Four ex-Scotland Yard detectives who bungled Stephen Lawrence murder case should not face criminal charges for their actions in the case, review rules

None of the detectives involved in the botched initial inquiry into Stephen Lawrence's murder will face criminal charges.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced today that it will not be taking any further action against the four Metropolitan Police officers first involved in the case after an extensive review to consider whether they had committed offences of misconduct in public office.

The final decision by the CPS means no officers will be held criminally responsible for one of Scotland Yard's biggest scandals.

Only two men, Gary Dobson and David Norris, have ever been brought to justice for the murder of the black teenager who was attacked by a gang of racists in Eltham, south-east London as he ran to catch a bus in April 1993.

Opportunities to catch the other killers were missed in the crucial first stages of the investigation due to a series of blunders.

Stephen was killed in a racist murder in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993

The detectives include ex-Detective Superintendent Brian Weeden and ex-Detective Inspector Benjamin Bullock

Ex-Detective Chief Superintendent William Ilsley, who oversaw the team responsible for the first murder investigation, while ex-Detective Superintendent Ian Crampton was senior investigating officer for the first four days of the murder investigation

Last year Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the murder investigation may never progress further because errors made by investigators were 'so egregious' that they would be impossible to repair, despite detectives 'moving heaven and earth' in recent years.

In 2015 the police watchdog asked the National Crime Agency (NCA) to launch an investigation focusing on four officers who held senior roles in the first few weeks after the murder.

The probe, estimated to have cost up to £10million, looked into why officers did not make arrests for two weeks despite police repeatedly being given the names of the five or six suspects who pounced on the innocent 18-year-old.

In October 2020 the Independent Office for Police Conduct announced inquiries by the NCA had concluded and it had asked the CPS to consider whether there was sufficient evidence to charge the four retired officers, now in their 70s and 80s.

Those officers were Detective Superintendent Ian Crampton, who was senior investigating officer for the first four days of the investigation, Detective Superintendent Brian Weeden, who took over from Mr Crampton and was in charge for 14 months, Detective Inspector Benjamin Bullock, who acted as his deputy and Detective Chief Superintendent William Ilsley, who oversaw the team responsible for the first murder investigation.

Original suspects Gary Dobson (left) and David Norris (right) were given life sentences in 2012 following a forensic breakthrough in the case

Prosecutors spent two and half years considering their management of the initial six weeks of the murder investigation before announcing last July that no charges would be brought.

But Stephen's parents, Dr Neville Lawrence and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, and his friend Duwayne Brooks, who was present during the attack, demanded

a victim's right to review the charging decision under a scheme which gives families the right to question CPS decisions.

Today (tues) in a bitter blow for the family, an independent lawyer backed the original CPS decision.

Rosemary Ainslie, Head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said: 'Following our decision in July 2023 not to bring criminal charges against four police officers involved in the initial six weeks of the investigation into Stephen's murder, we received a request to review the decision under the Victim's Right to Review (VRR) scheme.

'An extensive review of that decision, which involved an independent prosecutor re-examining a substantial amount of evidence and material in the case, has now been completed.

Jamie Acourt (left) and his brother Neil (right) were also suspects but were never convicted

'Offences of misconduct in public office were reconsidered, but the review upheld the original decision not to bring any criminal charges against the four officers in the case.

'We understand this news will be extremely disappointing for Stephen's family and friends, and the CPS has offered to meet with close family members to explain our reasoning in further detail.'

Stephen's parents, Doreen and Neville Lawrence, have yet to comment.

But they have previously said shocking errors in the early stages of the first murder investigation cheated them of 'complete' justice.

In 1999 a public inquiry led by retired High Court judge Sir William Macpherson concluded the first Lawrence murder investigation was 'marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers'.