Stephen Lawrence murder trial starts at Old Bailey
As a panel of jurors is selected for the Stephen Lawrence murder trial, an Old Bailey judge tells them the history of the case is “irrelevant” to the decision they must make, as Simon Israel reports.
Mr Justice Treacy said the 24 potential jurors had to come to a verdict “based only on what you hear and see in this courtroom” and there was an “absolute prohibition” on researching the case on the internet.
Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, both of south London, are accused of murdering 18-year-old Stephen in April 1993.
Stabbed to death
The A-level student was stabbed by a gang of white youths at a bus top in Eltham, south east London. His death led to a public inquiry into the unsolved killing, which accused the police of “institutional racism”.
Stephen’s parents Doreen and Neville were in court at the beginning of the trial.
A total of 49 potential jurors were initially chosen before the pool was reduced to 24. The final 12 will be selected at random on Tuesday. Current or former employees of the Metropolitan Police, forensic service and Crown Prosecution Service or their close family and friends were excluded, as were those with a detailed knowledge of the case.
This trial has been months and months in the preparation. Mr Justice Treacy
Mr Justice Treacy told the 24 that the past history of the case “is irrelevant for the purposes of the decision which you have to make”.
He added: “Stephen Lawrence was killed in south east London in April 1993 and this case is concerned with his death. Now it may be when you have heard the name Stephen Lawrence that it will have rung a bell with some of you. There has been and no doubt will be during the course of the trial quite a lot of press interest in this case.
“In order to have a fair trial, I must be sure that the members of the jury panel are people who are independent and who don’t have any links to any aspect of the case which might disqualify them from sitting as an independent juror.”
He said that the case has “aroused strong feelings in people” over the years, but that jurors should do nothing that might jeopardise a fair trial.
“This trial has been months and months in the preparation. A trial of this nature is an extremely expensive trial to run. That’s one very good reason why we can’t afford, literally, to have any disruption to the trial.”
