David Norris, one of two men convicted over the 1993 racist killing of Stephen Lawrence, will appear at a public Parole Board hearing to seek release on licence. The hearing is scheduled to take place over three days, beginning on Tuesday, and will include testimony from Norris, prison staff and psychological assessors, along with impact statements on behalf of Stephen’s family.
Stephen’s father, Dr Neville Lawrence, said any move to consider Norris safe for release should be contingent on him naming the other people involved in the attack.
“For me to think that [Norris is] safe to be released, is for him to give the names of the people with him that night.”
Dr Lawrence added that he would judge whether Norris had changed only if he provided those names. “I wouldn’t think that he’s generally changed his behaviour and mind, if he doesn’t name all the others that was with him.”
Dr Lawrence said he wanted to know whether Norris still holds racist views, arguing that an unchanged mindset would pose a risk to other families. He said he considered it “essential” to hear Norris’s current feelings about people of different backgrounds.
“Shouldn’t be out in the public because that means another family is in danger of losing one of their loved ones.”
Asked what he would put to Norris directly, Dr Lawrence said he would want to know if Norris regrets his past statements and actions and whether he has truly changed.
“Are you regretting some of the things that you said, and are you actually a changed person?”
He also reflected on the personal impact of his son’s death: “My life has been turned upside down by these boys, young fellas, who went out on the street looking for somebody to kill. Unfortunately, Stephen was in their sight.”
Stephen Lawrence, 18, was killed in a racist stabbing in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993. Police have long believed there were six attackers, a number corroborated by Stephen’s friend Duwayne Brooks, who witnessed the assault.
For many years Norris denied involvement, giving no-comment interviews to police and maintaining his innocence at trial. Earlier this year, it emerged that while in custody he admitted to prison staff that he had been present at the attack and had struck Stephen, though he said he had not been the person who stabbed him.
After the murder, police recorded Norris expressing violent racist fantasies. Reports say he articulated a desire to torture black people.
The Parole Board will consider whether Norris can be released on licence, with the inmate expected to give evidence and possibly read a statement during the hearing.
Few parole hearings have been held in public since rules changed two years ago.
The Metropolitan Police closed its murder investigation into Stephen’s killing in 2020. A subsequent news organisation inquiry prompted an independent review of the investigation, which began last month.
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