the first murder investigation but, despite this, not a single police officer has been disciplined or will be charged.
"In my opinion, the police have, yet again, got away ‘scot free’. Not a single police officer lost his job, or will lose his pension, or pay a fine or spend a day behind bars whilst I will continue to grieve the loss of my son.
"This CPS decision has caused me immense distress and little thought has been given to me as a mother who has lost her son. This is a disgrace.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog said it was satisfied a six-year probe by the National Crime Agency under its direction had “explored every possible avenue”.
Mr Lawrence was murdered by a gang of five or six racist attackers in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993 as he made his way home with his friend Duwayne Brooks.
Only two of his killers have faced justice – Gary Dobson and David Norris were finally jailed for life in 2012 after a trial hingeing on tiny traces of forensic evidence.
Last month, the BBC named a sixth suspect in the case for the first time, a man called Matthew White, outlining how the handling of the evidence against him was bungled.
Two witnesses said White had confessed to being present during the attack – one of whom, his stepfather, was not spoken to by police until 20 years after the murder because officers had previously misidentified him.
Mr Lawrence’s mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, expressed fury that White, who died in 2021, would never face justice because of police mistakes.
The retired officers investigated by the IOPC were:
Detective Superintendent Ian Crampton, who was senior investigating officer (SIO) for the first four days of the murder investigation
Detective Superintendent Brian Weeden, who took over as SIO from Mr Crampton and was in charge for 14 months
Detective Inspector Benjamin Bullock, who acted as deputy SIO under Mr Crampton and Mr Weeden
Detective Chief Superintendent William Ilsley, who oversaw the team responsible for the first murder investigation
Announcing the decision not to charge the four ex-officers, Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said it had "meticulously reviewed substantial amounts of available evidence and material in this complex case" and decided not to pursue criminal charges.
He added: "No criminal charges will be brought in relation to a further investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) into allegations of perjury by a suspect who alleged corruption in the initial murder investigation as it also did not meet our legal test for prosecution.
“We understand this may be deeply disappointing for Stephen’s family and friends, and the CPS has offered to meet with close family members to explain our decision in detail.”
IOPC director Sarah Green said: “It was important that we follow all possible lines of inquiry in order to determine whether corruption played a part in the well-documented failings of the original investigation into Stephen’s murder and the attack on Duwayne Brooks.
“A vast amount of documentation, information and intelligence spanning 27 years, some of which was not available to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, was gathered and analysed.
"Over 150 people were interviewed including serving and former police officers and staff, relevant witnesses and others such as journalists with in-depth knowledge of the original murder investigation.
“At its peak, 50 NCA investigators and support workers were solely dedicated to uncovering whether corruption played a role in the first investigation into Stephen’s murder.
"This has been an exhaustive investigation and we are satisfied that the NCA has explored every possible avenue.
“We appreciate this has been a very long process for all of those affected and we have ensured that all interested parties have been updated throughout our investigation.
“We remain committed to bringing to light those events from many years ago relating to Stephen’s racist murder and we will publish the reports from all the IOPC investigations which followed the Ellison Review as soon as we can.”
The CPS decision is also subject to the Victims’ Right to Review (VRR) scheme, which provides victims or their families in some classes of case with a process to exercise the right to review a decision not to start a prosecution.
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