Stephen Lawrence‘s body will be returned to the UK from Jamaica 31 years after his racist murder in London, his mother Doreen Lawrence revealed today.
Baroness Lawrence said his family had decided to ‘bring Stephen home to be closer to us’ after originally burying him on the Caribbean island because they felt ‘he would not be at peace in this country’.
She added that images of her son’s grave had appeared on social media after his body had been exhumed, which had caused the family ‘distress’.
Stephen was murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham, South East London, in April 1993 as he went to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks, and only two of his five or six killers have been brought to justice.
The original police investigation into the 18-year-old’s death was marred by institutional racism in the Met, incompetence and alleged corruption.
In a statement issued through her lawyer, Baroness Lawrence said: ‘My family and I have been made aware of the recent images of my son’s grave that have been circulated on social media.
Stephen Lawrence was murdered by a gang of racists in Eltham, South East London, in 1993
Doreen Lawrence said her son Stephen’s body will be returned to the UK from Jamaica
‘Following Stephen’s passing, we made the decision to have him laid to rest in Jamaica, as we felt he would not be at peace in this country. After 31 years, we have decided as a family that we would like to bring Stephen home to be closer to us.
‘The images that are circulating were taken after the funeral home exhumed Stephen’s body. However, we would like to express our distress at the funeral home’s lack of regard for our feelings and privacy, as evidenced by the decision to leave Stephen’s grave open to the public, rather than closed off.
‘We are disheartened by the individual who chose to take images and post them on social media without consideration for the potential impact on our family.
‘We had hoped to have carried out this sensitive task privately, but due to unforeseen circumstances, this was not possible. We apologise for any distress caused by those who saw the images and kindly request that, out of respect for us and our privacy, these are removed from all media platforms.
The bus stop in Eltham, South East London, at the scene of the murder is pictured last year
Gary Dobson (left) was jailed for at least 15 years and two months and David Norris (right) was jailed at least 14 years and three months for the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993
‘We kindly request that our privacy be respected during this time.’
In later years following the murder, it emerged that undercover police officers had spied on campaigners supporting the Lawrence family in their fight for justice.
And last year further failures were revealed, linked to a sixth suspect in the case, Matthew White.
In June, Baroness Lawrence said she was ‘bewildered, disappointed and angry’ at an upheld decision not to charge four officers involved in the original bungled investigation into her son’s murder.
She said this marked ‘a new low’ in how her family has been treated by the criminal justice system, and means that no police officer will ever take responsibility for the failures in the case.
Stephen was murdered as he went to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks (pictured)
Clive Driscoll was the Met Police detective who finally brought Dobson and Norris to justice
Last year a BBC investigation claimed that White, who died aged 50 in 2021, had a central role in the attack on Stephen, running ahead of the others towards the teenager.
His stepfather, Jack Severs, who died in 2020, told a police officer not involved in the case that White had admitted being present that night.
But Mr Severs was misidentified by the murder investigation team because White had two different stepfathers – a failure the Met called a ‘significant and regrettable error’.
It was 20 years before Mr Severs was spoken to by a detective investigating the murder, Clive Driscoll, the officer who finally brought Gary Dobson and David Norris to justice nearly two decades after they murdered Stephen.
The Met said that White was arrested twice but there was not enough evidence to charge him.
