biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1974–93)
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| biography:
| Teenage victim of racist murder, born in Plumstead, S London, UK. In 1993 Stephen, a black student, was murdered in Eltham, SE London, by a group of white youths. At the inquest, the five suspected of the crime claimed their right to silence and refused to answer questions in the witness box. Lawrence's parents complained that the police were not doing enough to find their son's killers, and after criminal charges against the accused had been dropped by the police ‘for lack of sufficient evidence’, they themselves brought a private prosecution, a rare event. This prosecution also collapsed for lack of evidence. In 1998 an Official Inquiry into the case, led by Sir William Macpherson of Cluny, a former High Court Judge, was opened. In 1999 the members of the Inquiry published a report concluding that the police investigations had been marred by professional incompetence and institutional racism. The Inquiry made over 70 recommendations. |
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