Stephen Lawrence verdict delivers justice after 18-year wait

The mother of Stephen Lawrence accused the police of putting her through 18 years of grief and uncertainty after witnessing the conviction of two of her son’s killers for his racist murder nearly a generation ago.

Outside a grey and rainswept central criminal court in London, to cheers from members of the public and campaigners, Doreen Lawrence said she could not celebrate; all she felt was relief that at last “some sort of justice” had been done, with the jury’s unanimous guilty verdicts on Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35.

“How can I celebrate when I know that this day could have come 18 years ago if the police, who were meant to find my son’s killers, had not failed so miserably to do so?”

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