Stephen Lawrence murder. Verdict: guilty

[HedleyLamarr]

From the BBC, Dobson and Norris both found guilty of murder.

The right result, finally.

Let's hope they get the others in the gang as well

Very glad to hear of it. Justice has been served at last. Blessings to his family.

I am pleased about the verdict -
Too long in coming . Agree that it is a goo validation of cold case reviews.

lovely generalizing about the area- I lived there at the time and for some years after. Most people were as appalled as anyone else in the country at this case and the aftermath. But hey don't let what you read in the papers get in the way of your misconception

I am certain the verdict is the right one, yet more than a little surprised the jury returned guilty verdicts. I was sure these two utter cunts would get away with it. I hope the other three get done too. Saying that, I'm really chuffed they have been found guilty.

it is not a given that sentencing guidelines need to be taken into account from back then, or that they should be sentenced as juvaniles. This had afaik been a request made by their lawyers (according to someone on BBC, and tbh I'm more inclined to go with them than sky). Also, only one of them was seventeen at the time, the other was eighteen (I can't remember which) so even if this ends up being the case this would only apply to one.

Also, it is not a maximum of twelve years, twelve years is the minimum tarif that can be served, but as the crime is murder it is likely that they would be detained at her majesty's pleasure with a minimum term of twelve years at which point they would be eligible for parole, doesn't mean they'll get it though.

Norris had already been tried for the attempted murder of someone else, but was found not guilty due to bribery and corruption allegations against the foreman of the jury, and Dobson was serving a sentence for drug trafficking at the time he was being tried for this crime.

They're not exactly fine upstanding members of society..

Why hasn't his mum been charged with preventing the course or justie and pergray

Should be perjury maypole - lying on oath. Clearly he comes from a good family..

wannaBe Norris was 16, Dobson was 17

18 years too late, but justice at last.

2 down...........others still not convicted. Hopefully now they will be.

I think they did it, but am surprised they got a guilty verdict, and I think there will be an eventual successful appeal, even if it has to go to the ECJ. The genetic eveidence was not treated very well, and there had been so much publicity surrounding the case that it will be easy for them to argue they could not get a fair trial in the UK. A national paper (dailymail I think) has twice put thei pictures on their front page with the headlines murderers, and claimed that if they were innocent of murder they would sue for libel (no mention of the huge costs this would incurr for them). Considering the ongoing Leveson inquiy, I was surprised the defence did not talk about this a lot and I suspect it is going to be used at an appeal.

ECJ - does not deal with "guilty" or "not guilty" issues. It determines whether the human rights have been preserved during the judicial process.

Human rights are dealt with by the ECHR, which is nothing to do with the ECJ. The ECJ deals with whether EU law has been respected, the ECHR deals with whether the EHRA has been respected.
Technically no appeal deals with guilty or not guilty , just whether there is a legal point that has not been respected. Hence judges can decide whether an appeal should be successful, not juries.

sorry, I was thinking of ECHR
however, how ECJ will be applicable in this case? ECJ deals with matters of European law being applied across EU...

R.I.P Stephen x

JUSTICE

JUSTICE AT LAST.

Let's hope Stephens' families, future is better.

I am pretty sure these guys are guilty as he'll, but I am unsure about whether they were actually the principals.

Private Eye was, for years, printing articles about the corruption rife in the Met in particular those Officers investigating this case. One I think was an uncle of one of the accused, the others were linked in one way or another; all were white and were definitely not interested in convicting the local white boys. They weren't interested in the statements of the black members of the community, treated these two scum and their nasty cohorts almost as if "boys will be boys". It was vile. I really hope those officers will be put on trial too, but I know it's not going to happen.

I would also be interested in seeing a few perjury charges brought. People don't seem to take it too seriously these days.

So pleased with the verdict and still so sad about what happened to him. I remember when it happened as we were about the same age. Glad his family finally got justice. RIP

Heartbreaking to see his poor Mother looking at Stephens scout uniform badges. All of the gang should be charged..
Not one shred of humanity between them. Their parents were just as vile.

Both sets of parents lied on oath. I really hope the CPS go after them for perjury.

Thank goodness. My heart aches for his mother. For it to take as long as his entire life lasted is shocking.

Watching Newsnight and am truly staggered at how inept corrupt the Met Police was.

aqua the scout uniform thing made me

Doreen Lawrence is an amazing woman.

The worst thing that could possibly happen happened to her and she didn't roll over and take the shit. She just kept on fighting.

It certainly puts a lot in perspective. She's a real inspiration.

Erm....I'm confused. I posted two or three times on a thread last night which was almost identical to this one, but not this one, it would appear. And it's not in my 'threads I'm on'

Was it deleted? and if so will someone PM me and tell me why. Am I imagining its existence?

And yes, is it too late to add Doreen Lawrence to that otherwise woeful 'Woman of The Year' list?