Two men were finally jailed today for the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence nearly 19 years ago but the judge sentencing them said some people might consider the prison terms to be too short.
Gary Dobson was sentenced to at least 15 years and two months. David Norris was given a minimum of 14 years and three months for the murder, which Mr Justice Treacy said was a 'terrible and evil crime'.
But he made it clear that recent legislation meant that had the men committed the crime as adults they would be facing a jail term of 30 years - twice that they were given. The men will now have to serve the entire length of these sentences before they can be considered for parole.
Mr Justice Treacy said: 'It may be, therefore, that the resultant sentences are lower than some might expect, but the law as laid down by Parliament must be applied and I am constrained by it.'
The sentencing comes 15 years after the Daily Mail took the unprecedented step of naming the pair - along with fellow racists Neil and Jamie Acourt and Luke Knight - as Stephen's killers and challenging the gang to sue the newspaper. They never did.
Despite his conviction, police are still hoping Dobson will agree to become a ‘supergrass’ and testify against fellow, un-convicted, Lawrence gang members.
Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered teenager Stephen, speaks to reporters after Gary Dobson and David Norris were sentenced for his murder at the Old Bailey;
Passersby reach out to shake the hand of Stephen Lawrence's father Neville (centre) as he arrives at the Central Criminal Court, London, this morning ahead of the sentencing of Dobson and Norris. To his right is his lawyer Jocelyn Cockburn;
Dobson's parents, Pauline and Stephen, arrive at the Old Bailey to hear what sentence their son will be given;
In flat caps with scarves covering their faces relatives and friends of David Norris arrive at the Old Bailey for the sentencing;
Passing sentence, Justice Treacy 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'
Detectives believe Dobson – long regarded as one of the ‘weak links’ in the mob – might seek a deal with prosecutors and finally come clean about who else was responsible for Stephen’s death.
Yesterday the two men were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury of killing Mr Lawrence, who was stabbed to death by a gang of white youths in 1993.
The men were sentenced as juveniles today as they were under 18 at the time of the attack.
Stephen's mother, Doreen, said outside court today that it had been a 'really difficult day' but added that she could now start moving on with her life.
She thanked the judge, accepting that he was unable to pass stiffer sentences on Dobson and Norris.
'The sentences that happened may be quite low, but at the same time the judge's hands were tied. And for that, as much as he can do, I am very grateful,' Mrs Lawrence said outside court.
'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.'
As the men were sentenced, Britain's top police officer Scotland Yard Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said 'the other people involved in the murder of Stephen Lawrence should not rest easily in their beds'.
Outside court Stephen's father Neville called on Dobson and Norris to turn in the other people involved in the racist attack.
Mr Lawrence said the sentencing of Dobson and Norris was 'only one step in a long, long journey' and called for the other killers to be brought to justice as well.
He said: 'One of my greatest hopes is that these people have now realised that they have been found out, and they are now going to go and lie down in their beds and think that they were the whole ones who were responsible for the death of my son.
'And they are going to give up the rest of the people so that I (can) come out here again in a year's time and talk to you people again.'
Flowers were laid in Eltham this morning at the Stephen Lawrence Memorial Stone as sentences were handed down to Norris and Dobson;
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| R.I.P. DEAR!! |
Detectives believe Dobson might seek a deal with prosecutors and finally come clean about who else was responsible for Stephen's death;
David Norris, pictured, is regarded by detectives as an 'old-school villain' who would never snitch;
Passing sentence, the judge 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.'
He 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'.
Mr Justice Treacy said that neither Mr Lawrence nor his friend Duwayne Brooks, who was with him on the night of the fatal 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's 'knowledge and approval'.
He said: '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.'
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