Life in prison for Lawrence killers

The judge in the Stephen Lawrence murder trial yesterday sentenced two of his killers to life in jail and urged the British Metropolitan Police not to close the file on catching the rest of the gang.

At least a measure of justice has been achieved at last. There are still three or four other killers of Stephen Lawrence at large

Mr Justice Treacy made his appeal as Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe warned that the remaining culprits “should not rest easily in their beds”.

His officers plan to meet next week to assess where the case now stands.

Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, received the life sentences at the Old Bailey for the racist murder of Mr Lawrence nearly 19 years ago.

The court heard that a gang of five or six white youths attacked the A-level student in Eltham, southeast London, in 1993.

Mr Dobson, who is already serving a five-year sentence for drug-dealing, was sentenced to at least 15 years and two months.

Mr Norris was given a minimum of 14 years and three months for the murder, which the judge said was a “terrible and evil crime”.

Mr Lawrence’s father Neville told reporters outside court that he hoped the pair would give up the rest of the people involved.

In court, Mr Justice Treacy called on Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, who has been the senior officer in the case for a number of years.

He told him that the public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mr Lawrence’s death had shamed and humbled the police, but praised the hard work done in recent years.

The judge went on: “At least a measure of justice has been achieved at last.

“However, the convictions of Gary Dobson and David Norris will not, I hope, close the file on this murder.

“On the evidence before the court, there are still three or four other killers of Stephen Lawrence at large.”

Mr Lawrence’s killers would have faced double the amount of time behind bars if they had carried out the racist murder today, the judge said.

In his sentencing he told Gary Dobson and David Norris: “In modern times an adult committing this crime would be facing a life sentence with a starting point for a minimum term of around 30 years.”

But he was restricted by having to apply the law as it was at the time of the attack in 1993, a decade before tougher sentencing rules were brought in and when both men were still juveniles.

After the trial, Mr Michael Turner QC, vice chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, warned against people saying the minimum time the killers must spend in prison, was too light.

“Undoubtedly it would be higher now, but the judge has stuck really closely to the guidelines,” he said.

“What I would be concerned about from the public’s point of view is that, if we start saying these sentences are woefully low, the implication is that the judge has taken some kind of sympathy with the murderers and he has not at all.”

He described Mr Justice Treacy, a member of the Sentencing Council which sets guidelines for judges, as “a very solid, safe pair of hands”.

Defendants should be sentenced according to the law as it stood when they committed the crime

Mr Turner added that, if they are released, both men would be on a life licence and would be sent back to prison for any breach of their conditions or if they committed any other crimes.

“Given who they are, I would be surprised if they managed to survive particularly long out on a life licence,” he said. He added that judges don’t have a huge deal of discretion in sentencing and their hands were tied by both statutory law and common sense.

While judges had some discretion and could decide how much significance they should attach to the fact that the killers evaded justice for almost 19 years, he urged against “retro-spective sentencing”.

Defendants should be sentenced according to the law as it stood when they committed the crime, he said.

Mr Turner also urged Parliament to stop interfering in the sentencing process by proscribing minimum terms by statute, adding that deterrent sentences do not work.

“If the sentence for parking on a double-yellow line was life imprisonment, that will work,” he said.

“But it does not for murder.

“Murderers are either terrorists, in other words professional killers, who would like to be hung so they can be martyrs, or one of the vast majority who are not thinking about sentencing at all.”

He went on: “If racism is endemic within society, it’s not going to be cured by racist murderers being sent away for life.”

As they were sentenced as juveniles, Dobson and Norris will technically be detained at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, the form of murder sentence for under-18s.

Previously, the Home Secretary was responsible for determining the minimum term for offenders under this sentence.

But the law was changed in 2000 after a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of James Bulger’s murderers, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson.

The trial judge now carries the responsibility for setting the minimum term for juvenile murderers.

London mayor says there is much to be done

Jail terms handed out to Gary Dobson and David Norris are only partial justice for Stephen Lawrence’s family, the police watchdog said yesterday.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission added: “Much remains to be done.”

And London mayor Boris Johnson added that the case was certainly not closed.

Mr Johnson welcomed the sentencing but said: “The failures in the Stephen Lawrence murder case have been a long-running sore for us as a city and an embarrassment to our police force.

“I, like everyone across the country, have always been in awe of the Lawrence family’s dignified pursuit of justice. They are a fine example to us all.

“Today’s sentencing is a reflection of their tireless determination and also sends a bold message to anyone else involved in this crime. I am relieved that some justice at last has been done.”

Deborah Glass, of the IPCC, said the initial investigation into the murder was “truly shocking”. But she added that Scotland Yard now deserved credit for the two prosecutions.

“Today’s sentences can only be a partial justice for the family of Stephen Lawrence.”she said.

“But following yesterday’s verdicts I would like to pay tribute to the extraordinary determination of the Lawrence family and all those who stood with them through their struggle to achieve justice for their son Stephen.”

Turn yourselves in Stephen’s father tells the gang

Stephen Lawrence’s father Neville today called on the two men imprisoned for his son’s murder to turn in the other people involved in the racist attack.

Mr Lawrence said the sentencing of Gary Dobson and David Norris was only one step in a long, long journey and called for the other killers to be brought to justice as well.

Addressing reporters outside the Old Bailey, he said: “One of my greatest hopes is that these people have now realised that they have been found out, and they are now going to go and lie down in their beds and think that they were the ones who were responsible for the death of my son.

“And they are going to give up the rest of the people so that I can come out here again in a year’s time and talk to you people again.”

Meanwhile Stephen’s mother, Doreen, said it had been a really difficult day but added that she could now start moving on with her life.

She thanked the judge, accepting that he unable to pass stiffer sentences on Dobson and Norris.

“The sentences that happened may be quite low, but at the same time the judge’s hands were tied. And for that, as much as he can do, I am very grateful,” she said outside court.

“It’s the beginning of starting a new life because we’ve been in limbo for so long. So today we’re going to start moving on, and it’s time to take control of my life once more.”

What the judge told them

Mr Justice Treacy took less than 30 minutes to sentence Gary Dobson and David Norris.

He said: “The murder of Stephen Lawrence on the night of April 22, 1993 was a terrible and evil crime.

“Recently the Lord Chief Justice described it as a ‘murder which scarred the conscience of the nation’.

“A totally innocent 18-year-old youth on the threshold of a promising life was brutally cut down in the street in front of eyewitnesses by a racist thuggish gang.

“You were both members of that gang. I have no doubt at all that you fully subscribed to its views and attitudes.

“The covert Footscray DVD with its disgusting and shocking scenes and the nature of the attack itself convince me of that.

“This crime was committed for no other reason than racial hatred.

“You did not know Stephen Lawrence or Duwayne Brooks. Neither of them had done anything to harm, threaten or offend you in any way, apart from being black and making their way peaceably to the bus-stop on their way home.

“At least one of your group was armed with a lethal knife that night. I am sure you were aware of that.

“The Footscray tapes, although recorded in 1994, reveal the sort of people you were and associated with in 1993.

“They reveal not only violent racist attitudes but also a casual and accepting attitude to the carrying and use of knives.”