Lawrence killer ‘unreliable narrator of his own life’, prison psychologist finds

A prison psychologist has told a parole hearing that he found one of the killers of Stephen Lawrence was an “unreliable narrator of his own life”.

David Norris, 49, was questioned for a number of hours during the hearing on Tuesday.

Giving evidence to the hearing on Wednesday, the psychologist said: “Hearing the evidence it was quite confusing, as to sometimes admitting something, sometimes going back on that, being confused around dates.”

The psychologist went on: “I think sometimes he has good memory, good detail for certain things, other times less so… He’s obviously very careful about what he wants to admit to.”

The psychologist said he spent around nine hours with Norris spread over five meetings to assess him.

David Norris, 49, was jailed for life in January 2012 with a minimum term of 14 years and three months, which expired in December 2024.

On Tuesday, Norris was repeatedly asked who he was with on the night of Stephen Lawrence’s murder in 1993, but refused to name the other culprits, saying he feared for his family’s safety.

A parole hearing is taking place in public on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a day in private on Friday.

The hearing is taking place in a prison, and is being video streamed to a room in the Royal Courts of Justice where members of the public and media are able to observe proceedings.

Stephen Lawrence’s mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence is among those observing the hearing, while his father Neville is also watching from overseas.

Norris, wearing a grey long-sleeved top and using a hearing loop, is visible only from behind.

He has been in his current prison for around two years, and works in the servery, where food is prepared and distributed, the hearing was told.

A prison key worker said he had come to the unit wanting to work on “reactions and perceptions of rudeness towards him”.

The prison psychologist said Norris has a lack of racial awareness, and is more likely to use racist language during times of mental ill health or frustration.

On Tuesday the hearing was told that Norris had been involved in clashes with Muslim prisoners, including claims that he had thrown excrement and used derogatory terms, which he denies.

While he has since made progress and mixes with other prisoners from varied backgrounds, the psychologist said he would not recommend release.

Norris should instead be moved to a lower security prison, category C, he said.

Before he was questioned on Tuesday, Norris was allowed to read a statement in which he said he wanted to “express my genuine remorse for the death of the victim in my case”.

Speaking publicly for the first time since admitting his involvement in the killing, he said: “I will go to my grave with that guilt in my heart”, adding that “the events of that night 32 years ago should never have happened”.

The psychologist told the panel he believes Norris, who is in a specialist prison unit, has expressed genuine remorse for the murder.

“I’m not overly sceptical of it. Some of the remorse has been expressed nowhere near a parole hearing and so can’t solely be accounted for by that,” he said.

The worker, who was not publicly named as staff who give evidence in parole hearings remain anonymous, went on: “I do think it is genuine.”

Norris broke prison rules to get two mobile phones while behind bars, and messaged family and friends about when he would be released.

The psychologist said someone can still feel remorse but “lapse” in certain situations.