Tonight, viewers will see the first episode of the new ITV drama Stephen, which shows the struggle his parents Doreen and Neville Lawrence faced to prove their son was murdered.
Stephen, who was murdered on April 22, 1993, was the victim of an unprovoked attack when he was just 18 years old.
The three-part series will focus on the investigation into his death, which was launched 13 years after he was killed in the racist attack.
It wasn’t until almost 19 years following the death of Stephen that his killers were found guilty.
What happened to Stephen Lawrence?
On April 22, 1993, 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence was waiting at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, with his friend Duwayne Brooks when the pair were subjected to an unprovoked attack.
Brooks escaped unhurt, but Lawrence had been stabbed multiple times and, after managing to run over 100 metres from the scene, he collapsed and bled to death.
Who killed Stephen Lawrence and what happened to them?
In the days following Stephen Lawrence’s murder, several people came forward to the police to name a local gang in connection with the crime, with notes left on a car windscreen and in a telephone box.
The suspects were Gary Dobson, brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight, and David Norris, who had been linked with previous knife attacks and racist incidents in the area.
The five suspects were arrested and Brooks identified Acourt and Knight, who were subsequently charged with murder.
These charges were eventually dropped due to Brooks’ evidence being ‘unreliable’ and in April 1994 the Crown Prosecution Service refused to prosecute due to insufficient evidence.
Later in 1994, Stephen’s parents, Doreen and Neville Lawrence, launched a private prosecution which led to an April 1996 trial against Acourt, Knight, and Dobson. This also collapsed over Brooks’ evidence, again.
The inquest, which had started in December 1993, eventually resumed in February 1997 with the original five suspects. They choose not to answer questions.
A judicial inquiry into the case led to the Macpherson report being published in February 1999 – this accused the Metropolitan Police of institutional racism, but came no closer to bringing Stephen’s killers to justice.
In May 2004, the CPS carried out a review and decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone for Stephen’s murder.
By November 2007, new forensic evidence was being looked at, but it was not until May 2011 that the Court of Appeal decided that new evidence was enough for Dobson and Norris to stand trial, and their acquittal to be quashed.
Their trial began in November and by January 2012 the two were convicted of murder due to microscopic evidence on their clothes linking them to the killing.
Dobson and Norris got life sentences for murder, with the former to be in prison for a minimum of 15 years and two months and the latter for 14 years and three months.
However, DCI Clive Driscoll hopes to see new leads following the new series being aired with the remaining killers still at large.
Where is Gary Dobson now?
45-year-old Gary Dobson, from south-east London, is currently serving his life sentence at Gartree Prison.
Gartree is a high security men’s prison in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.
Dobson was 17 at the time of the murder of Stephen, and lived on the Brook Estate.
Before his eventual incarceration for murder, he was locked up for five years in 2010 for possessing and supplying class B drugs, which had a street value of around £350,000.
Where is David Norris now?
David Norris is from Chislehurst and grew up with a wealthy family – he was 16-years-old at the time of murdering Stephen.
Norris is currently locked up in Belmarsh prison, a category-A men’s prison in Thamesmead, south-east London.
He was allegedly attacked by other prisoners in July 2017.
Norris claimed he was targeted by three black inmates, who used a knife and a sock full of tin cans.
The killer reportedly suffered a broken nose and cuts to his face, as well as black eyes, broken ribs and lasting psychological effects.
The Prison Service disputed the claim; however, Norris was awarded £10,000 in compensation.
Stephen begins tonight at 9pm on ITV.
MORE : Stephen Lawrence murder detective hoping new ITV drama will help catch remaining killers at large
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