Stephen Lawrence’s mother has branded one of his killers a “coward” and a “liar” after he admitted his role in her son’s murder – but refused to reveal who else was involved.
David Norris, 49, spoke publicly at a parole board hearing for the first time on Tuesday about the racist attack on the 18-year-old, who was stabbed to death by a group of up to six youths in Eltham, southeast London, on 22 April 1993.
He said he was “deeply sorry” after he punched Stephen on the back of his head while he was crouched on the ground on his knees.
Norris, who was 16 at the time, said he could name the rest of the gang, including the member he saw holding a 22cm-long knife after the murder, but feared for his family’s safety.
He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years and three months in January 2012, more than 18 years later, after he was found guilty of murder alongside Gary Dobson at the Old Bailey.
The other suspects in the case – brothers Jamie and Neil Acourt, who were later jailed for unrelated drug offences, Luke Knight, and Matthew White, who died in 2021, have never been convicted.
The Acourt brothers and Knight have denied being involved in the attack on Stephen Lawrence, while White was named as a suspect after his death.
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Stephen Lawrence killer David Norris ‘admits role in attack’, says Parole Board
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Norris is making his first bid for freedom at a parole board hearing live-streamed from his prison to the Royal Courts of Justice, where he can only be seen on camera from behind.
Speaking outside court after watching two days of evidence, Stephen’s mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence, 72, said the “police now have no excuse not to act”.
“The only person he is sorry for is himself. As far as I’m concerned, he is a coward,” she said.
“He refused to show his face. He needs to look me in the eye and tell me exactly what he did and why he did it.”
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