Shropshire Star

How I helped trap Stephen Lawrence killers

Two men who murdered Stephen Lawrence were only brought to justice after a legal campaign by a top policeman from Shropshire, it emerged today.

Published
Supporting image for story: How I helped trap Stephen Lawrence killers

Two men who murdered Stephen Lawrence were only brought to justice after a legal campaign by a top policeman from Shropshire, it emerged today.

Des Parkinson, from Telford, played a key part in overturning the 'double jeopardy' rule which previously prevented anyone acquitted being re-tried.

Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, were yesterday convicted of Mr Lawrence's murder, nearly 19 years after he was killed.

The pair were originally acquitted at a private prosecution in 1994 due to 'inadmissible' evidence and, as the law stood, they could not be re-tried. However the acquittal led Mr Parkinson and his colleague Brian McKenzie, now Baron Mackenzie, to fight to overturn the double jeopardy law.