Jack Straw ‘was source’ of Daily Mail’s story about Stephen Lawrence

Jack Straw was Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001 – JEFF OVERS/BBC

Jack Straw, the former home secretary, was the source of a newspaper story concerning the murder of Stephen Lawrence that the late teenager’s mother has alleged was obtained illegally, court documents suggest.

Baroness Lawrence is among seven high-profile figures, including the Duke of Sussex and Sir Elton John, who have brought High Court claims against Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.

The allegations include the hiring of private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, “blagging” private records and phone hacking.

In the publisher’s written defence, made public this week, Andrew Caldecott KC and Adrian Beltrami KC strongly denied the claims, warning that the case was “without foundation” and “an affront to the hard-working professional journalists whose reputations and integrity, as well as that of Associated itself, are wrongly traduced”.

Stephen Lawrence, 18, an aspiring architect, was stabbed to death by a group of up to six white youths as he waited at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, in 1993.

The Daily Mail was at the forefront of a campaign to bring his killers to justice, famously branding the five men – Gary Dobson, Neil Acourt, Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight, and David Norris – “murderers” in February 1997 and challenging them to sue for libel.

But among the stories Lady Lawrence has claimed were obtained unlawfully was a front page story revealing that the government planned to launch a new public inquiry into her son’s death, which was published by the newspaper five months later, in July 1997.

Doreen Lawrence has worked as a race relations adviser for the Labour Party – ANTHONY DEVLIN/GETTY

It revealed that Mr Straw, the then-Home Secretary, had decided to establish a major public inquiry, led by a senior judge, and that the Lawrence family was considering bringing a second private prosecution against two of the suspects, Acourt and Norris, as well as an action for damages against all five.

The publisher denied that the story was obtained via the misuse of private information or that the information was legally privileged.

In fact, it said the main detail had been passed to the newspaper’s editor directly by Mr Straw.

“The information that the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, was to set up a major public inquiry into Stephen Lawrence’s murder was provided to Mr Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail, by Mr Straw who told him that his paper’s campaign had been a significant factor in this decision,” court documents state.

The information concerning a private prosecution was said to have been sourced from previous newspaper reports, not least those quoting the family’s solicitor Imran Khan, who had said, variously, that the suspects would be sued for damages and that the family would launch civil action.

Associated noted that no complaint was made by the claimant or her family at the time of original publication, which would have been expected had the information been “closely guarded”.

Forensic breakthrough

Another story, revealing that the five murder suspects faced new charges after a forensic breakthrough, which was published a decade later in November 2007, was sourced from “a senior police officer in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)” rather than phone hacking, Associated said. It was then confirmed by a Scotland Yard press officer.

The source, who was not a member of the re-investigation team, contacted the newspaper’s crime editor to share the development, which was being discussed among Scotland Yard officers.

Associated said Lady Lawrence had not identified what information in the article was private or confidential, nor alleged that the information was contained in voicemail messages.

“It is denied that the article contained details of the MPS’ communications with the Lawrence family other than the anodyne fact that the claimant was thought to have been alerted to the dramatic development and the family’s lawyers had also been notified,” court documents state.

The publisher said the information contained in the article was not private or confidential. It said the source was not paid and that information was not obtained through phone hacking.

In January 2012, Dobson and Norris were found guilty of being involved in Stephen Lawrence’s murder and sentenced to life imprisonment after a forensic review of the case found significant new scientific evidence on clothing seized from their homes.

Lady Lawrence took her seat in the House of Lords in 2013, and subsequently was appointed a race relations adviser for the Labour Party.

No findings have been yet made in the High Court case and the legal claims are in the preliminary stages.

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