Police on Lawrence case face investigation

THE STORY OF the murder of Stephen Lawrence isn’t over, as two detectives are now to be questioned in connection with apparent failings in the police investigation of the crime committed over 26 years ago.

Stephen was standing at a bus stop when he was attacked and murdered. The police investigation was perfunctory, with the police not rushing to look into the death of another black boy on the streets. A lengthy and dignified campaign by Stephen’s parents forced the police to take the killing seriously.

Eventually two of the half a dozen suspects were tried and convicted of the murder. An inquiry into the case revealed that the police force was institutionally racist – changing the practice of the police force and, now that the term had been introduced into mainstream discourse, other public services for ever.

It’s not over yet.

It has been revealed that an investigation into whether police officers committed misconduct in public office is underway. The investigation will concentrate on why the police, who had identified suspects soon after the murder, didn’t question them for two weeks

Two officers have been formally questioned, under caution – Detective Superintendents Ian Crampton (who led the initial work) and William Ilsley (who supervised him), both now retired. Two others, Detective Superintendent Brian Weeden and Detective Inspector Ben Bullock, who are also both retired, will be questioned in the next few weeks.

The four police officers have insisted that they did nothing wrong and face being scapegoated for the lack of an instant conviction in the case. However, campaigners point out that the officers did not take the steps that would have been expected in a murder inquiry – and have to be given a chance to explain why.

The result of the investigation will reveal not only what the individual officers did but also why the police force had a culture which allowed these kind of failings. Once the officers have been questioned, investigators will send a file to the CPS, which will then decide whether to prosecute any of the officers involved.

Stephen’s mother, now Baroness Lawrence, welcomed the news of the investigation, saying, “I am pleased that finally after so many years, senior police officers who were involved in investigating Stephen’s murder are being put under scrutiny and questioned about their conduct. It is high time that someone is held accountable for what happened.”

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