I Am Guilty of the Murder of Stephen Lawrence

Saturday, March 16, 2013

I AM GUILTY OF THE MURDER OF STEPHEN LAWRENCE – For little over 20 years Gary Dobson has denied any part in murdering teenager Stephen Lawrence, in what was then termed as one of the most heinous racist fueled murders of our time.

Gary Dobson (Left) – Stephen Lawrence (Right)

Stephen Lawrence was murdered on the 22nd April 1993 by a gang of racists which in turn laid bare the vile racist culture of the people and the Police Force.

However, finally Gary Dobson, after years of appeals, police investigations and a landmark public enquire, he has abandoned his fight for freedom and openly admitted he did take part in the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

David Norris, the other person convicted for Stephen’s murder is still insistent that he did not take part in the murder and continues to appeal his conviction.

Finally police are now looking to question Gary Dobson once again in the hope that the whole vicious affair will be laid bare and that he will finally tell officers what exactly transpired on that fateful day and who exactly was involved.

“It took me and my family almost 20 years to get justice for my son Stephen when Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted of the murder in January 2012.” Mrs. Lawrence, Stephen’s mother.

It is still suspected that three other gang members were involved and police are hoping now to interview Gary Dobson in the hope that he will finally tell all which will allow the police to finally arrest and prosecute all those involved in Stephen’s murder.

The Daily Mail was one of the bastions for justice for Stephen and his family and for 16 years the Daily Mail continued diligently to report on the progress.  At one point the Daily Mail even took the unprecedented step of publishing all five of the suspects, including Dobson and Norris and challenged any of them to sue the newspaper if they were wrong – no writ by any members of the gang was ever presented.

While I do not favour any particular newspaper in order to write my columns it has to be said that the Daily Mail has a penchant for going just that little bit further, which often results in litigation.  However, as with any form of journalism, if it is not delivered with passion, honesty and integrity then, in my view, it is not worth writing.

One of the things I admire the most is when people can write openly and honestly and this is why I started and continue to write.

Stephen’s story is one of great loss.  He was, according to his family and friends, a gentle soul and one that everyone loved and admired.  After his life was taken so prematurely by a gang of racists thugs much changed in our perception of each other and in a way Stephen’s death has resulted in the change of attitudes across the country, not just for the public at large but also for those within the Metropolitan Police Force, which at the time was labeled ‘institutionally racist’ due to its handling of the case – it just appeared that the Met had no real interest that a black boy had been murdered.

While we may not always like the press; I certainly get my fair share of flak from time to time, it has to be acknowledged that without the reporting of newspapers such as the Daily Mail, these things would often be hidden from view.  While some MP’s and Lords are currently trying to find a way of shackling the Press it is times such as these where we can see just how vital the Press is to delivering information to the general public.

So why, after 20 years of denying Stephen’s murder, is Gary Dobson finally admitting to the murder?  His legal team has been constantly trying to have his conviction overturned; mainly citing that the forensic evidence was flawed.  However this appeal and others before it have all been overturned by the courts and it now appears as if Dobson has one last trick up his sleeve in order to gain freedom.

It is perceived that if Dobson finally tells all and Norris and the other three remaining suspects are convicted then he could well see his sentence significantly reduced.  This is a play of course that will not sit well with Norris or the other three suspects but as the old saying goes; ‘there is no honour among thieves.’

This is one area of the law that I find more than a little distasteful.  Plea bargaining is not something I feel is justifiable nor is ratting out fellow conspirators in order to have a sentence reduced.  In my view, now that he has finally admitted his guilt he should serve the rest of his life behind bars and do the honourable thing of telling the police everything that led to the death of Stephen Lawrence.

Maybe I am naïve and this is never going to happen but for me the law should not be compromising when it comes to murder and in fact it is time the UK reintroduced the Death Penalty so that the British public does not have the burden of keeping them.

Let’s hope that Gary Dobson finally comes clean and that if the other suspects were involved it would allow us to clean up our streets and make them a safer place.

I for one hope that Stephen’s mother and family obtain some closure on their loss and hopefully they will finally know the entire truth.