Stephen Lawrence: a timeline of events since the teenager's murder

Twenty-seven years, three months and 19 days after the murder of the black British teenager Stephen Lawrence, the Metropolitan police has declared the investigation into the crime “inactive”. It was a murder that reframed race relations in the UK.

22 April 1993

Stephen Lawrence is stabbed to death in an unprovoked racist attack by a gang of white youths as he waits at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, with his friend Duwayne Brooks. Brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, Gary Dobson, and David Norris are identified as suspects.

7 May – 23 June 1993

The Acourt brothers, Dobson, Norris, and another suspect, Luke Knight, are arrested. Brooks identifies Neil Acourt and Knight from an ID parade as part of the gang responsible. The pair are charged with murder, but deny all the allegations.

July 1993

Charges against Neil Acourt and Knight are dropped following a meeting between the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the senior investigating officer. The CPS says the evidence from Brooks is unreliable.

September 1994

Lawrence’s parents, Neville and Doreen, begin a private prosecution against Neil Acourt, Knight and Dobson. A private prosecution is a standard criminal trial, but not brought by the CPS.

Autumn 1994

A second police investigation is launched under the control of Det Supt William Mellish and supported by Commander Perry Nove.

April 1996

The private prosecution against Neil Acourt, Knight and Dobson begins at the Old Bailey but the trial collapses after identification evidence from Brooks is ruled inadmissible. The three are acquitted and the entering of not guilty verdicts means they cannot be tried again.

February 1997

A coroner’s inquest resumes. A verdict of unlawful killing “in a completely unprovoked racist attack by five youths” is recorded.

Summer 1997

The home secretary, Jack Straw, meets Lawrence’s parents. His Conservative predecessor, Michael Howard, had refused to see them. The Home Office announces a judicial inquiry to be led by Sir William Macpherson, a retired high court judge.

February 1999

The Macpherson report finds the police guilty of mistakes and “institutional racism” and makes 70 recommendations on changes to policing and wider public policy. It advises strengthening the Race Relations Act to tackle discrimination. The report also suggests a rethink of the principle of “double jeopardy” to allow the retrial of acquitted defendants in exceptional circumstances if new evidence emerges.

April 2005

The double jeopardy legal principle is scrapped for certain offences when there is new evidence.

May 2011

The court of appeal agrees that Dobson’s 1996 acquittal for the murder can be quashed in the face of new forensic evidence.

November 2011

The trial of Dobson and Norris for Lawrence’s murder begins at the Old Bailey.

January 2012

Dobson and Norris are found guilty of murder. Both men receive life sentences.

11 April 2018

Scotland Yard admits it has no new lines of inquiry in the investigation into Lawrence’s murder. It says it is considering closing the case, but will wait until after the broadcast of a three-part BBC documentary, Stephen: The Murder That Changed A Nation, to see if any new leads come forward.

7 December 2018

Jamie Acourt is jailed for nine years over a £3m drugs plot. Acourt, now 42, pleaded guilty at Kingston crown court to being the ringleader of a two-year conspiracy to supply and sell cannabis resin.

11 August 2020

The Metropolitan police declares it has reached the stage where all identified lines of inquiry have been completed, and the investigation will move to an inactive phase.