Action for Race Equality’s statement on the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to not charge the officers in the Stephen Lawrence investigation.
Action for Race Equality is deeply disappointed by the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to not bring criminal charges against the detectives involved in the original investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
Stephen Lawrence was failed by the authorities responsible for investigating his murder and that failure continues to impact his family, friends, and Black communities across the UK today.
Stephen’s parents Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Neville Lawrence and his friend Duwayne Brooks, who was present at the time of his murder, triggered the review into the original CPS decision to not charge through the Victims’ Right to Review scheme. The review found there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to achieve a conviction.
This decision will further erode Black communities’ trust and confidence in the criminal justice system, which is already at an all-time low, and cause concerns about the ability for justice agencies to be accountable for its failures.
The decision today means – as things stand – that not a single officer will ever be held responsible in any way, shape or form for the obvious and unforgivable failings in Stephen’s case. I am bewildered, disappointed, and angry at the decision. I am sure the public will be too.”
Baroness Doreen Lawrence
Stephen’s murder, and the subsequent mishandling of the investigation, was determined to be “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers” in the Macpherson review.
The CPS decision denies the clear need for the detectives to be held responsible for the incompetence identified by Macpherson. This indicates that the Criminal Justice System is still unwilling to recognise the failures that uphold an institutionally racist system and speaks to a wider reluctance to change.
Our justice system urgently needs to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on racism, and that requires leadership to hold current and former officers to account.
Author: Meka Beresford, Head of Policy
