Stephen Lawrence murderer must name other killers, father says

According to Stephen Lawrence's father, one of his son's murderers should identify the other murderers before he can be found to be eligible for parole. During a public Parole Board hearing on Tuesday, David Norris will request to be released on licence, 13 years after being sentenced to life terms. Only two of the men - Norris and Gary Dobson, who were involved in the racist stabbing of the 18-year-old boy in Eltham, south London, in April 1993, have been charged, with four other suspects not guilty.

For me to believe [Norris is] safe to be released,

Dr. Neville Lawrence said on BBC News, he needs to tell the names of the people with him that night.

As Stephen's friend Duwayne Brooks - who was on the night when the assault occurred, said there had always been six attackers. Three of the original prime suspects, brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, and Luke Knight, have never been found and remain free. Matthew White, a sixth suspect who was first publicly announced by the BBC two years ago, died in 2021 at the age of 50.

Norris has denied involvement in the shooting, giving no-comment interviews to police, and insisting he was innocent during his appeal. Earlier this year, it emerged that he had confessed to his service while in jail, alerting staff that if he was present, they had noticed Stephen and had not stabbed him, but not systematically. Norris' admission has triggered an extraordinary situation: he is trying to be released from a jail term for a felony he denies committing, but the majority of those responsible have never been arrested to account.

'Life has been turned upside down'

According to Stephen's father, Norris may now have to identify the other murderers if he was to be eligible for parole.

I wouldn't say that he's generally changed his behavior and thought,

he said, if he didn't know any of the others he was with him.

Dr. Lawrence said he wanted to know if Norris was racist, and that if he did not change, he should not be out in the public because doing so puts another family in danger of losing one of their loved ones. After Stephen was killed, police secretly caught Norris expressing violent racial fantasies, saying he wanted to torture black people. Dr Lawrence said that hearing Norris' thoughts about

how he feels about people of different colors and races, and if he is still having the same hatred for people from other nationswasessential. Dr Lawrence says if he could question Norris directly, he would ask:

Are you regretting some of the things that you said, and is this really a changed person?

These boys, teen fellas, who went out on the street looking for someone to kill,

he said. Unfortunately, Stephen was in their sight.

The Parole Board will listen to evidence surrounding Norris this week before deciding whether he is safe to be released on licence. Norris is set to testify on Tuesday and may read a statement about the assassination. The Parole Board will hear from jail workers who have worked with Norris, as well as psychologists who have rated him. On Tuesday morning, the hearing began with victim impact statements prepared by Stephen's family and read by legal representatives on their behalf. Baroness Lawrence Lawrence, Stephen's mother, said she had spent decades fighting for her son's death, and that Norris had shown

no hint of compassion for what me and my family have been through. Norris, she said, is a danger to the public, and she is unable to excuse him. In the meantime, Stephen's brother Stuart said Norris had

deliberately chosen to lie and remain silentand that the Parole Board had not to release himuntil he is able to reveal the truth. Since the statute was changed two years ago, few parole hearings have been held in public. The Met Police ended its murder probe in 2020, but a BBC probe has resulted in an independent review of the case, which began last month.