– Dobson caged for 15 years and two months
– Norris gets 14 years and three months
By STAFF REPORTER
Stephen Lawrence’s killers Gary Dobson and David Norris were today jailed for life for the racist murder they carried out nearly 19 years ago.
Dobson, 36, will have to serve at least 15 years and two months while Norris, 35, was caged for a minimum of 14 years and three months.
Sentencing them, Judge Mr Justice Treacy said the murder was a “terrible and evil crime” and that neither had shown “the slightest regret or remorse”.
He told the pair: “A totally innocent 18-year-old youth on the threshold of a promising life
was brutally cut down in the street in front of eye witnesses 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.”
Stephen, 18, was fatally stabbed by the gang of white youths in the racist attack in Eltham, South East London, in 1993.
Dobson and Norris — convicted by an Old Bailey jury yesterday — were sentenced as juveniles due to their age, 17 and 16 respectively, at the time of the killing.
Mr Justice Treacy said if the pair had been adults they would have faced at least 30 years in jail.
The packed courtroom had to be rearranged so members of Stephen’s family, including estranged parents Doreen and Neville, with brother Stuart, could finally see the killers jailed.
Mr Lawrence said today that the sentencing was “only one step in a long, long journey” and expressed hope that the other killers would now be brought to justice.
Mrs Lawrence said that Dobson and Norris’ sentences “may be quite low” but added that she understood the judge’s hands were “tied” and expressed her gratitude to him.
She said it had been a “really difficult day” but added that she could now start moving on with her life.
She added: “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.”
Mr Justice Treacy added that neither Stephen nor his friend Duwayne Brooks, who was with him on the night of the attack, had done anything to harm, threaten or offend the group.
The evidence in the trial could not prove who wielded the knife, but he said that whoever used it had done so with Dobson and Norris’ “knowledge and approval”.
He added: “Whilst the attack on Stephen Lawrence himself clearly could not have been premeditated since it was a chance encounter, I cannot accept that a crime of this type simply arose on the spur of the moment.
“The way in which the attack took place strongly suggests to me that your group, if not actively seeking out a victim, was prepared, if the opportunity arose, to attack in the way in which you did.”
He also said that undercover police footage of the pair using racist obscenities showed “disgusting and shocking scenes”, and that the murder was committed “for no other reason than racial hatred”.
Court 16 at the Old Bailey was packed, with many people standing for the sentencing.
A technical fault meant an annexe could not be used and several members of the Lawrence family were moved into the main courtroom.
Mrs Lawrence sat at the back of a row of lawyers’ benches and in front of Mr Lawrence to see the men sentenced for the murder of their son.
They were only feet away from the two men in the dock. Mrs Lawrence glanced round to look at Norris as he was sentenced.
Dobson and Norris had been allowed to sit during most of Mr Justice Treacy’s remarks.
But they stood as the judge handed down their life terms and told them the minimum number of years they would serve.
They stood defiantly and, when it was over, Dobson left speedily, stepping over Norris who had bent down to pick up his papers.
Norris then kissed his hand and offered it up to the public gallery in a thumbs-up sign before he too was led from the court.
The sentencing took less than half an hour and had been heard in silence.
But as the judge rose to leave, a few people began clapping in the public gallery.
Dobson’s father, Stephen, called down to the court: “Shame on all of you.”
Shortly before sentencing the country’s top cop said police would now work to find the other killers from the gang.
Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said “the other people involved in the murder of Stephen Lawrence should not rest easily in their beds”.
Yesterday Stephen’s parents spoke of their joy and relief at the verdict, but mother Doreen said it was not an occasion for celebration.
Speaking outside the court, with her voice breaking at times, she said: “Despite these verdicts, today is not a cause for celebration. How can I celebrate when my son lies buried, when I cannot see him or speak to him?
“When I will not see him grow up or go to university, or get married or have children. These verdicts will not bring my son back.
“How can I celebrate when I know that this day could have come 18 years ago if the police, who were meant to find my son’s killers, (had not) failed so miserably to do so?”
In a statement read by his solicitor Jocelyn Cockburn, Stephen’s father Neville said: “My life was torn apart by the senseless murder of my son over 18 years ago.
“Unfortunately no one was brought before a court at that time, as they should have been.
“I am therefore full of joy and relief that today, finally, two of my son’s killers have been convicted for his murder.”
Later in his statement, he said: “I’m also conscious of the fact that there were five or six attackers that night. I do not think I’ll be able to rest until they are all brought to justice.”
Mr Lawrence called for Norris and Dobson to name the rest of those responsible for his son’s murder.
He said: “I’m praying that these people now realise that they have been found out and say to themselves: ‘Yes I did that awful deed, but I wasn’t alone in that action that night and there are other people who are also guilty of what I have done’ and name them.”
Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt and Luke Knight were arrested along with Norris and Dobson in 1993 in connection with Stephen’s murder.
The original investigation into the murder came under criticism by a public inquiry, which branded the Metropolitan Police institutionally racist.
More than a decade later, after successful convictions in cold cases including Damilola Taylor, a team of forensic scientists was called in to look again at the Stephen Lawrence evidence.
They discovered tiny amounts of blood, hair and fibres on clothing seized from Dobson and Norris’ homes, which led to a successful prosecution.
The pair have continued to protest their innocence despite yesterday’s guilty verdicts.
Courtesy The SUN UK