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The eyes see only what the mind is willing to comprehend.

Disclaimer.

INJUSTICE!

When services that we pay to protect us,
COMPLETELY FAIL!

Stephen Lawrence Was Just 18 Years Old.
Racially Murdered, Then Racially Investigated?

Tragic Loss:
The Stephen Lawrence murder and investigation, is still reflecting?
It beggars the question, 'Will we ever learn'?
Stephen was an intelligent, likeable, and kind young man.
He was friendly, ambitious, and had a great future ahead of him.

Racists may have taken his life, but his memory will always live on.
It's one thing to be attacked by racially motivated people, but its another to then be investigated by them.
Racism is a baseless concept, that simply shows a complete lack of intelligence.
It has never been, and never will be any reason for hate.

Something to never forget ... People are not a colour, they're simply people!

Stephen Lawrence.

Brutally Murdered:
Possibly one of the most violent racially driven crimes enacted within the UK.
And equally possible as to why no-one has much trust in the police anymore.
Stephen Lawrence 18, was brutally murdered on the streets of London, whilst waiting for a bus with his friend.
He was stabbed to death by a group of attackers, in what can only be describe as a cold and premeditated frenzy of racial hatred.
The investigation that followed was equally brutal towards his family, and also appeared to be based on racism?

A TALENTED YOUNG MAN!

Future Dreams Destroyed:
Stephens mother (Doreen Lawrence), was a special needs teacher.
His father (Neville Lawrence) was a skilled carpenter.
As a teenager Stephen enjoyed running, and competing for the local Cambridge Harriers athletics club.

He had appeared as an extra in Denzel Washington's film, 'For Queen and Country'.
Before the time of his murder he was studying technology and physics at the Blackheath Bluecoat School.
At Woolwich College he had also studied English language, literature, and had high hopes of eventually becoming an architect.

Well Hall Road. Stephen Lawrence.

No Reason or Sense:
On the day of his murder he was at his uncles home with his friend (Duwayne Brooks), playing video games.
They had left at around 10pm, but instead of taking the 286 bus, they opted for the quicker route of either the 161, or the 122 bus.
Stephen had walked to the junction to see if he could see any buses coming, and then had started to walk back.
Duwayne was still at the stop, and had noticed five or six youths crossing the road towards them.

He called out to Stephen to ask if he'd seen any buses coming, and one of the assailants replied, 'WHAT, what, N-word'.
They then all surrounded Stephen and pushed him to the ground, then repeatably stabbed him to a blade depth of some five inches.
He was stabbed on both sides of his body, his right collarbone and left shoulder, and the wounds severed axillary arteries and penetrated a lung.

Duwayne Brooks.

Very Little Help:
Stephen had managed to get back up and run with his friend, until he had lost too much blood.
Sadly Stephen had been bleeding from four major arteries, and was already fatally wounded.
Even the pathologist recorded that Stephen had incredible fitness to have run such a distance with one lung collapsed.

Duwayne ran and called an ambulance, and then an off duty officer stopped and covered Stephen with a blanket.
Criticism was raised about the lack of first aid given at the scene, and the ambulance taking its time to get there.
It was later revealed that the phone box used, was displaying the incorrect location, which further delayed the ambulance.
Sadly Stephen died in the hospital.

FIVE RACIST SUSPECTS!

Boasting Caught Them:
The five suspects were secretly filmed.
The footage showed them acting out their stabbing movements, and having racial conversations.
Their racism was described as being completely off the scale.

It was said to be deeply disturbing as to the enormity of hatred that they had displayed towards African and Asian people.
Stephen died on the 22nd of April 1993, in Well Hall Road, Eltham, South East London.
In a 1997 report it concluded that the police were completely incompetent, after failing to arrest the suspects.

Well Hall Road. Stephen Lawrence.

Assailants Identified:
Stephens attack had been witnessed by three other people.
All three agreed that it was very sudden and brief.
None of the witnesses could identify the attackers, but other residents later came forward with the names of the assailants.

There was also an anonymous note left on a police cars windscreen, and the same in a telephone box, naming a local gang.
The suspects were Gary Dobson, Luke Knight, David Norris, and two brothers, Neil, and Jamie Acourt.
All five suspects had been involved in racist knife attacks.

POLICE IGNORANCE!

Serious Racists:
Dobson and Neil four weeks previously had been involved in a racist attack on a black teenager, named Kevin London.
They had verbally abused and attempted to stab him.
Neil's brother Jamie, was accused of stabbing teenagers Darren Witham in May 1992 and Darren Giles in 1994.
This action had caused Giles to have a heart attack.

The stabbings of Gurdeep Bhangal and Stacey Benefield both occurred in March 1993, in Eltham.
They were both linked to Neil and Jamie Acourt, David Norris, and Gary Dobson, and no action appeared to be taken!

Stephens Parents. Stephen Lawrence.

