Who killed Stephen Lawrence and where his murderers are now
Two of the five main suspects in Stephen Lawrence's murder were named Gary Dobson and they were the only ones ever convicted for murder 19 years after the killing
On April 22, 1993, Stephen Lawrence was killed at a bus stop trying to go home with a friend.
Six assailants surrounded Stephen and stabbed him repeatedly before running off, his friend Duwayne Brooks said.
Stephen's injuries were so catastrophic that he died before making it to the hospital 20 minutes after the attack.
The 18-year-old was murdered in a racially motivated attack in a case that highlighted the racist attitudes of the police at the time and led to a recall of the rule against double jeopardy.
In the days after Stephen's murder, several residents came forward to provide the names of the five suspects.
READ MORE: Mum of murdered Stephen Lawrence says she does not forgive her son's racist killersThe five main suspects were named Gary Dobson, brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight and David Norris.
Stephen's family had a long road before seeing any sort of justice when Dobson and Norris were jailed for his murder 19 years later.
They only made up two of a group of six that were accused of Stephen's murder.
Brothers Jamie and Neil Acourt and Luke Knight were also named publicly as suspects in the killing but have never been convicted of his murder.
Today the sixth mystery attacker remains unknown.
Here we look at who was accused of Stephen's murder and where they are now.
The killers
Gary Dobson
Gary Dobson was 17 when the crime was committed.
He was first arrested on May 7, 1993. Charges were not brought against him at this time.
The Lawrence family launched a private prosecution against Dobson and he was acquitted on April 24, 1996, by a jury.
In the trial, the judge said any identification evidence given by Stephen's friend Duwayne was unreliable.
A cold case review in 2006 Stephen's blood on Dobson's jacket and his hair on Dobson's clothes after using new technology to forensically reexamine all the evidence.
Based on this, Dobson was arrested and charged with Stephen's murder on September 8, 2010.
At the time, Dobson was already in prison for drug dealing.
Since he had been previously acquitted an application was made to the Court of Appeal to quash his original acquittal.
These proceedings were private at the time to ensure a fair hearing. Dobson's acquittal was officially quashed in April 2011, and he was convicted of Stephen's murder and sentenced to 15 years and two months.
He is understood to be serving time in Gartree Prison in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.
David Norris
Norris was 16 at the time of Stephen's murder.
He turned himself into the police in May 1993, but charges were not brought against him at this time.
When Stephen's family launched a private prosecution, charges against Norris were dropped because of a lack of evidence.
In 2002, Norris and Neil Acourt were jailed for 18 months for a racist attack against a plain-clothes black police officer.
Norris had thrown a drink at the officer from a car and shouted "n*****" while Acourt drove the vehicle at him during the attack in May the previous year, in Eltham, South East London, less than a mile from where Mr Lawrence was murdered.
A cold case review found Stephen's hair on Norris' clothes. This new evidence lead to Norris being charged and convicted for Stephen's murder.
He was jailed for 14 years and three months.
Norris is currently serving time at HMP Dartmoor after being moved from HMP Garth.
The former suspects
Neil Acourt
Neil Acourt was picked out of a lineup and was charged on May 13, 1993.
However, on July 29, 1993, the charges were dropped after the CPS said there was insufficient evidence.
A private prosecution saw Neil Acourt recharged, but he was acquitted of murder by a jury.
He along with Norris was jailed for 18 months for a racist attack on an off-duty black police officer in 2002.
In 2018, he went to jail for his role in heading a gang that moved cannabis resin between London and the North East.
He was released in March 2019 after serving less than half of his six-year sentence.
Jamie Acourt
Jamie Acourt was arrested for the crime on May 7, 1993, but charges were not brought at this time.
He was later charged when the family sought a private prosecution, but they were dropped because of a lack of evidence.
In 2018, he was jailed alongside his brother after admitting his role in a cannabis smuggling operation.
He is still serving time in prison and is not expected to be released before 2027.
Luke Knight
Luke Knight was first arrested on June 3, 1993, and was charged 20 days later. However, these were dropped by the CPS citing insufficient evidence.
He was charged again following a private prosecution sought by Stephen's family. In April 1996, he was acquitted of murder by a jury.
Knight is the only one of the five who does not have a criminal conviction.
In 2009 he did an interview where he protested his innocence.
He said: “I’m an innocent man. I’ve done nothing wrong. I’m totally innocent – I wasn’t even there [at the murder scene]."
Mystery man
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of Stephen's death, the detective who caught two of the killers has said he had unfinished lines of inquiry when he was booted off the case.
Specifically, the theory of the sixth attacker.
Former Det Chief Insp Clive Driscoll had been optimistic charges would be brought against more – but he was told to retire by the Met in 2014.
At the time he was investigating an alleged sixth attacker.
He told the Mirror: “I’ve always felt there were lines of inquiry that could have been pursued.
“There was a person who was saying something that could be confirmed, there was corroborative evidence for this, he was saying a certain thing.
“Well you just follow that, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes. I think it’s a potential person that took part.
“I know Baroness Lawrence has been briefed on it and I know the person was never spoken to again.”
