Parents of murdered black teenager get OBEs for fight against racism

DOREEN and Neville Lawrence’s battle for justice for their murdered son Stephen has made them icons in the fight against racism, a friend and supporter said yesterday as they received OBEs in Britain’s New Year’s Honours list.

Campaigners praised the awards as recognition of the Lawrences' achievements over the last nine years years which have seen them tackle an attempted private prosecution and press for a wide-ranging public inquiry which resulted in findings of "institutional racism" within Britain's biggest police force.

Baroness Howells, a race equality campaigner who has supported the family since the 1993 tragedy, said the divorced couple had become "icons". "Mrs Lawrence would accept this award on behalf of the community", she said.

A-level student Stephen, 18, was stabbed to death when he and his friend Duwayne Brooks were attacked by a gang of white youths in Eltham, south-east London, on April 22, 1993.

Soon after the murder, five men were arrested but proceedings against two were discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Lawrences took out a private prosecution against all five.

Three eventually stood trial for murder at the Old Bailey in April 1996, but the jury was ordered to find them not guilty just a week into the case.

In February 1997 an inquest into Stephen's death ended with the jury deciding that the teenager had been "unlawfully killed in a completely unprovoked racist attack by five white youths".

The public inquiry into the case in 1998 put the police and British justice on trial and raised allegations of a failure to investigate the murder, labelled the Metropolitan Police "institutionally racist" and condemned officers for "fundamental errors".

Police Commissioner Sir Paul Condon eventually apologised for "our failure" to Mr and Mrs Lawrence and Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed to embrace the 70 points made in the inquiry report.

Mrs Lawrence, a university student welfare officer, and craftsman Mr Lawrence were both unavailable for comment, as was their lawyer Imran Khan. Mrs Lawrence was understood to be in America.