Doreen Lawrence today vented her rage at the police as a sixth suspect named Mathew White in the death of her son Stephen Lawrence was identified. This culprit may have escaped prosecution “as a result of police failures,” she claimed.
Metropolitan Police officers received five identities; however, only two of the five or six attackers have ever been apprehended: Gary Dobson and David Norris, who were sentenced to life in prison in 2012.
Today, BBC News revealed a number of police mistakes in how they handled material related to Matthew White as the sixth suspect in the tragic attack.
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Who was Matthew White?
Mathew White is the sixth suspect in the murder of Stephen Lawrence, an aspiring architect. White passed away due to a drug overdose at the age of 50 in 2021.
Stephen Lawrence,18, was killed on his way home by a group of racists in Eltham, South East London, in April 1993.
The initial investigation into his death was impeded by prejudice and allegations of corruption, with one suspect being the son of cocaine smuggler Clifford Norris, who had been imprisoned.
Within days of Stephen’s murder, Metropolitan Police officers received five identities; however, only two of the five or six attackers have ever been apprehended: Gary Dobson and David Norris, who were sentenced to life in prison in 2012. Later, the BBC said that White was also a suspect.
Scotland Yard treated White, who passed away at age 50 from a drug overdose in 2021, as a witness, although according to a BBC article, a relative told police that White had been present when the Eltham murder occurred in 1993.
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After speaking with him for the first time only in 2013, his stepfather Jack Severs expressed surprise that it had taken Scotland Yard 20 years to visit, mockingly telling Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, “You’re rushing this job.”
Severs, who passed away in 2020, claimed that he saw White in Eltham’s street in the days following Stephen’s murder, and his stepson acknowledged being there when the student was killed. He claimed that White pretended it was a “everyday occurrence” and felt Stephen “had deserved it.”
White also appeared to be the “fair-haired attacker” who “stood out” and may have struck Stephen first. The other five suspects were all of dark hair color. On the relevant night, he was observed twice in streets close to the murder scene.
Duwayne Brooks, a friend of Stephen’s, stated unequivocally that he witnessed a gang of six white adolescents cross the street and ‘engulf’ Stephen. Stephen was stabbed and struck in the head with a bat, suffering a ten-inch knife wound in the neck.
White was detained twice on suspicion of murder between December 2013 and March 2000. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) allegedly told the Crown Prosecution Service (Met) that there was no reasonable chance of prosecution for any crime on both occasions.
In 2012, Dobson and Norris were finally found guilty of killing Stephen, then 18 years old, at a bus stop in south-east London.
While Norris received a minimum sentence of 14 years and three months and will be eligible for parole in 2019, Dobson was given a minimum sentence of 15 years and two months.
In the ensuing years, brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, two other members of the group, have served time in prison for drug trafficking, but the final suspect, Luke Knight, has not been found guilty of any crime. The Daily Mail identified all five guys as Stephen’s murders.
The first time Matthew White was mentioned in connection with the case was in 2012, during the Dobson and Norris trial.
He was identified as a significant witness who had seen them right after the assault. Later, it was asserted that he had seen Dobson after getting dressed and taking a shower. He allegedly witnessed the suspects washing a knife that was covered in blood.
He was never called as a witness by the police at the Old Bailey, and he simply provided a brief statement. He claimed that the killing might have been an initiation by a member of the Acourts gang, which terrorized the neighborhood.
White, who had developed a heroin addiction, had numerous convictions and served time in prison.
His most recent conviction was in 2020 for theft on Well Hall Road in Eltham, just a short distance from the scene of Stephen’s death. He attempted to rob a store but was stopped by a black guy who White pretended to be Stephen Lawrence before attacking him.
The victim claimed White made “almost every threat” allude to Stephen Lawrence, including the adjacent bus stop where the 18-year-old was when he was attacked and killed.
