Stephen Lawrence remembered at music festival

Mother of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence addressed thousands of people at an anti-racist music festival last night.

Doreen Lawrence was speaking at the Respect festival at Victoria Park in east London.

She said her son's killing had brought racism out into the open.

Mrs Lawrence added that it had forced public bodies to talk about the issue of race hate crime and praised the festival for "cementing diversity".

She said: "The festival is a way to bring communities together to celebrate and show we have more in common than what divides us."

Stephen Lawrence, was killed by a white gang at a London bus stop in April 1993. No one has been convicted of his murder.

Around 75,000 music fans have attended the free festival, where they saw De La Soul and Misty In Roots perform.

Other speakers at the event, organised by the Greater London Authority, included Burnley councillor Shahid Malik, who was allegedly attacked by police during last summer's race riots in the Lancashire town.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone addressed the audience, describing how the festival celebrated the "vibrancy and diversity" of the multicultural communities in the capital.