Stephen Lawrence killer says ‘he was in fight mode’ but teen did not deserve to die

One of Stephen Lawrence’s killers has refused to name other members of the racist gang that stabbed the black teenager to death as he fears for his own safety.

David Norris said Stephen Lawrence did not deserve to be killed in the 1993 murder that shocked the nation, as he seeks early release at a parole hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice.

‘The guilt of what happened weighs heavy on my shoulders,’ he told the board through a video link.

‘If I could change what happened all those years ago I would.’

‘If I’ve got any ounce of a soul of course that wouldn’t sit right with me.’

But when pushed to reveal more about the others involved, Norris said that in an ‘ideal world’ he would give Mr Lawrence’s family ‘every detail’ but that it would put him and his family at risk.

Norris was convicted in late 2011 and jailed in January 2012 for life with a minimum term of 14 years and three months, which expired in December 2024.

Norris said he is ashamed of the attack and how he behaved in the years afterwards, including secret police footage from the aftermath of the murder in which he described wanting to torture black people.

He said it was ‘disgusting’, and that he could not explain his apparently arrogant behaviour and ‘swagger’.

‘Maybe it was something trying to justify that I didn’t kill him. So what have I got to hide? I tried to punch him twice but I didn’t stab him.’

Asked about the attack at a parole meeting, he said: ‘I suppose I was in a fight mode by that time. 

‘It didn’t take much back in the day for violence to erupt.’

He said the attack was a ‘spur of the moment, impulsive thing’.

He said he threw two punches, one that missed and the second that hit Stephen on the back of the head as he was in a crouching position.

By that time the 18-year-old had already been stabbed, punched and kicked.

‘It was 10 seconds of less, I didn’t have time to think. It was an impulse reaction,’ he said.

He said he did not have a weapon, but refused to discuss what the other members of the gang had done to protect his family.

Stephen’s mother Baroness Doreen Lawrence has said that David Norris has shown no ‘humanity’ as she demanded he should not be released.

In a statement, she said that her son was murdered in a ‘brutal and callous fashion’ which changed the lives of her and her family.

Lady Lawrence said Norris showed ‘no hint of empathy for what me and my family have gone through’ and that she wants ‘answers’ about what happened to her son.

Her statement said that Norris has shown no ‘acceptance’, ‘contrition’ or ‘humanity’, that she cannot forgive him and that he is a “danger” to the public.

She said that the killers were ‘murderous thugs’, and that she had battled for decades for justice for her son.

‘I never wanted the attention or the publicity, but I was forced to do so.’

Baroness Lawrence said she was ‘harassed and vilified’ by members of the public who applauded what the racist killers had done.

She was left fearing for her safety and repeatedly moved house after her son was murdered.