Family of Stephen Lawrence urge parole panel not to release his killer

The family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence have urged parole staff not to release one of his killers.

His father Neville and brother Stuart said in victim impact statements that they do not believe David Norris should walk free without revealing what happened on the night of the murder in 1993.

Stephen Lawrence’s mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence said she fears for her family’s safety and that it is her “firm view” that he should not walk free.

A parole board hearing is taking place in public on Tuesday and Wednesday, and another day in private on Friday, to decide whether the 49-year-old should be freed, or moved to an open prison.

Norris was convicted of Stephen Lawrence’s murder at the Old Bailey in 2011, and jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years and three months in January 2012.

The minimum term expired in December 2024, and this is the first time that he has been considered for parole.

The hearing was told that the Justice Secretary will oppose release.

A series of victim impact statements from Stephen Lawrence’s family were read out at the beginning of the hearing, which is being streamed from a prison to a room in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Baroness Lawrence was among those observing the hearing.

A legal representative read a statement for Neville Lawrence that said “justice has not been done” if Norris is released without naming the other members of the gang who murdered his son.

He added that Norris’s admission that he was at the murder scene ahead of proceedings “did not come from genuine remorse” as he is yet to name the other members of the gang.

Solicitor Imran Khan read a statement for Stephen Lawrence’s brother Stuart, that said: “This individual is fully aware of the truth, but has deliberately chosen to lie and remain silent.

“If you have any uncertainties, I strongly encourage you to keep this individual in his current situation until he is ready to reveal the truth.”

Baroness Lawrence said Norris is a danger to the public and that it is her “firm view” that he should not be released.

In an opening statement, chairwoman of the panel Cassie Williams quoted from the original sentencing remarks at Norris’s murder trial.

She repeated Mr Justice Treacy’s finding that Stephen Lawrence’s murder was “a terrible and evil crime and was committed by a racist thuggish gang of which David Norris was a member”.

Evidence at Norris’s Old Bailey trial, which saw him convicted of murder alongside Gary Dobson, did not prove who wielded the knife, but the judge found that whoever had done so did with the pair’s “knowledge and approval”.

She told the hearing that Mr Lawrence’s family “continue to be understandably devastated by his murder”.

“Stephen being murdered in the way he was, and the issues which arose afterwards with the investigation, had a profound impact on society,” she said.

The Parole Board panel will assess the risk that he poses, she told the hearing.

Ms Williams added: “It is important to highlight that it is not the purpose of an oral hearing to conduct a retrial in this case or to seek to punish David Norris over and above the sentence imposed by the court.

“The panel makes an assessment of risk.

“We are acutely aware that we cannot change what happened to Stephen Lawrence.”

A prison offender manager told the hearing that Norris was inspired by a documentary featuring Neville Lawrence to finally admit that he was at the scene of Stephen’s killing.

Norris, who now maintains that he punched Stephen but did not stab him, said that the “forgiveness” Neville Lawrence showed had “stuck with” him.

The hearing was told that he has engaged in activities focusing on curbing racism and violence while in prison.

But the prison offender manager also said that he had called a female nurse “a horrible c***” and that she would not recommend release.

She said Norris should be moved to less restrictive prison conditions first.