The retelling of the Stephen Lawrence case may be thought unnecessary by those who watched and read about the case in 1993. Readers may also remember the media response to the public hearings of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in 1998. The intensity of coverage was similar to that for the Leveson Inquiry in 2012 with day after day of unbelievable revelations filling TV and newspaper reports (for a summary of key events see page 161).

For most teenagers and young adults today the Stephen Lawrence story must feel as old as black and white movies. They may have been bored or fascinated by the more recent trial and conviction in 2011–12, but they will have no memory of the saga of the Lawrence family; they were only small children during the Inquiry and probably not yet born when Stephen was stabbed to death in 1993. Unsurprisingly most young people who come into contact with police officers on the streets today, have little idea of the significance of the Stephen Lawrence case.

What actually happened on the night of 22 April 1993?

There is no better telling of the story than the summary of it by Sir William Macpherson, the Judge in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. It was written in 1998, five years after the murder.

The murder of Stephen Lawrence

1.1 Descriptions of the murder of Stephen Lawrence have been given in thousands of newspapers and television programmes since his horrific death on 22 April 1993. The whole incident which led to his murder probably lasted no more than 15–20 seconds. […]

1.2 Stephen Lawrence had been with his friend Duwayne Brooks during the afternoon of 22 April. They were on their way home when they came at around 22:30 to the bus stop in Well Hall Road with which we are all now so familiar. Stephen went to see if a bus was coming, and reached a position almost in the centre of the mouth of Dickson Road. Mr Brooks was part of the way between Dickson Road and the roundabout when he saw the group of five or six white youths who were responsible for Stephen’s death on the opposite side of the road.

1.3 Mr Brooks called out to ask if Stephen saw the bus coming.