Stephen lawrence

[Thomasina79]

One of the men caught, Norris, was given a life sentence for this atrocity. It turns out he is being released after serving 13 years. So much for life. Am I being unreasonable to think that life should mean life for murderers? I don’t believe norris has changed his views in any way. Those horrible men were disgusting. Stephen must have been so terrified at that bus stop

They should never be let out and the Police that allowed them to evade justice foe so long should be locked alongside them. Stephens death and his parents campaign for justice will always be in my heart. Such a tragic loss of a young man with so much to offer the world.

You misunderstand what a life sentence means.

He does have a life sentence. He will be under certain conditions for life and will be recalled to prison if he breaks those. It does not follow that the entirety of the sentence will be custodial.

A life sentence is different from a whole life tariff, which is a lifelong custodial sentence.

He also hasn't been granted parole yet. At the moment he's still behind bars.

Life sentences come with a minimum time in prison before they ate eligible for parole.

You do realise that there are many people who were given a life sentence that are let out of prison early don’t you? A life sentence means just that - you could be incarcerated for the rest of your life but if you ‘behave’ as a prisoner you could be let out on parole after a certain length of time. You will, however, remain ‘on licence’ for the remainder of your life meaning you can be recalled to prison without even committing another offence.
What you’re asking for is a ‘whole of life’ tariff. These sentences are very rarely used.

The entire premise of OPs post is false anyway.

Norris has a parole hearing today. It has not been decided that he will be released today.

Probably best to wait and see what happens first, no?

I don't know, I'd have to meet and talk to the guy who may be released in order to be able to tell. Leopards do change their spots and I'm all for giving people another chance. Let's wait and see, he has yet to come before the parole board. Stephen Lawrence's father is insisting he must name the others involved in the killing. Somehow I cannot see that happening.

However the police didn't exactly cover themselves with glory over this case. It was simply dreadful, shameful. I lived in the area at that time and know some things about it, and the local police. If it wasn't for Stephen's mother, Doreen and, up to a point, his dad, an awful lot more would have been quietly shelved.

💯 agree op.

A life sentence has never meant “whole life with no chance of parole”. It originally meant “life” as opposed to “death”. Surely you knew this?

I don't think that whole life sentences should be mandatory, but I think that parole should be refused if a lifer is refusing to give information that would bring their accomplice(s) to justice.

It is well established practice to consider this point as part of the parole decision.

The reason it does not automatically deny someone parole is for good reason: the person in question may not know the answer, or could be pressured to name certain people in return for release.

A couple of years before this awful killing, I worked in a role that involved close contact with the police in a neighbouring borough. The police I had dealings were absolutely scathing about their colleagues across the border and their attitude to community relations, the whole area was renowned for having a lot of racists (the neo-fascist BNP had their HQ in nearby Welling) and black friends avoided it like the plague, eg would take detours to avoid driving through Eltham and Welling. It was notorious well before the murder.

I had moved out of London by the time this happened, but I wasn't at all surprised by the event itself or the police's abject failure to bring the killers to justice, and I'm afraid I don't think it will ever happen now.

He was sentenced without that, because he murdered Stephen before minimum parole periods. Before they were introduced, the average time served for a man was just over 13 years and seven and a half for women.

Not so - David Norris was sentenced with a minimum term of 14 years and 3 months.

483 days were removed from that to reflect time spent in custody.

Life very rarely means whole life. And as he wasn’t considered to have ever been the one actually holding the knife, this sentence seems pretty normal. I think his age, at the time of the offence, was also a factor.

I lived in Eltham when this happened - the local police were pretty hopeless with all crimes, at that point.

He isn’t being released. He is up for parole because he served his minimum sentence. To be considered for parole, a murderer must admit their crimes. That is why he’s now admitting for the first time that he was there. Otherwise the parole board won’t consider his release.

The fact he was 16 at the time means his minimum term was less because he was a juvenile. That is very normal.

Murder means you have a life sentence but doesn’t mean you actually have to serve it in prison. Murderers get released from jail everyday- I work in one.

I think it’s likely his parole will
be turned down and he’ll serve probably quite a few more years before he’s released. In my opinion anyway.

Just to reiterate that murderers get released from prison every day - they are on license and get supervised in the community by the probation service.

If this gang had been convicted at the time or soon after they would all have been released years ago by now.

I think there are two more days of evidence to be heard before the parole board makes a decision.

Interesting that OP hasn't bothered to come back...

it almost seems like he admitted guilt just to get a bit of a better angle on the parole.

He's trying to portray himself as a remorseful changed character to get parole. Apparently he was still using racist terms in prison two years ago.

Apparently he has now admitted to his involvement in the murder https://mol.im/a/15170093

Parole denied as he still won’t tell who his accomplices were.

Funny that hes just come out and said hes sorry for what he did now the parole hearing is coming up.

Sorry he got caught more like.
I'm sure that makes it no better for Stephen's grieving family that he said sorry either.
Not good enough.

The problem is, there's no space in prisons, so if everyone served longer we'd be in a right mess.

Someone I know was recently convicted and sentenced and everyone was shocked that it wasn't custodial. The prosecution said this is the best time to be a criminal, as there's just no space.

What on earth are you talking about? No decision has been made yet.

There is still one day of hearings to be done, which will be done in private, on Friday.

@Bagsintheboot oh, I think I misheard something on the radio in that case. Maybe they were talking about a previous hearing?