Four police officers will not face criminal charges over botched investigation

Four police officers will not face criminal charges over the botched 1993 investigation of Stephen Lawrence which led to the Met being branded “institutionally racist”.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said today it has decided the evidence provided following a review carried out by the National Crime Agency (NCA) did not meet the “legal test for prosecution”.

The decision comes more than two-and-a-half years after the NCA completed its investigation in November 2020.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which oversaw the NCA probe, had recommended four senior police officers, all of whom are now retired, could face criminal charges of misconduct in public office.

Nick Price, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said: “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 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.”

The decision can be challenged by the Lawrence family.

It comes after the Met was forced to admit it may have missed the chance to bring a sixth suspect to justice over Stephen’s killing following a BBC investigation.

Witnesses said Matthew White, who died in 2021, was present at the time Stephen and his friend Duwayne Brooks were attacked in 1993.

But the initial Met investigation failed to follow-up on a number of opportunities to charge him.

Yesterday, the Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said some of the mistakes made in the original investigation were irreparable.

Speaking at a London Assembly committee meeting, Sir Mark said: “The sad truth is that if you do such a bad job at an investigation in its first weeks and months you lose evidence … some of it can never be recovered.”

Stephen was 18 when he was stabbed to death by a group of attackers in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993.

Five of the suspects – Gary Dobson, Neil and Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight and David Norris – have been named publicly many times.

Dobson and Norris were convicted in 2012 following a DNA breakthrough.

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Soon after Stephen was attacked in 1993, witnesses told police that Matthew White was among those present.

But a BBC investigation found multiple flaws in how White, who died in 2021, was treated both during the original investigation and the years that followed.

Detectives failed to speak to his stepfather, Jack Severs, who was prepared to tell police White had admitted being present during the attack and that Stephen “deserved” what happened to him.

The Met apologised after failing to investigate White properly despite evidence his alibi was false and the fact he bore a striking resemblance to an artist’s impression of a “fair-haired” attacker that was produced at the time.