Disrespected:
All of this evidence was available three days after Stephens murder.
Yet no arrests were ever made, even though all the suspects had been named and identified.
At a public enquiry in 1988, an incredulous statement was made by Detective Superintendent Brian Weeden.
Weeden had led the investigation into Stephens murder.

He stated that he hadn't known that the law allowed him to arrest these suspects based upon reasonable suspicion!
Which is actually a basic point of all criminal law.

The murder should have been an open and shut case, considering how many tip offs the police had received.
Yet systemic racism in the police forces seemed to have become inherent.
The family it was said, were treated with disrespect and distrust.

Poor Investigation:
Stephens family remained strong and determined to get justice for their son.
And it beggars belief as to why they even had to try so hard, due to the overwhelming evidence.
Yet the police had completely failed them by complete inaction, and even weakened the case with bad investigative methods.
This resulted in all the prosecutions trials failing!

DECADES OF INJUSTICE!

Officers Wrongfully Exonerated:
In 1997, Stephens family registered a formal complaint with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA).
Which in 1999 exonerated all but one officer, namely, Detective Inspector Ben Bullock.
He was only found guilty on one out of 12 charges, and four other officers had already left the force to avoid punishment.

Bullock retired the following day, so he got away with just a caution.
On the 10th March 2006, the Metropolitan Police Service announced compensation to Duwayne Brooks of £100,000.
This was due to the way that they had handled his complaint about their treatment towards him.

Racist Murderers.
Gary Dobson and David Norris. Stephen Lawrence.

No Remorse:
The perpetrators of Stephens murder were able to treat the process with total and utter contempt.
The family continued to suffer these complete injustices at every turn within the investigation.
Of the five suspects only two have ever been convicted, and that was decades later.

And as we often hear in all cases of this nature, the police apologise, and state that they have learnt lessons.
Which we have all come to recognise as going through the motions, with zero sincerity.

Travesty of Justice:
The only legacy of Stephens murder was that of the abolition of the double jeopardy rule.
This rule was at one time a prevention from people being tried twice for the same crime.
Even with that rule dropped only two out of the five suspects were convicted of Stephens murder.
This finally happened on the 21st of June, 2012.

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM!

Race Disregard:
At that time institutional racism, and even racial stereotyping was prevalent in police practises.
The police quite often failed to respond to any racist attacks at that time.
Yet there was a clear overuse of the stop and search powers that seemed to be mainly based on someones race.
The black community felt that they were over-policed and yet under-protected.

In Memory Plaque. Stephen Lawrence.

Independent Enquiry:
Some years after Dobson and Norris were sentenced, the media published concerns of police misconduct and corruption.
These same claims had also been made in 2006, and again in 2013.
Which was when an undercover officer admitted being pressured into smearing the name of the victims family.
The police wanted to mute their protesting and stop them from campaigning for the justice of their son.

Typically enquiries by both Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission had ruled that there was no basis for further investigation.
The home secretary at the time (Theresa May), ordered an independent enquiry by a prominent QC into the undercover policing and corruption allegations.
Which the results of were later described as 'devastating', after finally being published.

The enquiry was into whether members of the police force had shielded the alleged killers.
The resulting Ellison's report contained substantial evidence of an alleged corrupt police officer.
It revealed an involvement in the murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan.

Architectural Award:
In 1988 Marco Goldschmied Foundation in association with the Royal Institute of British Architects,
established an annual architectural award, 'The Stephen Lawrence Prize'.
It was his dream to become an architect, and this was to honour his memory.

Stephens mother (Doreen Lawrence), said, she would like Stephen to be remembered as a young man who had a future.
Of that there is absolutely no doubt.
He was well loved by all who knew him, and he was someone who simply seen people as people.
And the above sentiments are fully supported by this and all sites in this group.
There is a memorial plaque at the scene of Stephens murder, commemorating his memory.

The plaque has been vandalised since its placing, and beggars belief as to how hateful some people can possibly be.

THE STEPHEN LAWRENCE DAY!

Remembrance: On the 23rd of April 2018, which marked the 25th year of Stephens death.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced the 'Stephen Lawrence Day', and that it would be an annual national commemoration of his death.
This occurs on the 22nd of April every year, and started from 2019.

Stephen Lawrence Centre, SE8.
Geotechnical and environmental Associates. Stephen Lawrence.

Honoured:
There is now, a 'Stephen Lawrence Research Centre', at De Montfort University, located inside the Hugh Aston building.
Stephen Lawrence's mother was appointed as Chancellor of the university in January 2016.

She is also now known as Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon in the Commonwealth Realm of Jamaica.
This honour is rare and she now sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords as a working peer specialising in race and diversity.

Documentary:
Stephen Lawrence's murder was the subject of a three-part mini-series documentary, 'The Murder That Changed a Nation'.
It was first broadcast on BBC One in April 2018.

Nubian Jak Plaque. Stephen Lawrence.

Never Forget: You would be forgiven for thinking that this story is quite long, but please be assured that there is so very much more.
The unfair accusations against Duwayne, and the bad treatment of Stephens parents, is just the tip of an iceberg.