Four retired Met Police detectives accused of bungling first Stephen Lawrence inquiry will NOT face charges
FOUR retired Met Police detectives accused of bungling the first Stephen Lawrence inquiry will not face charges.
Stephen, 18, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack by a racist gang in South-East London, in a case that rocked the country.
It took 19 years for two members of the gang of five or six youths to be convicted of his murder, and a public inquiry found a string of errors by police.
Now the Crown Prosecution Service have ruled there was "insufficient evidence" to charge the cops with committing misconduct in public office over the botched investigation.
The four detectives that handled the initial inquiry were heavily criticised by the Macpherson report for their failings but have all repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
They are Det Supt Ian Crampton, who was in charge for the first three days after the murder; Det Supt Brian Weeden, who took over as senior investigating officer; Det Ch Supt William Ilsley, who oversaw them; and DI Ben Bullock, the deputy senior investigating officer.
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Errors made by the Met Police meant that despite the suspects being named by local people, they remained free.
The initial investigation failed to bring anyone to justice - although two of the murderers were jailed in 2012.
David Norris and Gary Dobson were given life sentences for the murder while three other suspects were not convicted.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog revealed it was satisfied a six-year probe by the National Crime Agency under its direction had "explored every possible avenue".
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The NCA looked into why officers in charge of the first inquiry did not make arrests for two weeks despite police repeatedly being given the names of suspects.
The CPS acknowledged Mr Lawrence's family would find the decision "deeply disappointing" and offered to meet them to explain "in detail".
Stephen's mother, Doreen, and father Neville, who have campaigned tirelessly for justice for nearly two decades.
Just last month the BBC named a sixth suspect in the case for the first time, a man called Matthew White, and outlined the bungled handling of the evidence against him.
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 cops had previously misidentified him.
Stephen's mother, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, had expressed fury that White, who died in 2021, would never face justice because of police mistakes.
And the new ruling is expected to draw criticism from Stephen's family, campaigners and other interested parties.
Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: "Following a referral by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in 2021, the CPS has carefully considered criminal charges against four officers involved in the early stages of the investigation into Stephen's murder in 1993.
"Charges of misconduct in public office were considered concerning the four officers' management of the initial six weeks of the murder investigation.
"Having meticulously reviewed substantial amounts of available evidence and material in this complex case, we have decided that no criminal charges will be brought against the four suspects.
"Furthermore, 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."
Independent Office for Police Conduct Director Sarah Green said: "Our thoughts remain with Stephen's family and friends and all of those who remain deeply affected by his racist murder.
"It was his brutal murder and its legacy, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report written by Sir William Macpherson, which ultimately led to the establishment of our own organisation.
"So it was important that we follow all possible lines of enquiry 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.
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"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. 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."