Stephen Lawrence’s killer is an “obvious danger to society” and should not be released, his grieving mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence has told a parole board.
David Norris, 48, who was jailed for life with a minimum of 14 years and three months over the infamous racist murder in 1993, is making a bid for freedom.
A panel of experts from the Parole Board will decide whether he is safe to be released or moved to an open prison.
However, in a statement read by her lawyer Imran Khan, Mr Lawrence’s mother urged the panel not to release him.
“I am of the view that this person is a risk to society and dangerous,” she said. “I simply can’t see him walking the streets of our diverse country without thinking that he would harm someone like me – a black person – someone he described as wanting to kill and torture.”
She reminded the hearing of a shocking covert police recording of Norris and Dobson from 1994, known as the Footscray tapes, in which Norris discussed how he would “kill every black c***” he knows.
He later discussed taking two submachine guns to Catford, a diverse area of southeast London.
“Any person who expresses views like this and doesn’t recant is an obvious danger to society and must remain in custody,” Baroness Lawrence added.
She said Norris forced her to listen to “denial after denial” during his 2012 trial, adding he did not show “a hint of empathy or feeling for me or what my family had gone through”.
The mother said as a Christian, she believes in forgiveness, but she cannot forgive him until he takes “responsibility for his murderous actions”.
Mr Lawrence’s father agreed his son’s killer has not shown “genuine remorse”, adding that “justice has not been done” if Norris is released without naming the other members of the gang who murdered his son.
Only two of Mr Lawrence’s six alleged attackers have ever faced justice after Norris was jailed for life with a minimum of 14 years, along with Gary Dobson, who must serve a minimum of 15 years, in a trial that hinged on tiny traces of forensic evidence in 2012.
A bungled police investigation led to the landmark MacPherson Inquiry, which concluded that the Metropolitan Police’s probe into the murder was marred by institutional racism.
Dr Lawrence said at times he did not think he would survive during the 18-year battle for his son’s killers to face justice, during which time his marriage to Baroness Lawrence broke down.
In her opening remarks, the panel chair, Cassie Williams, said Mr Lawrence’s murder was an “awful crime” which had a “profound impact on society”.
Referring to the judge’s sentencing remarks when Norris was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years and three months in 2012, she said the judge noted he had “not shown the slightest regret” and had “lied to the court”.
Norris finally admitted he was at the scene of the murder ahead of his bid for freedom, which is being held in public.
He had always denied taking part in the infamous stabbing, which saw a gang of thugs target aspiring architect Mr Lawrence, 18, in Eltham, southeast London, in 1993.
However, he has now “accepted he was present at the scene and punched the victim but claims that he did not wield the knife”, according to a Parole Board report.
Ahead of the hearing, Mr Lawrence’s father said Norris should not be considered for parole until he names the other members of the racist gang.
Dr Lawrence, 83, said it is important for him to hear his son’s killers being named and for them to be brought to justice.
“It’s important for me because of what these people have done,” he said.
“They ruined my life. They’ve caused me not to be able to live in this country. They’ve robbed me of the chance of seeing my son getting married, of having (his) grandchildren.
“This man has robbed me of so much that there is no way I can even start to think that he should be allowed to walk free.”
The hearing continues.
