Two Sentenced in UK Racial Murder Case

Two men found guilty of the 1993 racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in south-east London have been jailed for life.

Gary Dobson will serve a minimum of 15 years and two months, and David Norris 14 years and three months.

The pair were sentenced at the Old Bailey under guidelines in place at the time of the attack and as juveniles because both had been under 18.

The judge, Justice Treacy, described the crime as a “murder which scarred the conscience of the nation.”

Dobson, 36, and Norris, 35, were the first people convicted over the fatal attack on Lawrence by a group of white youths near a bus stop in Eltham on April 22, 1993.

Speaking outside court, Stephen Lawrence’s mother Doreen said the minimum terms imposed “may be quite low” but she recognized “the judge’s hands were tied” and thanked him for his sentencing remarks which acknowledged the stress the family had suffered for 18 years.

Laura Lynch reports from London.